I do believe the part about “captain’s authority”>

But what does this mean?

I wonder if her brother looked twice at any of the nice young Arab men filing onto his plane that morning at Dulles.

R D on December 6, 2006 at 2:11 AM

Is there any better evidence that, instead of “Let’s roll!”, we are now back to 9/10 self-flagellation mode? If we were actually fighting a war to win, wouldn’t these, uh, “imams” (isn’t collaborators the word we’re looking for?) at least be in Gitmo right now under surveillance?

Are 5 years of War On Terror blood, sweat and tears spiraling down the drain now just because no one wants to be called bad names by Nancy Pelosi?

Halley on December 6, 2006 at 2:22 AM

Whether anyone in the West knows it or not, Sept 11th was the first day of World War III, and this incident was one of many actions in a new form of ‘combat’ where we all are on the many front lines: it was a probe of airline security, and an attempt to reduce airline security measures by creating political pressure on the airlines to not be vigilant.

This is a war that we–civilized people in the civilized world–cannot avoid. We are all combatants; we have all already been drafted–if you don’t believe that, ask the people in the WTC towers or on those four hijacked airlines.

There will be many “incidents” like this one, planned and carried out by a determined enemy who cannot be reasoned with and who will not negotiate—an enemy made even more dangerous by the many apologists and enablers who dominate the media and academia.

They need to be resisted on every occasion, in every venue, at every opportunity. In this case the passengers and crew did the right thing. To survive, we need to do the right thing over and over again, every time the enemy comes at us. If we don’t, we gradually lose our civilization.

Well, on that cheerful note, good night

Janos Hunyadi on December 6, 2006 at 2:52 AM

That gym lady needs to get lost.

quax1 on December 6, 2006 at 3:14 AM

The one thing I am very happy to see here is that we aren’t so quick to second guess people who get spooked on these flights.

I remember when the passengers de-boarded the British plane that had several Muslim men who were reported to have unseasonably heavy clothing on. These men were removed, questioned, and eventually allowed to fly on a later flight.

I remember when this British incident first occured, some people were saying that this was almost certainly an example of “racism” or “overreaction.”

To me it seemed like a very unfair case of second guessing those who were actually on the scene.

If this tendency to try to second guess people from the confort of our own homes and computers is ebbing, I for one will be most grateful.

Mistakes have been made, and will continue to be made. But I don’t think we are better served by making people afraid of making a decision to act for fear they will be judged and found wanting by Monday morning quarterbacks.

EFG on December 6, 2006 at 3:47 AM

But does her victim status grant her the, “ultimate authority,” when she is using it for non approved PC results?

I mean the Jersey Girls and all, or did I just Coulter myself?
DKK

LifeTrek on December 6, 2006 at 7:30 AM

(in Harrison Ford angry voice) GET OFF MY PLANE!!

Good Lt on December 6, 2006 at 7:58 AM

A seat belt extension makes a nice weapon. Imagine a flail. Just sayin’. Everybody on the flight did the right thing. IMHO.

tormod on December 6, 2006 at 8:21 AM

Crap I have to fly out of this airport. Let’s be blunt, anyone willing to follow the founding teachings of a terrorist shouldn’t be in this country. These liars for Allah should be on a plane, headed out of our free nation.

The local news stations in Minneapolis has whitewashed this whole thing. For the most part they have refused to cover it, leaving it to the Muslim terrorist PR people at the AP.
This is the same Minneapolis that voted CAIR’s poster child Keith Ellison into power. Why? Because the liberal “hate America first” media is so hell bent on destroying anything of value in this nation, they will bend over backwards to excuse the Muslim terrorist supporters.

Let there be no doubt, the lessons of 9-11 were hard learned. Keep in mind our nation has been at war with Islam since Jefferson’s time. If anything we need to follow Flight 93’s example and “Roll” anytime we see this kind of crap. These Imams are recruiters for the enemy and it’s hard time to bite the PC BS bullet and have no, NONE tolerance for the religion of intolerance.

The conservatives that refuse to take a hard line against terrorism are also to blame. We bombed Tokyo and Berlin during WWII and for good reason. They were the heart of evil. But on some boards suggesting we bomb Mecca will get you throw out. Apparently because we shouldn’t offend the “Moderate” followers of the Pedophile for Profit. Muhammad was historically and by Islams’s own history, a child rapist, common thief, petty con-man, a murderer, terrorist and egomaniac. Offending his followers should be the last worry on any American’s mind.

