Any remaining shred of trust that Tom Ridge is looking out for our best interests vanished this morning. Rather than abjectly appologizing to Mr. Yusef Islam for the unseemly treatment he received, and admitting that his organization acted like overzealous trained monkeys, he makes a public statement supporting the action, and saying that “appropriate action was taken.”
If this action was appropriate, why are they so reticent to tell their reasons? Why the refusal to say what exactly it is that makes him a danger to have on our soil? Are we afraid that people will start singing “Peace Train” and realize that our government is engaged in activities that are going the wrong way down the tracks?
While I have no trouble understanding a clueless uneducated trained monkey TSA “officer” at the airport making this decision by the books (it’s evident that the TSA “officers” aren’t the sharpest noodles in the cabinet) for Tom Ridge to stand behind this decision, and then have the audacity to joke about Cat Stevens being his favorite artist, removes any illusion that this organization is about anything other than publicity and warm fuzzies. Naturally, if they block Cat Stevens from entering the country because he has an islamic name, then *surely* they are keeping out the *really* dangerous people, right?
Sorry, Tom, I just don’t buy it any more. I mean, I didn’t buy it before, but at least I thought that *you* were serious about it. Now I realize that it’s all just a big publicity stunt, and not even you take it seriously.
Oh, and I found amusing the use of the word “Kafkaesque” in reference to the TSA’s actions. I mean, come on folks, what are the chances that any of these folks have read Kafka, or would have an inkling of what he was saying if they did?