Profiles in SensibilityI'm sure the NY Times will moan
about this story. A bunch of passengers refused to allow their plane to depart until two Asians they suspected of being potential terrorists were removed. It starts out sounding like paranoia and racism, but note this detail:
Passengers noticed that, despite the heat, the pair were wearing leather jackets and thick jumpers and were regularly checking their watches.
Initially, six passengers refused to board the flight. On board the aircraft, word reached one family. To the astonishment of cabin crew, they stood up and walked off, followed quickly by others.The Tory Party was quick to show why its lost three straight elections:
Patrick Mercer, the Tory Homeland Security spokesman, said last night: "This is a victory for terrorists. These people on the flight have been terrorised into behaving irrationally.
"For those unfortunate two men to be victimised because of the colour of their skin is just nonsense."Of course, the passengers were not behaving irrationally. They assessed a risk and decided it was unacceptable. It appears that the men were not terrorists, since they were flown to England on another flight the next day (probably after checking through their leather coats).
