The Glam Gidget Diaries

One of the many reasons we don't see eye to eye...

I was cleaning out my hotmail account today when I decided to actually read one of the forwards my mother sent me earlier this summer...I generally avoid such email because they're usually worthless--surveys, gimics, chain letters, etc.--you know how it goes. I don't know why I chose to open this one, but it was titled "history test," and all I could think was--WTF? How unlike my mother to forward something like that...Then I opened it and saw it wasn't a history test, it was a "history" test, and I was reminded of why my parents despise the fact that they have a very liberal daughter...Here's what it entailed.

The email asked me to "Please pause a moment, reflect back, and take the following multiple choice test. The events are actual events from history. They actually happened! Do you remember?

(For one, don't get me started on the fact that whoever this is has already annoyed me with the pedantic, patronizing tone that assumes readers have the intellectual capacity of five year olds...not to mention that it's a bit redundant)

Then it starts off with a series of questions like this:

1. 1968 Bobby Kennedy was shot and killed by:
a. Superman
b. Jay Leno
c. Harry Potter

And by this time, I'm again thinking, WTF?? What kind of smart ass test is this? And then there's d:

d. a Muslim male extremist between the ages of 17 and 40.

Oh fantastic. It's one of those emails. Next question:

2. In 1972 at the Munich Olympics, athletes were killed and massacred by:

a. Olga Corbett
b. Sitting Bull
c. Arnold Schwarzenegger
d. Muslim male extremists mostly between the ages of 17 and 40.

First of all, let's ignore the over-the-top options that are constructed in a horribly offensive manner--pitting absolutely ridiculous and generally impossible options against the only answer that is left. Let's figure out what the "point" of this email is:

Nope, ......I really don't see a pattern here to justify profiling, do you? So, to ensure we Americans never offend anyone, particularly fanatics intent on killing us, airport security screeners will no longer be allowed to profile certain people. They must conduct random searches of 80-year-old women, little kids, airline pilots with proper identification, secret agents who are members of the President's security detail, 85-year old Congressmen with metal hips, and Medal of Honor winning and former Governor Joe Foss, but leave Muslim Males between the ages 17 and 40 alone lest they be guilty of profiling. Let's send this to as many people as we can so that the Gloria Aldreds and other dunder-headed attorneys along with Federal Justices that want to thwart common sense, feel doubly ashamed of themselves -- if they have any such sense. As the writer of the award winning story "Forrest Gump" so aptly put it, "Stupid is as stupid does."

Come on people wake up!!! Keep this going. Pass it on to everyone in your address book. Our Country and our troops need our support.
P. S. And guess who just bombed London?

Oh, "clever." Particularly the ending. This person's "skills" at arguing are just amazing--or rather appalling. Consider the following--how many extremists/terrorists/murderers do we have of every nationality in this world? I can think of a few very scary figures who are definitely not Muslim. (Ted Kazinski, Charles Manson, Timothy McVeigh???) This email makes it sound as though every terrorist is Muslim and every Muslim is a terrorist. That's not even the whole point, though. The email has already effectively proven itself ignorant. We can't just start searching and humiliating every Muslim or person of Middle Eastern descent that tries to get on an airplane--or go anywhere for that matter. As a country, we tend to throw the baby out with the bathwater (if I have to argue in trite cliches like the author of the email).--Take the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II or McCarthyism as examples of how we tend to overreact to events in the heat of the moment. A few people who have strong beliefs about something do not stand as a representative of the whole--and the whole should not be punished for what those others do. And they shouldn't just "accept it." That's ridiculous. YES, we should take precautions, and YES, we should be thorough--but for everyone. No one should be trusted OR distrusted based on nationality, religious beliefs, heritage, culture, skin color, etc...If we're going to have added security, fine. At least we'll know we're safe. But profiling in a democratic society is just wrong. I’m not the least bit offended by being searched at airports or having to open my bags for people—they’re doing their jobs and it actually makes me happy to see they aren’t just letting anyone slip by. I know I’m not doing anything wrong—so why do I care? If they search everyone that closely, than I can rest assured that I am as safe as they can make me. A few minutes of my time is well worth the human rights that would be sacrificed by selectively searching more extensively my fellow passengers.

I really wish I would stop receiving these emails.....It makes me sad to know my parents and others think this is a well-argued, rational email. I could say a great deal more about it, I could be a lot more formal in my argument, but for the time being I'm just venting in response to something I read. Had I been the one to instigate this discussion, I certainly would have gone about defending my view in a more efficient manner than the creator of this email.

posted by Glam Gidget @ 10:16 PM