The New York Times would have editorialized that the men were victims of “flying while Muslim.” The government would have been pressured to change its security procedures to make sure Muslims received no scrutiny when they tried to board planes. Instead of talking about “connecting the dots” the mainstream media would have tried to avoid reporting on the existence of dots. (Why were so many Muslim young men trying to board the same plane? Why did they have utility knives? Why so many one-way tickets?)
There will always be those who aim to ignore the obvious. “Could the alleged crime spree have been prevented if he had been escorted by a male deputy?” Annie Chiappetta at ABCNews.com wondered about the Nichols case in 2005. “Law enforcement experts and Nichols’ own lawyer think not.” Uh, right.
In a similar vein, many today are eager to ignore Hasan’s religious outbursts. “As great a tragedy as this was, it would be a shame if our diversity became a casualty as well,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey told CNN. “I’m concerned that this increased speculation could cause a backlash against some of our Muslim soldiers.”
There’s no backlash, of course. And there never has been. Not after the 1998 embassy bombings in Africa. Not after the 2000 attack on the USS Cole. Not after the September 11 attacks. Not after Ft. Hood. And there won’t be after the next attack by Islamist extremists, either.
Our military has, for years, been colorblind. People got ahead based on the “content of their character” rather than the color of their skin or their gender. Sadly, even the military has started embracing political correctness. Hasan is a big example of that.
As a smaller example, the Navy changed the composition of the color guard it sent to Yankee Stadium for a World Series game last month. “Midshipman 2nd Class Hannah Allaire was selected because her presence would make the service academy look more diverse before a national audience,” The Washington Post explained on Veteran’s Day. Maybe the Navy’s new campaign should be “celebrate diversity, fraudulently.”
As a nation, we need to worry about the threat of Islamic extremists and political correctness, not the threat of a backlash. Political correctness kills. If we don’t drop our insistence on it, we’ll find ourselves mourning more victims.