# Congrats, yer a hysterical bigot, lady, righty radio & lefty media both proud **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 21, 2004, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137 "2004-07-21T04:27:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/61 "2004-07-23T17:06:30Z")
LOL Marshalls say that Jacobsen was a bigger security concern for them than the Syrians: [http://www.kfi640.com/ericleonard.html](http://www.kfi640.com/ericleonard.html) > [@](#): > > The passenger, later identified as Annie Jacobsen, was in danger of panicking other passengers and creating a larger problem on the plane, according to a source close to the secretive federal protective service. > > … > > “The lady was overreacting,” said the source. “A flight attendant was told to tell the passenger to calm down; that there were air marshals on the plane.” > > “We have to take all calls seriously, but the passenger was worried, not the flight crew or the federal air marshals,” she said. “The complaint did not stem from the flight crew.” > > … > > The source said the air marshals on the flight were partially concerned Jacobsen’s actions could have been an effort by terrorists or attackers to create a disturbance on the plane to force the agents to identify themselves. > > Air marshals’ only tactical advantage on a flight is their anonymity, the source said, and **Jacobsen could have put the entire flight in danger.** So, let’s keep score: the passengers were searched along with everybody else before and after they were on the plane. Marshalls watched them, but weren’t particularly worried by them: however Jacobsen was making trouble, so they tried to find ways to quietly calm her down. Just to make sure, they checked up on the Syrians completely afterwards and found that their story checked out. Let’s say that again: **Jacobsen was the only one they considered to be a serious threat to everyone’s security on the plane.** And yet, the conclusion that conservatives draw from this whole ridiculous episode is that _racial profiling isn’t being used aggresively enough._ Are you shitting me? Are we ever going to see any sort of retraction or apology from these nutjobs? ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/62 "2004-07-23T17:30:23Z")
That’s priceless, **Apos**. Thanks for posting the link. ---
**Author:** ![GaWd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f08c70/32.png) [@GaWd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaWd)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/63 "2004-07-23T17:32:33Z")
[QUOTE=Apos] Let’s say that again: **Jacobsen was the only one they considered to be a serious threat to everyone’s security on the plane.** And yet, the conclusion that conservatives draw from this whole ridiculous episode is that _racial profiling isn’t being used aggresively enough._ [QUOTE] Ooh. The irony. 😃 Unfortunately, there are enough bigots in America to keep the myth of this event and subsequent fears of evil brown people on jets alive and well. Sam ---
**Author:** ![Orbifold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/779978/32.png) [@Orbifold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orbifold)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/64 "2004-07-23T17:42:47Z")
I think I’d like to retract my previously stated desire about seating Annie Jacobsen next to Syrian people. My desires to see her discomfited, while emotionally satisfying to me, would clearly increase the risk that Annie Jacobsen poses to her fellow passengers. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/65 "2004-07-23T17:55:01Z")
And in other “hysterically paranoid racist overreaction” news, [here’s a guy](http://www.brownequalsterrorist.com/) (in my lily-white hometown of Seattle, no less) who was stopped by police and then subsequently by actual Homeland Security agents for taking pictures at a tourist location because he had darker skin than the other picture-takers around him. Great link, **Apos.** ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/66 "2004-07-24T01:56:32Z")
Apos, you’re my personal hero for posting that. Can I have your children? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/67 "2004-07-24T14:10:01Z")
Yes, you may. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/68 "2004-07-24T15:57:18Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Do you specialize in being thick-skulled, or is it just something you were born with? No. I’ll defer to you as the award-winner in that category. > [@](#): > > Time and time again people here, including me, the OP Oooooh yes, **Apos** the OP. Allow me to congratulate you on this big-time venture into thread-starting. > [@](#): > > …have pointed out that there’s nothing bigoted with fear or gut reactions or even suspicion. It translates over into bigotry when she tries to draw ridiculous conclusions based on the exact opposite of what the facts later showed. You want to claim she was overreacting, fine. Using “Bigot!” as a club just shows that you have no idea what bigotry really is. What most air travelers will want to know is that airport security people do not let fears of seeming the tiniest bit predjudiced trump their ability to do their jobs. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2004, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/69 "2004-07-24T16:00:40Z")
