Politically Corrected to Death

The Village Voice reports:

Reacting to the NYPD's announcement Thursday afternoon that police would randomly—but routinely—search the bags of commuters, one concerned New Yorker quickly created a way for civil libertarians to make their views black-and-white.

In a few outraged moments, local immigrant rights activist Tony Lu designed t-shirts bearing the text, "i do not consent to being searched." The minimalist protest-wear can be purchased here, in various styles and sizes. (Lu will not get a cut. The shirts' manufacture, sale, and shipment, will be handled by the online retailer. Lu encourages budget-conscious New Yorkers to make their own and wear them everywhere.)

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly had announced the legally obvious—that New Yorkers are free to decline a search and "turn around and leave." But Lu, who is a lawyer at Urban Justice Center, warned that even well-intentioned cops could interpret people's natural nervousness or anger as "reasonable suspicion." The possibility of unjustified interrogation and even arrest is real, Lu said.

Although police promised they would not engage in racial profiling, Lu said that, as with all street-level policing, people of color and poor immigrants would be particularly vulnerable, especially if encounters lead to arrests.

With all due respect, Tony Lu is not a very bright man.

If he's concerned about immigrants' rights, maybe he should start with their right to life--not being blown up in a subway bombing.

While the civil libertarians are printing up their "I do not consent to being searched" t-shirts, they should print some up that say, "I consent to being a victim of a terrorist attack.

I know nineteen dead hijackers that probably would have loved wearing one.

There are al Qaeda members all over the world that would most likely get a kick out of Lu's t-shirts, too.

You know what would be really funny?

If Lu made one up in a 5XL, maybe it would be large enough to fit over the bulky clothes homicide bombers need to wear in order to hide their lethal explosives.

That would be the ultimate statement, wouldn't it?

In all seriousness, this guy makes me sick and so does anyone else who's whining about these searches.

As Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly pointed out, if you have a problem with being searched, then stay off the train.

What's especially disturbing is that complaints about racial profiling surfaced as soon as it was announced that police intended to conduct searches. Not a single bag was searched before people like Lu started crying, "Foul."

Is there any evidence that the power to carry out these searches is being abused by authorities?

No?

Then, why is Lu complaining?

And on the subject of profiling--

We have to get out of denial about the reality of the situation. We know what the terrorists look like.

If blonde, blue-eyed Scandinavians had hijacked four planes in order to slaughter innocents, if blonde, blue-eyed Scandinavians sawed the heads off of civilians they kidnapped, if they murdered 56 people in London, if they had declared Jihad against ALL Americans, I would hope that authorities would keep an eye out for blonde, blue-eyed Scandinavians and search any that were behaving suspiciously.

To respond in any other fashion would be negligent.

Refusing to acknowledge reality in order to be politically correct, to keep from offending or hurting anyone's feelings, is erring in a manor that aids the terrorists.

If people of Arab descent feel they are being discriminated against, they should direct their anger at the terrorists. They are the ones responsible for putting all of the law-abiding, peaceful people who resemble them in a position where they might be considered suspicious.

Blame the terrorists for the "possibility of unjust interrogation and arrest," not the men and women that are working diligently to prevent terrorism.

In this case, some degree of profiling isn't discriminatory. It's not a violation of rights. It's common sense.

I invite Lu to ride mass transit.

I'd like to see him board a train with a young man wearing a bulky coat in New York City in mid-July.

Do you think he'd get on a train with a guy appearing nervous and carrying a backpack, maybe with a few stray wires hanging out of it?

We simply cannot allow Lu and his ilk to politically correct us to death.