What about this do you wish was a joke? The report itself, or the infantile back-and-forth between Beck and Jillette about it?
I would be very surprised indeed if the report said anything so stupid as "if you have a Ron Paul bumper sticker, you're a terrorist." This article quotes a spokesperson saying that it just represents trend data, that it shows correlations between certain behaviors and militia or terrorist group affiliations.
Now, the spokesperson claims it's not going to be used for profiling. I don't buy that, since I can't really imagine any reason for drawing these correlations other than profiling. But if so, the problem is not with what specific behaviors (Ron Paul support, "Don't Tread On Me", etc) they single out, but the fact that they're singling out independently legal behaviors of any sort in the first place.
By extension, this exchange between Beck and Jillette, itemizing the behaviors listed in the report and laughing at their absurdity, is exactly the wrong type of response. Beck even says at the 6:30 mark that he thinks this is the right type of thing to do... I guess he's just petulant that the data identified behaviors he likes. I wonder if he'd be so pissy if the report had instead listed "worships at a mosque" or "wears a turban"?
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I would be very surprised indeed if the report said anything so stupid as "if you have a Ron Paul bumper sticker, you're a terrorist." This article quotes a spokesperson saying that it just represents trend data, that it shows correlations between certain behaviors and militia or terrorist group affiliations.
Now, the spokesperson claims it's not going to be used for profiling. I don't buy that, since I can't really imagine any reason for drawing these correlations other than profiling. But if so, the problem is not with what specific behaviors (Ron Paul support, "Don't Tread On Me", etc) they single out, but the fact that they're singling out independently legal behaviors of any sort in the first place.
By extension, this exchange between Beck and Jillette, itemizing the behaviors listed in the report and laughing at their absurdity, is exactly the wrong type of response. Beck even says at the 6:30 mark that he thinks this is the right type of thing to do... I guess he's just petulant that the data identified behaviors he likes. I wonder if he'd be so pissy if the report had instead listed "worships at a mosque" or "wears a turban"?
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