Flying Imams Blog

Great new site for material related to The Flying Imams.

Found via Power Line, which has also been and I'm sure will continue to be an excellent resource of information related to these shakedown artists.

Lawsuits First, Safety Second

Debra Burlingame opines on the craven Democrats and their quest to protect CAIR and the Flying Imams rather than the American public.

This is the kind of no-brainer legislation that every member of Congress should vigorously support. Yet House Democrats reacted to King's proposal as if he'd thrown a bomb into the House chamber itself.

According to witnesses in the gallery and on the floor, Speaker Nancy Pelosi displayed a classic deer-in-the headlights look as the Democratic leadership went into a huddle - plainly eager, not to embrace this common-sense measure, but to sidetrack it.

Meanwhile, Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, took the floor to oppose King's motion - and to defend the lawsuit against John Does. "We should be tolerant," he argued; people shouldn't be singled out because they "look different."

In fact, the flying imams triggered concerns by a variety of unusual actions, as well as words that roused the concern of another Arabic-speaking passenger. Witnesses say that House members started booing Thompson.

Finally, a member of the leadership realized how this would look to Americans watching on C-SPAN: Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) was seen staring at Thompson and repeatedly drawing his hand across his throat - an urgent signal to get off the floor.

With Democrats realizing they couldn't argue against King's measure, it went to a vote, and passed, 304 to 121.

Every one of those 121 votes aimed at defeating protection for "John Does" was a Democrat - indeed, more than half of all Democrats present voted "nay."

And, with the exception of Rep. Anthony Weiner (Brooklyn), Democrats from the New York-New Jersey metro area led the way in voting against it.

Read the rest.

If the Democrats manage to sidetrack or excise this legislation in the Senate or in conference, they must pay in 2008. The American public should not and will not tolerate pandering to the goons from CAIR over their own security.

UPDATE: Michelle Malkin has John Doe vs. The Moonbats.

CAIR Thugs Proceed With Flying Imam Lawsuit

CAIR continues to push the envelope and I believe will justifiably suffer from the backlash.

And check out the quote from this piece.

The Muslim clerics say they were humiliated, and are seeking unspecified damages from the airline, the Minneapolis airport and, potentially, the John Does.

Omar Mohammedi, the New York City attorney for the imams, said the intent is not to go after passengers who raise valid concerns about security. But he suggested some passengers may have acted in bad faith out of prejudice.

"As an attorney, I have seen a lot of abuse by the general public when it comes to members of the community creating stories that do not exist," Mohammedi said.

Hello! Like making up false stories about nonexistent hate crimes?

The irony obviously escapes him.

UPDATE: More at Power Line.

The John Doe Protection Act

As noted last week, Rep. Steve Pearce introduced a bill which would protect the public from being named in lawsuits by scam artists like The Flying Imams and the thugs from CAIR. Well, good news today from the House (via Power Line).

House Republicans today surprised Democrats with a procedural vote to protect public-transportation passengers from being sued if they report suspicious activity -- the first step by lawmakers to protect "John Doe" airline travelers already targeted in a lawsuit by Muslim imams that charges profiling.

The introduction of a motion to recommit the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act of 2007 back to committee with instructions to add the protective language was introduced by Rep. Peter T. King, New York Republican and ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

Mr. King says all Americans, airline passengers included, must be protected from lawsuits if they report suspicious behavior that may foreshadow a terrorist attack.

A vote on the measure is expected tonight.

The language is based on a bill introduced last week by Rep. Steve Pearce, New Mexico Republican, to protect "John Does," or passengers targeted in the suit filed by six Muslim imams earlier this month in Minneapolis.

A Republican memo issued before the vote cites the November incident, in which the Muslim men were removed from a US Airways flight from Minneapolis to Phoenix for suspicious behavior, the details of which were first reported by The Washington Times.

As noted by The Jawa Report, the measure passed 304-121.

Take that, CAIR.

