A GOP candidate's promise: Racial profiling
Airports should only screen people who "look like" terrorists, says Republican congressional primary hopeful Dan Fanelli in a new TV spot
How can a GOP candidate distinguish himself in a crowded Florida congressional primary? For Dan Fanelli, a Tea Party enthusiast and former airline pilot, the answer was easy: Make a TV ad that promotes racial profiling as the best way to catch terrorists. In the spot, Fanelli (a long shot to take on Democratic incumbent Alan Grayson) points to a middle-aged white man and asks, "Does this look like a terrorist?" Then a younger, darker-skinned man steps up and Fanelli says, "Or does this?" Good god, says Jed Lewison in Daily Kos. Racial profiling isn't just "hateful"—it doesn't work. If we made it policy, we'd be "giving terrorists a guide on how to avoid being detected." The ad, says Greg Sargent in The Washington Post, is a signal of a growing tension in America, the "larger argument over the Arizona law, terrorism, and racial profiling." Watch a local Fox station's news report here:
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