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A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Webber on 5/8/2004; 12:35 AM May 6th, 2004. I'm sitting in a room at the Tivoli Student Union near the Denver Auraria Campus. I'm there with almost 20 like minded "America haters", also known as liberals and Dennis Kucinich/Mike Miles supporters and delegates. Sitting not too far from me (about four chairs to my right) is an incredibly attractive Arabic women. I try not to glance at her too often as I'm there to learn what it is I'll be doing as a Democratic delegate to the County, State, and Gods-willing National Conventions. Soon, the topic drifts, as topics do, to what's gone wrong, personally, professionally, nationally, since a man who was drunk until he was 40 was (maybe) elected to the Presidency of the United States. The young Arab women I'd been sneaking looks at gets up to tell her story. This is her story, told with as much detail as I could remember (Note to self: Save up to buy a digital voice recorder so I stop missing this stuff). Her name is Khadija Qadri, a fairly recent immigrant to the United States, but not so recent that she isn't a fully registered Democrat, and a strong supporter of the liberal Congresman from Ohio that all of us in that room had their faith restored by. She's young, I didn't get her exact age. Wether she never said it, or no one ever asked, I don't know. Not too long ago, Khadjia, a Denver resident like myself, has a meeting, a sort of clubhouse gathering of liberal Arab-Americans, most of whom are Kucinich supporters. A white women asks her, quite politely, why she's having so many people over. Khadjia tells the truth. Arab men and women there to talk about Dennis J. Kucinich, a Presidential Candidate whose platform includes a cabinet level Department of Peace, and more support of the United Nations. Or as most Conservatives I know would so nicely put it, "faggy commie bullshit." The woman who was not named, probably out of politeness, seemed interested, then went on her merry way. Cut to, a few days later. A man claiming to be from the Secret Service calls her at work, and DEMANDS that she come down to their office. She flat out refuses. If it's important enough to bother her, and her co-workers (more on that later), they can come see her. They do. At her apartment. She invites the two fairly large men the SS sent in, but politely asks that they remove their shoes before entry. Not surprisngly, the Servicemen ignore this, and come in, telling Ms. Qadri that the reason they are there, the reason she's being investigated, is that they (the Secret Service) received an anonymous tip, that Khadjia was hosting a group of Arab terrorists who were planning the assassination of President Bush. Apparently, in addition to investigating threats against Dubya's life, they also send agents to harras people who represent an electoral threat. I wonder how many Arab Kerry voters have faed similar situations. She later found out that the Secret Service had spent the day talking to her co-workers, badgering them to tell them everything they knew about her, fishing I would guess. Khadjia told the crowd there that day, and no one disagreed, that she was smart not to go down to their office, and she should also contact the ACLU. She's already in touch with the Arab-American Council in Washington D.C. So, to summarize, this kind young woman was a target for investigation becuase she was 1, Arab, 2, a Democrat, and 3, a Kucitizen, like me. I know, I know. Paranoia you'll all call it. I usually am called paranoid whenever I'm right. If this had been a simple misunderstanding, as I'm sure a few of you VoU readers will suggest, then why were her co-workers told not to tell her they'd ben asked questions (obviously they didn't follow that 'advice' which seems like something the secret police of a backwater banana republic would give)? Why were two beefy agents sent to her home, when she lives alone and is only about 5' 6" and almost too thin? And why would they be so damned rude? Being an avid watcher of crime specials on Discovery Channel, I've seen child molesters who get more common courtesy. What other conclusion can one reach here, then racial and political profiling? Or maybe the definition of "a clear and present threat to the President" has been loosened to include those who could be a threat to Bush poltically. I.E. those of us who plan to vote his smirking ass out of the office that to this day, I'm not convinced he legitamtely won in the first place. You tell me.
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Carnell on 5/8/2004; 12:59 AM I have something to post about this, but before putting in the effort, can we confirm that Brian actually wrote this article (not trying to be snarky, it's just I almost cricitized him over his last post which turned out to be something he hadn't even written).
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Webber on 5/8/2004; 1:03 AM What makes you think I didn't? To be honest, it's ben obvious (or at least should've ben) all the times I've plagarized in the past. Nope, this one is the real deal. I was really there, and I really wanted to tell Khadjia's story, and realy thought she was cute (and, as always, I was too chicken to ask her out).
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Webber on 5/8/2004; 1:09 AM Oh, before Mark looks, I've also posted this on hannitysucks.com. For some reason though it came up as an "anonymous" posting. I've also put it up on my Blog (greymoran.blog-city.com), and have submitted it to DemocracyMeansYou.com, though it hasn't been approved yet. And I'll probably put it up at NitCentral. Oh, and I also posted it on the Forum at SurveyCentral.org.