For those of you that don’t think so go visting the hole in New York city…

Main stream Americans are starting to understand Islam calls for our conversion or death. The recent 6 Muhammadans are but the tip of the iceberg and our responsibility is to educate the rest of America to the danger and hold the treasonous MSM’s feet to the fire. It’s the only way we stand a chance.

Timber Wolf on December 6, 2006 at 8:40 AM

But does her victim status grant her the, “ultimate authority,” when she is using it for non approved PC results?

I mean the Jersey Girls and all, or did I just Coulter myself?

I’m assuming you’re referring to Ms. Burlingame… nobody, including her ever referred to her as the ultimate authority; she’s simply stating what any reasonable person would agree with, i.e. the captain of the plane must be the ultimate authority; there are very few similiar situations in which the ‘captain of the ship’ has such responsibility, and so few possibilities of recovering from mistakes.

The whole “Jersey Girls” situation was Ms. Coulters’ view that because the Jersey Girls lost loved ones in 9/11, then their viewpoint CANNOT be argued with.

dalewalt on December 6, 2006 at 8:45 AM

Since a plane hijacking with primative weapons is highly unlikely in a post-9-11 world

Don’t think I can agree with this statement; if you have just a few people with ‘primitive weapons’, I think a plane hijacking is quite possible. Imagine someone holding a box cutter to a passengers’ neck, and ask yourself how many captains could refuse to give the hijackers access to the flight deck; with passengers getting their throats cut every minute or so.

dalewalt on December 6, 2006 at 8:47 AM

I believe the imans did it for publicity and money. They plan to sue.

I agree. They wanted to show how racist America is towards Muslims by doing anything possible to cause controversy.

“Look, look! I’m a victim! We are all victims!”

It’s a recruiting tool.

natesnake on December 6, 2006 at 9:16 AM

ej_pez, I wouldn’t sit quietly either; I’d be one of the first ones throwing myself at the hijackers and doing whatever I could to stop them. But my point was that it IS possible; I wouldn’t want anybody to let their guards down just because a would-be hijacker only has a seat-belt extender.

dalewalt on December 6, 2006 at 9:19 AM

I recently flew to Kansas with my wife and child. Sitting in front of my wife and child was an Arab man who was reading a book written in Arabic. He was rocking back and forth, sobbing on and off and scrawling notes on an envelope. The knot in my stomach was unbearable. To watch this man act in this manner and see my infant child only inches away. Now maybe this man’s mother had just died, or had some other bad episode in his life, but after the horror of 9-11 – that was not what I was thinking. My eyes did not leave him and I had one hand on my buckle for the whole flight.

I am sure that is what happened with this US Air flight and the concerned passengers, except that the immams were acting in an even more overt/aggressive manner. I am glad someone had the nerve to speak up. They were completely in the right.

ej_pez on December 6, 2006 at 9:33 AM

Scene I would like to see: Jet taxis down runaway and comes to a sudden halt. Door opens. Six severely passenger-beaten imans dumped on tarmack. Jet continues down the runway and takes off.

EF on December 6, 2006 at 10:03 AM

Scene I would like to see: Jet taxis down runaway and comes to a sudden halt. Door opens. Six severely passenger-beaten imans dumped on tarmack. Jet continues down the runway and takes off.
EF on December 6, 2006 at 10:03 AM

PERFECT VISUAL!!!!

shooter on December 6, 2006 at 10:52 AM

The bottom photo makes these mamas look like low grade rappers… “The Six Raving Mamas”… From the cover of their latest attempt at fame… “I Mama, You Mama, We the Fat Cats Mama.”

Seriously… Who took this photo? It was taken from an angle that makes them look as big and imposing as possible. This had to be taken by one of their people (attempting to justify the seatbelt extensions). No more cheese fries for you Dawg…

RalphyBoy on December 6, 2006 at 11:14 AM

From the beginning of this I believed it was staged for political reasons. These false ‘victims’ make me want to smack somebody. I have no doubt these guys planned the whole thing during their conference, being careful not to do anything illegal, but only enough to cause a scene and scare people. I hope that if I ever encounter a similar situation I can remain calm enough to not cause a scene myself.

Janos Hunyadi’s post above really made me think about where this all is heading. I do not, however agree with Timber Wolf’s assertion that we should kick people like this out of the country. “Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.” At least we can more easily keep an eye on them here.

karatecon on December 6, 2006 at 11:25 AM

You are right, WriterMom.

