No shtick here, comrades. This Annie Jacobsen/Flight 327 thing worries me. A lot. The terrorists have got us on the run. We ARE freaking out, contrary to the advice of the air marshal.
In case anyone hasn't seen it, this report notes:
LOS ANGELES July 22, 2004 – Undercover federal air marshals on board a June 29 Northwest airlines flight from Detroit to LAX identified themselves after a passenger, "overreacted," to a group of middle-eastern men on board, federal officials and sources have told KFI NEWS.The passenger, later identified as Annie Jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service.
...
The source said the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned Jacobsen’s actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves.
Air marshals’ only tactical advantage on a flight is their anonymity, the source said, and Jacobsen could have put the entire flight in danger.
...
“We don’t freak out in situations like this,” the air marshal responded.
Throughout the VRWC blogosphere, which I openly claim membership in, Armed Liberal at Winds of Change and Donald Sensing seem to be the only Conservative bloggers to view this with any perspective at all. Michelle Malkin, whom I generally respect, continues to bang the drum, noting the expired passports of the Syrian musicians. Her post is accompanied (at last count) by 14 trackbacks. I didn't read them all, but the excerpts seemed laudatory. (If I missed something here, send me an email or Comment or TB, and I'll fix it.)
Comrades, please. We are playing into the terrorists hands here. Frankly, I don't give a damn about these musicians' civil rights. As far as that goes, let's just say that I am in favor of non-PC, intrusive, (even insulting) profiling, to make our airspace safe. I only care a little more about their expired passports. Anyone who thinks that Ms. Jacobsen and the overreactive blogsphere have helped "tighten things up" or "called attention to a danger," are kidding themselves. That's pretty thin lemonade to make out of this lemon.
We are freaking out. Panicking. Overreacting. Getting jumpy. For Chrissakes, GET A GRIP, comrades. We (I mean Ms. Jacobsen) are, by the words of our federal air security officials, a creating a danger in the air. What if some jumpy asshole, inspired by Ms. Jacobsen, had decided to "move on the cabin?" Comments like "eject them midair" were made. (Now there's a thought.)
The war on terror will be long. And hard. Courageous soldiers are dying in Iraq as part of that war. Courage. Hemingway defined courage as "grace under pressure." We gotta show a little of that too, comrades.