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Carnell on 5/8/2004; 1:20 AM "What makes you think I didn't?" Because every time I start to post something about something you posted, Mark usually ends up posting that it was plagiarized. Anyway, 1. I have no idea what you meant by these two sentences, "Not surprisngly, the Servicemen ignore this, and come in, telling Ms. Qadri that the reason they are there, the reason she's being investigated, is that they (the Secret Service) received an anonymous tip, that Khadjia was hosting a group of Arab terrorists who were planning the assassination of President Bush. Apparently, in addition to investigating threats against Dubya's life, they also send agents to harras people who represent an electoral threat." So, if the Secret Service receives an anonymous tip about a meeting being held to plan the assassination of the president, it should assume that instead it's simply a Dennis Kucinich get together and not bother to investigate? Frankly, I don't see the outrage here. 2. "So, to summarize, this kind young woman was a target for investigation becuase she was 1, Arab, 2, a Democrat, and 3, a Kucitizen, like me. I know, I know." No, as you've already pointed out, she was questioned by the Secret Service due to an anonymous tip apparently falsely claiming she was part of a terrorist network. 3. "Her name is Khadija Qadri,. . .She's young, I didn't get her exact age." She's 39. Those of us in our 30s thank you for characterizing her as young. 4. " a fairly recent immigrant to the United States, but not so recent that she isn't a fully registered Democrat, and a strong supporter of [Kucinich] . . ." Well, duh. She's originally from Saudi Arabia and actively protests, etc. on behalf of the Palestians. She posts things online like this,
and this,
(Makes about as much sense as "Seems like Saudi Muslims are a bunch of retarded cowards and illiterate hicks"). She's exactly the sort of person Kucinich is trying to reach out to! If there were 40 million people like her, Kucinich would be on his way to being president.
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Webber on 5/8/2004; 1:45 AM Because every time I start to post something about something you posted, Mark usually ends up posting that it was plagiarized. I think that's a bit of an exageration. 1. I have no idea what you meant by these two sentences, "Not surprisngly, the Servicemen ignore this, and come in, telling Ms. Qadri that the reason they are there, the reason she's being investigated, is that they (the Secret Service) received an anonymous tip, that Khadjia was hosting a group of Arab terrorists who were planning the assassination of President Bush. Apparently, in addition to investigating threats against Dubya's life, they also send agents to harras people who represent an electoral threat." So, if the Secret Service receives an anonymous tip about a meeting being held to plan the assassination of the president, it should assume that instead it's simply a Dennis Kucinich get together and not bother to investigate? Frankly, I don't see the outrage here. 1, how do we know it was an "anonymous" tip? Though not provable, it seems highly likely the white girl in the story was the culprit. And really, are we going to assume "terrorists" every gorram time we see kmore then 2 Arabs in the same place? Their rudeness and treating her like a criminal (ever hear of innocent until proven guilty?) is where the outrage is. 2. "So, to summarize, this kind young woman was a target for investigation becuase she was 1, Arab, 2, a Democrat, and 3, a Kucitizen, like me. I know, I know." No, as you've already pointed out, she was questioned by the Secret Service due to an anonymous tip apparently falsely claiming she was part of a terrorist network. Yep, and like I said, where else could a false tip come from but from a pro-Bush bigot? 3. "Her name is Khadija Qadri,. . .She's young, I didn't get her exact age." She's 39. Those of us in our 30s thank you for characterizing her as young. Really? OK, 1 I had no idea she was on-line, and two, she looked younger than 39 to me. But then again, I do have a hisotry of being attracted to older women. 4. " a fairly recent immigrant to the United States, but not so recent that she isn't a fully registered Democrat, and a strong supporter of [Kucinich] . . ." Well, duh. She's originally from Saudi Arabia and actively protests, etc. on behalf of the Palestians. She posts things online like this, The Jews of Israel have forgotton about the Holocaust. They are doing the same thing to the Palestinians while Bush/Blair keep promising for securing a Palestinian State. I know I'll falsely be accused of anti-Semitism (again) when I say this, but isn't that what the Ultra Coservtaive in Israel are doing? Repeating the patterns of the Nazis? I even read a transcript of an Ariel Sharon speech where he used the phrase, "final solution." I'm not even Jewish and that made me cringe. I screamed at the paper, "Watch Schindler's List you idiot!" and this, Seems like American military are bunch of retarded cowards and illiterate hicks! Without the guns, they would be hiding their brainless heads in the ground. So? While it's unfair to paint ALL American servicemen and women with the "idiot" brush, have you been seeing the same pictures on the news I have? Hell, even before the whole prison torture scandal, there was video footage of an American soldier randomly gunning down people in Fallujah. And frankly, that thing you showed didn't sound anything like the articulate, intelligent, and soft-spoken person I met. Maybe she was just in a bad mood when she wrote that? I mean you of all people should know what people can type in the heat of of the moment. You've been reading my stuff for how many years now? :-) Actually, that brings up an interesting point. I've used pretty harsh language to decry specific military actions in the past. How come no one has ever gone on Google to dredge them up and use them against me? To be perfectly honest, it would probably work, as a lot of what I said is, shall we say, not the kind of thing you could say on TV without getting bleeped? (Makes about as much sense as "Seems like Saudi Muslims are a bunch of retarded cowards and illiterate hicks"). Uh, Bri, I seem to recall you making a few sweeping generalizations about people who've opposed and continue to oppose the action in Iraq. Granted, you never called any of us hicks (and I apprecaite that BTW), but still... She's exactly the sort of person Kucinich is trying to reach out to! If there were 40 million people like her, Kucinich would be on his way to being president. OK, now that was just mean! How about you actually look up what Dennis stands for before you insinuate anything so baseless? http://www.kucinich.us. And obviously there ARE 40 Million mean people out there. How else do you explain Bush being Pres, Survivor being a hit, and gun crime being on the rise again?
