Eugene Robinson is one of the most predictable summoners of my dyspepsia. In this article, he informs us that the case of "Jihad Jane" (white, little, female) proves the folly of profiling and raises the necessity of all of us having to take off our shoes.
Nonsense.
The overwhelming majority of terrorists we are targeting are male, young, and hail from predominately Islamic nations. Any effort designed to weight evaluation of such people higher than others is rational and efficient. Any system in which such people are not weighted more heavily is irrational and inefficient. The presence of a Jihad Jane does not change the numbers, the proportions or the efficiencies.
Robinson is inveighing against profiling because it makes certain people feel bad. This is insufficient grounds for discontinuing it.
Showing posts with label eugene robinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eugene robinson. Show all posts
Saturday, March 13, 2010
Friday, November 6, 2009
On What Passes For Political Analysis From Eugene Robinson
Pulitzer Prize (ooh, ahh) winning columnist Eugene Robinson treats us to this bit of doggerel summing up his thoughts on election night 2009. Typically insightful thoughts include the following:
"The big story from Tuesday's vote ought to be that independents, who gave Democrats their sweeping victory last November, went with the Republicans this time in New Jersey and Virginia. Indeed, Democrats are trying to figure out what this means. Given President Obama's continuing personal popularity, has his cool, nonconfrontational, consensus-building style been the right strategy all along? Or, as some on the left believe, did a lack of fight and fervor leave independents cold? Or was it all about the unemployment numbers?"
Robinson correctly identifies the "big story" from the election--that independents went over to the Republicans. His attempt however, to dissect the issue from the perspective of "Democrats" (but not him of course. He's a journalist), falls laughably short. Providing us with a choice of two possibilities--Robinson posits that the loss may have been because of a lack of emotion on the part of Dems OR unemployment numbers. Um---could it have been that the there has been disappointment with independents at the performance of the man who romanced them in the Presidential election? Could it be that they've measured the man and found him wanting, along with his policies? Could it be that there is a genuine movement in the country expressing serious doubt about the wisdom of moving forward with a decidedly neo-socialist program, and that that movement found voice in the election?
Nah. Those folks are all just Sarah Palin zombies. Nothing more to that--move along.
"The big story from Tuesday's vote ought to be that independents, who gave Democrats their sweeping victory last November, went with the Republicans this time in New Jersey and Virginia. Indeed, Democrats are trying to figure out what this means. Given President Obama's continuing personal popularity, has his cool, nonconfrontational, consensus-building style been the right strategy all along? Or, as some on the left believe, did a lack of fight and fervor leave independents cold? Or was it all about the unemployment numbers?"
Robinson correctly identifies the "big story" from the election--that independents went over to the Republicans. His attempt however, to dissect the issue from the perspective of "Democrats" (but not him of course. He's a journalist), falls laughably short. Providing us with a choice of two possibilities--Robinson posits that the loss may have been because of a lack of emotion on the part of Dems OR unemployment numbers. Um---could it have been that the there has been disappointment with independents at the performance of the man who romanced them in the Presidential election? Could it be that they've measured the man and found him wanting, along with his policies? Could it be that there is a genuine movement in the country expressing serious doubt about the wisdom of moving forward with a decidedly neo-socialist program, and that that movement found voice in the election?
Nah. Those folks are all just Sarah Palin zombies. Nothing more to that--move along.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
