They dislike being stared at and dislike being bigoted at so they decided to have a little fun at her expense. After all, while they are of Middle Eastern origin, two of the men are American citizens. So they make a joke about how much sorrier than 9/11 the Americans will be on 9/13. Then they settle their tab and drive away.
Listen up: If you are of Middle Eastern appearance and you talk or act in any way that makes me think you are a potential threat to my safety or that of my countrymen, be forewarned: I will profile your tail from here to Timbuktu...
And two of you unspeakable jerks are American citizens? I want you to learn a new word now: "assimilate." And right away.
This from the same guy who sneers at people calling Eunice Stone a "lily-white cracker" ? (which term, BTW, he's the only one I have seen use.)
Maybe if Donald were to have seen the CNN interview of the three med students, he would have realized that:
1. the three did NOT feel they were being watched in Shoney's. They didn't notice any "dirty looks" or any other kind of attention.
2. They did NOT discuss 9-11, or 9-13, or make any kind of joking threat.
3. They did not decide to have any fun at ANYONE's expense. They just ate, and left.
Their statements - and categorical denials of Stone's account - are also described in this CNN story followup. Of course, Donald will dismiss their statements (three people) and accept Eunice's account uncritically.
I disagree with Gheith's assertion that Stone was lying - though it is understandable he would be upset. I believe that Stone filtered the conversation she heard through her fears, already heightened by the absurd "Orange alert". No reasonable Muslim that I know of actually blames Eunice Stone (apart from gung ho youth on Ar-Rahman). Muslims rightfully blame Ashcroft for his bogus terror alerts and it's obvious that Eunice did what she felt was right. Of course, people like Donald are a far worse problem than people like Eunice.
and as for your solicitious advice to "assimilate", Donald - you're a hypocrite and a bigot, to invent accusations of racism against Eunice, then turn around and paint these guys as anti-American assholes. You don't even bother getting all the facts, you've just glommed onto the "conventional wisdom" about what happened, and you've run with the ball, whoring for an Instapundit link.
And as for your "warning" about how to act, be warned. I will act as I damn well please. If you want me to filter MY actions and words through YOUR personal stereotypes and fears of perpetual Orange-level paranoia, screw you. Rat on my tail, if you want, and when I am exonerated, I'm coming after you with a lawyer. There's still this little thing called slander, and another little thing called presumption of innocense, and yet another called due process, and I don't care what your PATRIOT act says. If you think that all people who "look vaguely middle-eastern" are gonna kowtow to YOUR sensibilities, you're living about one ocean and 60 years off the mark.
Of course, people like Donald are quick to defend Eunice Stone against invented accusations of being a "lily-white cracker" but remain predictably silent when death threats are made against innocent men. Does it bother Donald that these three men, who did NOT act as Donald describes, but rather were just eating dinner, now won't be able to do their internships at Larkin Hospital? Probably not.
At one point, [Eunice] Stone said the bearded man, Gheith, said if Americans "were sad on 9/11, wait until 9/13."
Stone said she heard one of the men ask "Do you think we have enough to bring it down?" Another one of the men replied, "If we don't have enough to bring it down, I have contacts and we can get enough to bring it down."
"To me, that meant they were planning to blow up something," she said.
Gheith said Stone was "flat out lying" and said they had only been discussing their trip to Miami.
Asked if they made any comments about Sept. 11, joking or otherwise, he said, "Of course not."
"Would you lose control of the conversation and joke about September 11th?" Gheith asked members of the news media. "Is that even an option?"
He added: "I have one message, I think it's time for us as Americans to put down our big sticks and pick up our books and read about other people and read about what they believe before we jump to conclusions."
UPDATE: Suman Palit notes the applicability of the GIGO principle, and why TIPS is fatally flawed as a concept.
UPDATE: The Miami Herald has a detailed list of all the staggering innacuracies in television media reports. Hello, Donald Sensing, care to revise your opinion?
Haloscan
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