Re: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Mark Morgan on 5/8/2004; 1:53 AM Provisionally, there is nothing in Google's index with the exact opening of your piece. I also checked a couple of sentences from the middle. I'm sorry, Brian W., but suspicion is inevitable at this point.
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Mark Morgan on 5/8/2004; 10:45 AM Brian Carnell: "No, as you've already pointed out, she was questioned by the Secret Service due to an anonymous tip apparently falsely claiming she was part of a terrorist network." Brian Webber: "Yep, and like I said, where else could a false tip come from but from a pro-Bush bigot?" A straight-out racist? Somebody who has watched too much television and is terrified out of their minds that the Nasty Muslims are trying to blow up their neighborhood? (There are several theories in the Communication Studies field that people who are exposed to a lot of modern media tend to exaggerate the danger in their community. All of my college research is boxed up or long gone, but for example the rate of violent crimes in the US continues to go down but people still feel unsafe. After watching a night of evening news, no wonder!) Pro-Kunich people who don't want to be associated with her Israel-baiting? I'm speculating, but point is so are you and there's no way to know. I agree that a lot of the nonsense that is going on in the wake of the September 11th attacks on the United States is foolish. Airport security regulations are not making us any safer. And we're talking about an organization that cannot tell the difference between reality and fantasy in computer crimes. But if the Secret Service did not investigate every threat to the President's life they wouldn't be doing their job. Based on what you've written this, while frustrating, is hardly an abuse of power.
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Webber on 5/10/2004; 2:02 AM I was gonna write an admittedly long-winded rebuttal to what you and Carnell had said, and I think it would've been good too, espeically since an anti-NAFTA, anti-WTO speech I gave at the Denver county Democratic convention went over like fuckin' Gang Busters. But then my good friend Susan at Survey Central made an excellent point. Rather then give the Cliff Notes version and risk an unintentional distorting of her words, I'll just post it here in it's entirety. It still amazes me my 'sister' ended their relationship. Anyway... Well, Brian, I agree that they were wrong to harrass her, and they shouldn't have been so rude about it. But I have to say that I'm skeptical that it had anything to do with the fact that she was having a political meeting. I tend to think that they really were looking into the possibility that she was hosting a group planning terrorist activities. If our stupid government insists on looking into people they suspect are possible terrorists, they could at least be nice about it. I mean, be polite until they have reason not to be. It wouldn't seem so horrible to me if they went and asked her some questions about what she was up to. If a neighbor of mine called the police because they thought I was up to something illegal and the police came to ask me about it, I wouldn't have a problem answering their questions and setting them straight about the suspicions, as long as they didn't treat me like I was guilty before they knew all the facts. I mean, if someone is innocent, they shouldn't have a problem with answering a few questions. The problem is that there's such a thin line between keeping the neighborhood safe and coming down on people like Big Brother. I think it's another instance of our society going to one extreme or the other, when we really should be somewhere in the middle.
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Webber on 5/10/2004; 2:01 AM Provisionally, there is nothing in Google's index with the exact opening of your piece. I also checked a couple of sentences from the middle. I'm sorry, Brian W., but suspicion is inevitable at this point. Oh boy, paranoia time. Now I'm constantly going to bea fraid that somethign I write will be similar to something somewhere else that I actually haven't read and end up facing charges of plagarism. Hey, it has a presedence in real life, so it happening on the 'Net isn't exactly a stretch. For all I know it already has happened. I bet if you Googled some of the content of The Virgin Father... Nah, probably not. Forget I said anything, I'm just being paranoid.
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Seth Dillingham on 5/10/2004; 9:51 AM On 5/10/04, Brian Webber said: >If our stupid government insists on looking into people they suspect >are possible terrorists, they could at least be nice about it. Hah hah... thank you Brian, that was funny. Seth
RE: A Loose Definition of "Threat." By: Brian Webber on 5/10/2004; 9:04 PM Well, I agree it was funny, but I really don't deserve the credit. It was Susan who said it, not me.
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