Meanwhile, the perpetually aggrieved whiners were up to some shenanigans today on C-SPAN, reports Marc Sheppard at The American Thinker.

Notwithstanding the moderator's televised reading from the Op-Ed, including those portions which clearly outlined the imams' startling behavior that triggered their removal, most of the callers stated that they were firmly behind the suit, blaming:

* The ignorance of White America
* Blatant Religious and Racial Profiling
* Americans' lack of knowledge about other cultures
* Denial of Freedom of Religion
* And, of course, President Bush

So, screaming anti-American slogans and words similar to the final cries of suicide bombers while changing assigned seats without authorization and brandishing potential restraints and weapons in a post-9/11 airplane cabin is within anybody's cultural or religious rights? Houston ... we've got a problem, a huge problem.

Adding fuel to this spreading fire is the fact that Washington Journal is as fair a call-in show as you're likely to find anywhere, with calls selected sequentially from Republican, Democratic and Independent lines. Yet the vast majority of callers appeared to have fallen hook, line, and sinker for CAIR's tactical rhetoric that the imams were innocent victims of discrimination. CAIR wouldn't stoop to lining-up callers with speed dialers to flood the lines, would it?

You can bet your last dollar they would.

More from Michelle Malkin and Hot Air, which added the roll call. Shocking. All those who voted no were Democrats.

A Congressman Who Gets It

Hats off to Congressman Steve Pearce of New Mexico, who today introduced legislation to protect those who report suspicious and potential terrorist activity. I hope the terror frontgroup CAIR seethes over this (via Power Line).

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, United States Congressman Steve Pearce introduced H.R. 1640 the “Protecting Americans Fighting Terrorism Act of 2007.” If passed, this legislation would protect individuals from being sued for reporting suspicious activities to law enforcement and security personnel.

The language of the Act comes as a direct response to a recent incident in Minneapolis. As reported in the Minneapolis Star Tribune,

The imams engaged in a variety of suspicious behaviors while boarding a US Airways flight, according to the airport police report. Some prayed loudly in the gate area, spoke angrily about the United States and Saddam, switched seats and sat in the 9/11 hijackers' configuration, and unnecessarily requested seatbelt extenders that could be used as weapons, according to witness reports and US Airways spokeswoman Andrea Rader.

As a result of the aforementioned behavior, citizens contacted airline authorities and the pilot informed law enforcement to have the suspicious parties removed from the aircraft. The original incident occurred in November of 2006; now the group has filed suit against US Airways and the Minneapolis – St. Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission on 17 different charges. Included in the lawsuit as defendants, are “John Does” described as citizens who called authorities to report the suspicious behavior of the Imams.

Rep. Pearce commented on introducing the bill:

“It is a sad day in America when our own institutions of freedom are being used against us in the battle against terrorism. When I first heard about the lawsuit brought by the ‘imams’ in Minnesota, it was clear to me that this was an injustice against Americans who were simply trying to protect themselves. These brave citizens should be recognized as heroes for their efforts to report suspicious activity, particularly activity that has been associated with previous terror attacks.

A full copy of the bill, which has 10 cosponsors. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Cowardice Has Consequences

The Democrats want to pretend 9/11 never happened.

The repercussions of an airline's decision to remove a group of imams from a commercial flight in Minneapolis could be heard in Congress this year, with civil rights groups pushing Democratic lawmakers to ban racial profiling.

The incident happened in November, made national news and reinvigorated an old proposal that got little attention from the GOP.

Now, a champion of the legislation, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, which has jurisdiction on the issue. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., who sponsored legislation to ban racial profiling in the last Congress, now chairs the Judiciary subcommittee on the Constitution.

No bill has been introduced so far, but Feingold made it clear the issue will be a priority for him.

I'd criticize Feingold, but since he's already restricted free speech, he might write another bill and come after me.

Power Line calls it Flying Imams: The Sequel.