CNN Opinion

I was watching Anderson Cooper's reporting on the tragedy in Haiti. One of the reporters implied rescuers were not assisting the poor but focusing on victims in a "posh" hotel. SHAME ON YOU!!! How dare you make this into a bigger tragedy by saying the people who went there to help are selecting who they help by reviewing their economic status first!!! There is no doubt in my mind there are many, many poor people suffering alone in places far away from the main focus of relief efforts. I do not believe this is due to people selecting those being helped based on social status. Aid is not reaching many of those in need. This happens for a variety of reasons, some of which are out of the control of those trying to help. There is no need to turn this into a "Jerry Springer" moment by playing on the emotions of people in crisis.

When I went to the site to leave a comment on the blog I noticed comments had been closed on several posts. It seemed as though it was as soon as there was disagreement with the politically correct view. One in particular was about profiling. Say what you wish, profiling is a tool that works!! It is not PC to support it and many times those in authority pass up opportunities to verify status just so they do not get into trouble with civil liberties, etc. The Ft. Hood shooter is a perfect example of people knowing he was crazy but not wanting to appear "racist." They did nothing!!!

Let's stop being so worried about being politically correct that we lose the chance to avert tragedy. It would be nice to have people who are not politically motivated sit down and objectively look at the systems in place now and streamline policies. It is for the protection of ALL.

Profiling?

It will be unpopular but profiling is going to happen. Stereotypes have developed because of trends. The fact is TSA workers randomly select people they know are not terrorists just to keep people from complaining about being profiled. My 91 year old father was pulled aside and given a full body search. Because of his hearing disability he was treated like a criminal. I had to keep telling him to calm down. He did not understand what was happening. You cannot convince me any TSA worker truly believed he was a threat. I have traveled plenty with my children. I have been singled out because my flight was cancelled and, since my new flight arrangements were made last minute, marked for additional screening measures. I did not choose to make my flight arrangements last minute. The airline did it but I was still selected. I remember one screener asking what was in a box and requesting we unpack it. You could see it was a model of a ship. We had been to Europe on a cruise. I thought he was an idiot but I did not complain. If I were someone other than a white female I could have made a stink and claimed "profiling." Personally I believe you need to have profiling. If TSA were paying any attention they would have stopped the Nigerian for NOT HAVING LUGGAGE on a transatlantic flight. Think about whether or not the workers felt they would be "profiling" a Nigerian for additional security checks and passed him along so they would not be ridiculed. Honestly I don't think that was what happened but some lawyer will no doubt use an excuse similar for the complete failure to use common sense!