I have been lately frustrated with the separation of fact from personal observation. Much debate for seemingly partisan issues have left conservatives to argue based on things like, "what they saw in the grocery store the other day" or "the people they observe in the E.R." Take for instance arguments in opposition to health care reform. Defenses against the expansion of Medicaid has shown patterns of ridiculous stereotyping. An example of this can be seen in the conservative chain email started by a Doctor Starner Jones that speaks about one of his patients, "I had the pleasure of evaluating a patient whose smile revealed an expensive shiny gold tooth, whose body was adorned with a wide assortment of elaborate and costly tattoos, who wore a very expensive brand of tennis shoes and who chatted on a new cellular telephone equipped with a popular R&B ringtone." He failed to ask himself the questions: How much does your watch cost? Do you really know how much tattoo artists charge? Did those tennis shoes that you have seen in Macy's actually come from the clearance rack at Ross? Does a R&B tone have anything to do with someone's irresponsible tendencies, or does it merely suggest that this person does actually have insecurities as to what people think?
To further add to my point. Arizona is considering a bill put forth by Republican Sen. Russell Pearce that allows police to search the car of any citizen that they "suspect" is an illegal immigrant. (Article) Does this not reinforce the illegitimate act of racial profiling? If I were a legal citizen of Arizona, latino, and driving home from working all day from a job that barely pays, I am sure I would be thrilled to have an officer stop me out of "suspicion" that I may not belong in this country.
Stereotyping has to stop. To defend or object to laws out of mere suspicion sounds more to me like a reassurance of one's GOP folk lore knowledge. I hope that those who want to define law based on arrogant observation remember the fairness and ethical principles that this country was founded on. Policy and Law need to be grounded with fact, not with golden teeth and rusty pick-up trucks.