Nice, Apos. I think the band that was on Jacobsen’s flight should change their band name to “Terror in the Skies”. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/70 "2004-07-25T01:48:34Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > No. I’ll defer to you as the award-winner in that category.Oooooh yes, **Apos** the OP. Allow me to congratulate you on this big-time venture into thread-starting.You want to claim she was overreacting, fine. Using “Bigot!” as a club just shows that you have no idea what bigotry really is. Note to Jackmannii: when trying to defend your intelligence, please don’t repeat the exact same oversight that was just pointed out to you. Again: overreacting is human. Everyone, including me, agrees/d with that. But defending that overreaction in the face of contrary followup facts and insisting that the evil Arab men must be terrorists and your overreaction was actually a deep insight into how dangerous Arab men are and how we must keep a closer eye on them: if that’s not bigotry, then nothing is. If your goofy “congratulations” is your way of avoiding the fact that this has been pointed out to you twice, and you’ve now twice demonstrated that you’ve missed the point even with fair warning… well. It’s too bad for you that the goal of life isn’t to fail at everything. Though, if it was, I’m sure you’d still find some way to fail. > [@](#): > > What most air travelers will want to know is that airport security people do not let fears of seeming the tiniest bit predjudiced trump their ability to do their jobs. Which makes her even more or an idiot. It’s clear from the facts that the security people gave the men extra checks due to their country of origin and racial makeup. Given that they were admirably performing their jobs, the only security threat was, let’s say it again for effect, Jacobsen HERSELF. Now, run along and take a flying fuck at the moon. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/71 "2004-07-25T01:54:17Z")
Based on actual incidents and arrests of Al Qaeda members boarding planes, this improved racial profiling should target British-Jamaicans with remodeled shoes and Puerto Ricans from Chicago. If we expand it to include all bombers, not just the 9/11 ones, that includes Army vets from Buffalo. If it’s all armed religious zealots, add preachers from Waco. Or perhaps profiling should be behavioral instead of racial? Just perhaps? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/72 "2004-07-25T03:05:25Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Note to Jackmannii: when trying to defend your intelligence, please don’t repeat the exact same oversight that was just pointed out to you. Sometimes (as in your case) people reveal their worst fears and insecurities with their choice of invective. Seeing that, it was only natural to return serve. I’m sorry you’re so steamed up about it. Personally, I think it’s rather childish to (as you did earlier with another poster) to treat disagreement as an opportunity to rant “I think I’m going to call you a fucking liar, you fucking liar”. If you think that pitiful piece of playground crap is an example of sophisticated invective, I feel sorry for you. To move on to your misattributions and selective quotes\*: > [@](#): > > But (Jacobsen’s) … insisting that the evil Arab men must be terrorists and your overreaction was actually a deep insight into how dangerous Arab men are and how we must keep a closer eye on them: if that’s not bigotry, then nothing is. Got any cite demonstrating that she said that Arab men are generically dangerous? As for your link “proving” that Jacobsen was a worse security threat than the people she was concerned about, here are a few details from the story that you, um, sorta missed: According to the Air Marshals spokesman quoted in the link, “the agents had been watching the men and chose to stay undercover.” They also searched the bathrooms after they were used by these passengers, FBI agents met the plane, there was followup surveillance etc. etc. All this because of one “panicky woman”? The semi-anonymous dismissal of the affair as being due to this one overreacting passenger who supposedly put everyone at risk, has an air of being a case of embarrassed and pissed-off federal officials seeking to deflect criticism. \*Don’t get me wrong here - you should still take great pride in _being the OP._ 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/73 "2004-07-25T03:15:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Sometimes (as in your case) people reveal their worst fears and insecurities with their choice of invective. I see you are yet again going to avoid the substance of the matter. You see, I at least bothered to address it before having some fun at your mental lassitude. Dinner before dessert. Again and again, you missed the point that gut reactions aren’t what inspired bigotry accusations. Continued claims about the men being terrorists on a dry run, all evidence to the contrary, and drawing conclusions that innocence means we much search for mroe guilt. That is. > [@](#): > > As for your link “proving” that Jacobsen was a worse security threat than the people she was concerned about, here are a few details from the story that you, um, sorta missed: According to the Air Marshals spokesman quoted in the link, “the agents had been watching the men and chose to stay undercover.” They