A searing indictment from a guy known to idly compare 9/11 to the Reichstag fire. The good news: By the standards of prominent Democrats, this accusation of un-American-ism almost qualifies as serious. The last time this charge was made, it was Jennifer Granholm complaining about, er, criticism of the Chevy Volt. The bad news: He’s got a point about the logical flaw in being suspicious of airline passengers dressed in Muslim garb. The last thing a jihadi wants to be is obtrusive; that’s why Mohammed Atta and crew eschewed long beards and opted for western dress when checking in at the terminal on their big day. Unless he’s the dumbest terrorist in the world, no self-respecting hijacker’s wearing a dishdasha to the airport — precisely because so many people there will have the same reaction as Juan Williams and scrutinize him that much more closely.

I don’t know, though. Maybe Al Qaeda’s hijackers of the future should wear dishdashas. Since it’s now bigoted and “un-American” to make any sort of mental association between airplanes and devout Muslims and bad outcomes, flouting flaunting one’s religious devotion might be the surest way to make people look away. Click the image to watch.

Update: Brain freeze above — meant flaunting, not flouting.

Update (Ed): Just as a reminder, Joel Demos is running to replace Ellison.