i don't want him guarding me
Half the Sins of Mankind says that he is embrassed to learn of this story from a Boondocks comic, which is certainly understandable, but I just heard of it from his post, so apparently I'm even further out of touch.
Reader's digest version: A guy working security at an airport is also a rapper going by the nickname "Arabic Assasin", who writes pro-terrorist lyrics. That guy, apparently, is currently standing in the undemployment line. Color me shocked.
There is alot of room for debate about what one is allowed to say off duty when employed for the government, and what stupid people will say for that all-important tough-guy appearance without really meaning to act on. I don't understand why threatening to kill everyone who could potentially be a fan of your music generates a fan base, but there's alot of things about pop culture I don't understand. One of the biggest sources of contention between the US and Al Queda is our lax moral code, which is perfectly exemplefied by the hip-hop crowd. Rick Santorum bitches about the exact same thing on a daily basis.
Fundimentalist Islam rap is like KKK rap. We hate you for who you are and everything you stand for, and we're going to do everything we can to kill you and everyone who looks like you. Now buy my records.
Anyway, the author of the above linked piece doesn't seem terribly bent out of shape by this guy's termination, but he does make one analogy I'd like to disagree with:
if Khalaf rapped about getting an STD from Mandy Moore, but consistently said in interviews that he'd never even met her, he should not be liable for slander because his rapping was not a statement of fact. In this real life instance, he says that he's opposed to terrorism, he just raps about being pro-terrorism in his songs.
See, that isn't quite right. Let's say I've suddenly become Mandy Moore. After spending a few hours staring at my newfound glorious naked body in the mirror, I am checking over my bodyguard staff. One of the guys has been writing rap songs under the title "The Guy Who Will Kill Mandy Moore". He writes lyrics supporting people who have tried to kill me, Mandy Moore, in the past. Specifically, he says "I'm gonna wait 'till we're alone / then I'm gonna cut her prissy head off / fuck her empty head / and the world will be better-off". Not only is that bad rapping, but it's just not kosher to say things like that about a person whom you are suppossed to be protecting. I don't care how much he swears he dosen't want to kill me, Mandy Moore, and claims that those (multiple) songs were just an act to look hard. That dude's looking for a job as of right freaking now, and he's getting a restraining order to boot.
Really, I doubt this guy is a serious terrorist. Terrorists don't run around screaming "I'm a Terrorist! Arrest MEEEEE!". But he dosen't have any business screening bags that are about to get on a plane I'm riding on, either. It's a standard part of government employment that you undergo a background screening; depending on the sensitivity of what you're doing, affiliation with certain groups is a big no-no. Specifically, telling people you agree with the people you're suppossed to be defending against is an huge no-no. Which, wonder of wonders, makes this seem to me a rare case of common sense breaking through the bureaurocracy.