also searched the bathrooms after they were used by these passengers, FBI agents met the plane, there was followup surveillance etc. etc. All this because of one “panicky woman”? Sigh. First of all, if you read more than just every other word, you’ll note that part of my point throughout is that the marshalls DID profile the guys: making Jacobsen’s hysterical whining about how PC-fears prevent marshalls from doing their jobs even more ridiculous. Second of all, “watching the men” isn’t exactly the same thing as calling in SWAT. Nowhere does it say that they were particularly worried about the men: they kept an eye on them, and when Jacobsen started freaking out, they made extra checks to follow up on her demands. The reason the article shows that Jacobsen was the only threat on the plane that say is, well, right where the marshall says that she was. Are you going to keep lining up the zingers, or are you done making a fool of yourself? ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/74 "2004-07-25T04:13:54Z")
No link to show where she said that all Arab men are dangerous? Nothing to support your claims of bigotry apart from an over-inflated sense of moral outrage? I think we’ve established just who the hysteric and prima donna is here. ---
**Author:** ![Lilairen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lilairen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lilairen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/75 "2004-07-25T04:55:54Z")
> [@Orbifold](#): > > Oh sweet baby Jesus. > > Can we have a list please? Of those nationalities which can go to the bathroom in groups on airplanes without invoking a TSA investigation, and those who can take a fucking piss in peace? Or, say, choose to meet their religious obligations to regular prayer at specific hours in the privacy available to them rather than at their seats. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/76 "2004-07-25T13:35:38Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > No link to show where she said that all Arab men are dangerous? Nothing to support your claims of bigotry apart from an over-inflated sense of moral outrage? Seriously, this is the dumbest conversation I’ve had since I tried to talk to someone burnt out on LSD. First of all, there’s the original post, which contains two links to all the evidential material necessary for the case. Second of all, there’s the case itself that I and just about everyone else here but you have made based on those links as well as her continued experience complaining on television. I explained exactly why she’s a bigot: an explanation that you have twice now misrepresented, even when given training wheels and a helping hand. If you’d like to try again refuting the actual argument, we can all give you some time to study it so you don’t screw it up again. Otherwise, maybe you’d better take your wounded pride and limp off until next time. Pissy little non-sequitur posts like this aren’t gonna do it, and they certainly aren’t going to get you off the hook for twice looking the dumbass. These men were guilty of nothing more than being Arab. Given that, they were STILL profiled and checked out extensively. And yet, that’s not good enough for this woman. To her, their innocence can never be established, because they are, to her, boogeymen. Her initial fears were something just about anyone who lived through the last few years might feel on an airplane. But her reactions afterwards, after the facts came out, given the charged atmosphere, to play UP the event instead of playing it down, to take the actions of marshalls to try and calm her hysteria down as evidence that her hysteria was justified. Oh, baby: that’s something special. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/77 "2004-07-25T18:15:30Z")
Bluster and excursions into potty-mouth do not excuse or cover up your inability to provide the requested cite(s). ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/78 "2004-07-25T20:29:27Z")
I linked the links I needed and explained my reasoning already. You’re just stalling for time, and it’s not like it’s fooling anybody. You want to argue that she isn’t bigoted, go right ahead. I’ve made my case, and it seemed pretty compelling to everyone hear but yourself. So argue to the contrary. But don’t piss my time away asking for cites on an arguement that’s already been made. RtFA, dipshit. Then come back with something coherent. ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2004, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/79 "2004-07-26T23:08:30Z")
🆒 SNOPES has finally written on this I suggest you also read the linked stories > **[Annie Jacobsen 'Terror in the Skies'](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/terror-in-the-skies/)** > > Article details reporter's encounter with terrorists on U.S. airline flight. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Slacker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@Slacker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slacker)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137/80 "2004-07-27T02:58:46Z")
I just realized that one of my Sunday school kid’s parents are from Syria. **OMG WE’VE BEEN INFILTRATED** :eek: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/congrats-yer-a-hysterical-bigot-lady-righty-radio-lefty-media-both-proud/256137.md?page=5)