When tolerance goes wrong...

I thought that I would become more tolerant, more accepting, as I grow older, but instead I find myself becoming more and more frustrated, less and less tolerant at the seeming stupidity of those "in authority". I used to enjoy traveling, but flying has become such a pain that it takes much of the enjoyment out of the experience. In the spirit of being"politically correct" and avoid racial profiling, we extensively search little old ladies, young children, pilots with correct papers, handicapped people, but not Muslim males in their teens and twenties. We have been terrorized by a specific group of people- Muslim male extremists- since the late 60's, from assassinations, to the Olympics attacked, to hi-jackings, embassies bombed, to the terrible act of 9-11- all at the hands of Muslim extremists. Most recently, a Muslim man jumped out of his seat and began pounding on the cockpit door of the plane he was taking, yelling "Abbah akbar", used by Muslims as a "battle cry" in their jihad against the infidel (us). But we shouldn't treat them any differently, lest we be accused of racial profiling.

How stupid are we? These are the people we should pay attention to, for their extremist view of their faith calls for the death of all infidels who fail to conform to their faith. That's us. They wish us dead. Their very faith teaches them they cannot be a good Muslim and a good American, and if they choose to be an American they should be put to death. Pretty radical teaching, yet we don't protect ourselves from them...

Or how stupid are we when it comes to illegal aliens? You sneak into Mexico and get caught you get 4-5 years in a Mexican prison, then get deported. You sneak into the good old US of A and we give you subsidized housing, free medical, free hot lunch programs and education for your kids, the opportunity to work without paying any taxes, and maybe, maybe a slap on the wrist if you get caught. Meanwhile, hardworking tax-paying Americans are busting their butts working to pay for it all. What's wrong with this picture?

Or how dumb are we to re-elect, over and over, politicians who fail to balance a budget? They seem to find the money to pay for their own medical plans, pensions, and benefits, but they can't stop spending when the money is gone. If they can't learn to identify what comes in (revenues), and allocate only that amout to go out(expenses), then they have no business being in office. We're leaving our kids and grandkids a mess. And we're not leaving them (as a whole) better off than we were, for the first time in our history...

What has happened to common sense? I offer that common sense is quite uncommon after all. Food for thought...