Call it forced PC conditioning.

It won’t happen again.

ej_pez on December 6, 2006 at 11:57 AM

First of all no passanger would “get their cut throat every minute or two” because the pilot would make a few violent turns, creating a few broken limbs along the way, but leaving the terrorists temporarily incapacitated where they would be torn to pieces by the rest of the passengers.

Also NO pilot would allow access to the cockpit no matter how many throats were cut because the implications of 100% of the passangers dead on the plane plus thousands more in the building the plane would crash ito are much worse.

MaiDee on December 6, 2006 at 12:22 PM

The “6 Imams” are merely doing the devil’s work. To subvert, antagonize, and otherwise disrupt American, and all who love their freedom, life in any way they can with a “bang” is their goal. They’re actors, carefully choreographed and coached. Obviously this was no mere random mishap of misunderstanding. If they’re here on Visa’s, they should be deported immediately and added to the ‘no fly list’ without hesitation.

But what does this mean?

I wonder if her brother looked twice at any of the nice young Arab men filing onto his plane that morning at Dulles.

R D on December 6, 2006 at 2:11 AM

Debra Burlingame is the sister of Charles “Chic” Burlingame III, the pilot of the American Airlines Flight 77 that was crashed into the Pentagon on 9/11.

SilverStar830 on December 6, 2006 at 1:23 PM

I emailed US Air Customer relations to tell them thanks for sticking up for passenger safety and then FULLY supporting their flight crew.

I think it’s something positive they’d probably like (and need) to hear.

tree hugging sister on December 6, 2006 at 1:34 PM

The one thing I am very happy to see here is that we aren’t so quick to second guess people who get spooked on these flights.

I remember when the passengers de-boarded the British plane that had several Muslim men who were reported to have unseasonably heavy clothing on. These men were removed, questioned, and eventually allowed to fly on a later flight.

I remember when this British incident first occured, some people were saying that this was almost certainly an example of “racism” or “overreaction.”
EFG on December 6, 2006 at 3:47 AM

I’d rather be harshly judged by millions than carried by six.
When I fly I look at everyone. I’m an equal opportunity hater. I guess I’m a humanist!

Sarcasm, Just one more service I offer.

VikingGoneWild on December 6, 2006 at 2:34 PM

MaiDee is correct, the Capt will let the terrorists cut every throat on the plane before he opens the cockpit door but he WILL pull some negative Gs and slam the terrorists into the ceiling first.

I’d like to see a plane full of anti-war libs, protestors, appologists and people who think we can negotiate with terrorists, on their way home from an anti-Bush, anti-America, anti-Isreal protest march, on a plane with ten islamic terrorists who stand up and say “We’re gonna fly this plane into the White House !” I wanna hear what they’d say, I wanna know how they’d talk their way out death. Would they convert to islam? They hate religion! Would they fight back? They hate violence! Would they just accept that they’re gonna die? They don’t believe in fate! Would they beg for their lives? They think the earth is overpopulated anyway!

I think they’d say “We’re with you man! Bush is a nazi! Let us live and like, we’ll help you! Look man, violence is never the … uh, whattaya gonna do with that knife, man? OUCH!”

Any libs out there care to tell us how you’s get outta this mess?

Tony737 on December 6, 2006 at 5:05 PM

Good DAY, sir!

Centerfire on December 6, 2006 at 6:21 PM

These 6 “imans” committed a crime — disorderly conduct, buy causing fear and alarm in passersbys by their actions. If they were not taken off the plane in handcuffs, they should have been. Because they should have been arrested for disorderly conduct. I am angry that they were not.

Regardless of why they behaved the way they did, actual hijacking in progress or just a “dry run,” they tested us, and the reaction of the passengers and the crew showed that we passed. This time. My hope is that pilots and passengers won’t hesitate out of fear of being “un-PC” the next time, either.

MaiDee is right — no pilot-in-command in the post-9/11/01 era is going to open the cockpit door even if they start slitting the throats of passengers. And absent a firearm, no group of hijackers could fend off the rest of the passengers who would out to take them down — and even with a firearm, you can only shoot until you run out of ammo — then you get jumped and you get torn limb from limb.

Before 9/11/01, the concensus was “give the hijacker what he wants” as the best strategy to save the lives of the passengers. 9/11 ended that one. Those days are gone. Giving the hijackers what they want means that everybody dies, including thousands of innocents on the ground.

georgej on December 6, 2006 at 11:31 PM