December 27, 2005
Muslims' "Privacy Violations"
Neil Steinberg for the Chicago Sun-Times has this to say about the complaining by certain Muslim groups that their privacy is being unduly invaded.
Would you feel offended -- persecuted, oppressed, trod upon -- if you discovered that the federal government had parked a van outside your church, bowling league, supper club, sniffing the air for excess radiation as part of a larger attempt to keep terrorists from blowing up an atom bomb in the center of the Loop?
Me neither.
So though this spot usually waves the flag for privacy, it holds less than the usual sympathy for the protests from Muslim groups, who feel wronged because the government for some strange reason feels that future terrorism might come from their direction, and has conducted a few rather desultory checks for heightened radiation levels.
Ignoring reality is a luxury we can't afford. It is ludicrous to waste limited security resources patting down Lutheran grandmothers as a smoke screen for checking guys from Saudi Arabia. Muslims in America have a legitimate grievance, but not with the United States government. I wonder how much they complain to those elements of their own culture that have placed them in this awkward situation in the first place? My bet: not much.
As John over at Marathon Pundit notes (and a big h/t to him for finding this article), Steinberg isn't a "fire breathing conservative." It'll be interesting to see if Steinberg gets the cold shoulder from his fellow libs regarding this bit of common sense coming forth from his keyboard...
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