Michelle Starts things off with the best headline (apart from mine of course)

Michelle Malkin: The flying extortionists

Audrey Hudson at the Washington Times has the latest on the grievance-mongering flying imams and their attempted extortion:

A group of Muslim imams is seeking an out-of-court settlement with US Airways, saying they should not have been removed from a Minnesota-to-Phoenix flight last month and were not behaving suspiciously.

Five of the six Islamic religious leaders have retained the Council on American-Islamic Relations for legal representation and are seeking a "mutually agreeable" resolution, said Nihad Awad, CAIR executive director.

Cha-Ching!!  I have said all along I thought the whole situation stunk, and I feel more justitified every day.  I am more and more convinced this was planned and now it is moving to it’s lucrative completion.

Denise at Townhall.com rants some good questions

Now we are at what may be stage two of the all too familiar, and Congressman elect Keith Ellison of the Minneapolis-centered Fifth District, and soon to be the first Moslem member of that body, has requested a meeting with top executives of the airline with himself and other legislative and community leaders of his choosing, as reported in the Minneapolis-St. Paul StarTribune.

Recognize the pattern? Think Jesse Jackson, the Rainbow PUSH Coalition and shakedowns of numerous corporations ranging from Viacom to Kentucky Fried Chicken! Properly executed, it is a funding gold mine, and Jackson most certainly has a polished template.

Oh, and Jesse Jackson and Keith Ellison have been friends and political associates for quite some time.

Deja vu, fits a pattern, or is ‘modus operandi’ the correct phrasing? Watch for more of the same, and if that happens, wonder where and to whom the inevitable loot is going and what it will be used for.

Debbie Schlussel implores US Air to resist the temptation to pay them off:

Tell USAIR to resist paying off the Six Flying Imams’ shakedown efforts. I received this e-mail from reader Dorothy Carter:

I just phoned US Airways spoke with secretary in executive office Asking them to stand up to 6 Imams vs settle out of court. She said they are being flooded with phone calls world wide asking US Air to not cave to stand up against the Imams. I suggested their message to Imams and other Muslims who might try this stunt should be that this incident backfired on them and their are likely to use more profiling vs. harrassing grandmothers and elderly.

If you want to phone them, call investor relations no. 480-693-1227 ask to be transferred to executive office to ask them not to cave to 6 Imams. The investor relations person was very helpful and put me through to an extension where a human answered. I suggested they even make a public statement that this publicity stunt the Imams tried backfired and that it is likely to result in more profiling not less and that this tough stance would likely result in Americans preferring to fly on their airline as it would be safer than others who play by P.C. rules and inconvenience travelers every day. The person I spoke with said they had no intentions of giving in to their demands. yea, d

I called to voice my concerns. You should, too.

I agree, and plan to call tomorrow.

Sister Toldjah says:

Extortion time: Six imams removed from plane seek ‘out of court settlement’ with US Airways

For anyone still sitting on the fence on this incident in terms of not being sure whether or not to believe this whole thing was a set-up from the word “go”, watch this video of Debra Burlingame on Fox News as she provides some relevant facts about the imams, and what happened the day they were escorted off the plane.

Also read Debra’s Opinion Journal  Column from my earlier blog here: The Flying Imam investigation concludes everyone did their job correctly- except the Imams- Updated

The truth is being shown as these guys now show they are concerned with publicity and money then rights and fair treatment. And here is a grand way they prove it:  CAIR has begun Ambulance Chasing:

CAIR sets up “flying while Muslim” complaint hotline 

The regular office number won’t do. So pervasive and insidious is this scourge that they have to clear an entire phone line for it. Or so they’d have you believe. Quote:

One airline official who asked to remain anonymous called the CAIR threats about ethnic profiling “much ado about a practice that does not exist in any major airline.”

“You do wonder what the ultimate aim is here; to eliminate a discriminatory practice that does not exist, or is there some other agenda afoot,” the official said.

They include a list of passenger’s legal rights:

As an airline passenger, you are entitled to courteous, respectful and non-stigmatizing treatment by airline and security personnel. You have the right to complain about treatment that you believe is discriminatory. If you believe you have been treated in a discriminatory manner, immediately:

1. Ask for the names and ID numbers of all persons involved in the incident. Be sure to write this information down.
2. Ask to speak to a supervisor.
3. Ask if you have been singled out because of your name, looks, dress, race, ethnicity, faith, or national origin.
4. Ask witnesses to give you their names and contact information.
5. Write down a statement of facts immediately after the incident. Be sure to include the flight number, the flight date, and the name of the airline.
6. Contact CAIR to file a report. If you are leaving the country, leave a detailed message, with the information above at 202-488-8787.

Fair enough.  As a public service I would advise they consider these as well:

• Do take your seat and sit quietly, the same expectation given to all passengers.
• Do not interfere with flight crews, the same expectation given to all passengers.
• Do not request extender belts when you don’t need them, then not use them.  This is considered suspicious, even to non muslims.
• Do not borad as a group and then attempt to reseat yourselves in Hijacker Formation.  This is also considered suspicious…for a reason.
• Do enjoy your privilages guaranteed under the US Constitution to practice your religion…but you may want to avoid making loud threats and hate speech about terrirosm.  This is considered alarming to some people.

Mostly try not to give people the impression you are up to no good, and generally non one should then assume you are.  How hard is that?

Finally, I enjoyed MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson taking on the head of CAIR.  He clearly did not feel the Imams did anything wrong, which I disagree, but even in his Pollyanna-ism,  he clearly sees no sense to the response of the Imams and CAIR.  Bravo.

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