WorldCitizen
So, I’ll go out on a limb here and partially agree with Smitty. I think it is more reasonable to target persons of Middle Eastern origin and names at airports with a couple caveats. First, they should be pre-screened (like everyone else) and cross referenced with things like no-fly lists and ties to radical organizations. Second, they should have other red flags like being in the country for less than a few years, or having one way tickets. I’m sure there are other things which may be valid potential identifiers for extra screening, but you get the picture…it’s the combination of factors that make for red flags. For no reason should someone be called out just for having the name Mohammed or Ahmed when there is no other reason to suspect them as bombers.
But that is the same thing we’re talking about here with respect to the IRS. These groups not only are 1) looking for tax exempt status, but 2) actually contain the name of a political party in their titles. (Last I checked, the Tea Party is a registered political party in some states). These two factors raise reasonable red flags and should be checked by any IRS agent with the authority to do so.