Six Iraqi men are suing American Airlines in Detroit for being detained and missing their flight after a passenger told a guard she heard them speaking Arabic, according to a Nov. 1, 2007 Associated Press article.
Detaining Iraqis at airports may seem like old news, but the men were returning from teaching Marines about Iraqi culture at Camp Pendleton in California.
"These are some of the most pro-American people around," said Lawrence T. Garcia, the men's lawyer in the Associated Press article. "There's no reason to suspect that these people were a threat on this airline...this is the face of prejudice and racism that happens today."
After the attacks of Sept. 11, fear of repeat hijackings are high. However, no planes have been hijacked since that dark day in September according.
All passengers are paying customers and deserve to be treated equally, no matter what their religion, language or appearance. Yet, the Department of Homeland Security seems to think that all Muslims look the same.
SC cuts its losses on "Favorite Son"
TV satirist deemed not a serious candidate in South Carolina
South Carolina Democrats have no sense of humor, after voting 13 to 3 against putting Stephen Colbert on the ballot on Nov. 1.
The process of getting on the presidential ballot in the state of South Carolina proved more difficult than it should have been.
Colbert had originally intended to put his name of the ballot for both the Democratic and Republican parties. Immediately, the Republican side of the aisle proved too hard to break; Colbert was going to have to pay a registration fee of $35,000 to get his name on the ballot - not going to happen.
The Democrats, on the other hand, only charged a fee of $2,500, mere pocket change compared to the Republican's requirement. However, the Democrats were going to have to cover the rest of the $20,000 fee. Endorsing such a lackadaisical candidate at such a high price was an investment the Democrats didn't want to make.
But if the Democrats are suddenly fiscally responsible (two words that don't normally describe the group at hand), why then were they willing to support former Alaskan Senator Mike Gravel? His campaign is relatively non-existent, yet he's on the South Carolina ballot.
However comical Colbert's platform may have been, promising to crush the state of Georgia because South Carolina's peaches are "more plentiful and juiciful" (USA Today), it may have been to the Democrats' advantage to have such a name on the ballot. Colbert and his nationally renowned television show would have been a great to pursue the 18-30 demographic.
Instead there are names like Dennis Kucinich on the ballot, who is as whiny as he is unnoticeable.
Even if people like Gravel and Kucinich are wasting time and money in the electoral process, they are still there representing a faction of the American people. They are issue raisers, and Colbert would have been the same.
The qualifications of person wanting to be president are simply laid out by the US constitution: they must be a US citizen and over the age of 35. Yet in the modern world, there is another requirement set by the unwritten constitution: political parties require you to show the money.
Jesse "The Body" Ventura, Arnold "The Terminator" Schwarzenegger and Fred "Law and Order" Thompson are prime examples of entertainment figures allowed to run for serious offices, and yet Colbert was not. The question is: Why?
It comes down to that fact that political parties are screening candidates for the people. It's happened in the past, but the Colbert candidacy has brought the issue to the forefront.
The founding fathers, however much they were responsible for creating the party system, would not be pleased with the state of things. The political parties are screening the candidates for the American people.
What people need to realize is that they are smart enough to choose a president for themselves. Even with the election of George W. Bush, people have redeemed their mistakes and come back around to elect a virtuous executive. Why do the parties doubt the populace?
The fact that presidential campaigns come down to money, as it has with Colbert, attests to the obstruction (of what?) that the party system puts on the American republic.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
