Racial profiling for dollar$.

Heehee. Nice title, Malkin. Maybe I should start a couple of pools here. First, the date of the next terrorist attack on US soil, and then the date of the formation of the commission charged with finding out "what went wrong".

The Bush administration supports racial profiling -- as long as it's lining the pockets of the right people.

Bean-counting government bureaucrats are free to take race, ethnicity and gender into account when doling out public funds to non-white-male contractors.

But God help law enforcement officers, air marshals and border agents who try to use those same factors to combat terrorism and protect American lives.

What Bush Department of Transportation Secretary Norm Mineta stubbornly refused to do in the name of enhancing homeland security, he'll gladly continue to do under the guise of boosting politically correct "diversity."

This week, Mineta announced the appointment of one Roger Minami to head DOT's Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, which "helps small, minority owned, women owned and other disadvantaged businesses compete for DOT and DOT-assisted contracts and grants."

Secretary Mineta informs us that Minami "brings to DOT a strong recognition of the potential of small businesses to help us build a safer, more efficient and more reliable transportation system."

What are Minami's qualifications to determine which contractors will make our highways, airports and mass transit safe, efficient and reliable?

He comes from a family farming background, has a degree in communications, was "active in a number of Japanese American charitable and community-based groups," and is the first Asian American to serve in his new position. Mineta's press release also notes that "Minami helped create and produce Central Coast Seniors, a weekly news and information television program for active older adults living in Santa Barbara and nearby coastal communities in California." Swell.

Minami's only relevant professional experience consists of serving in a similar affirmative action post at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where he "helped small and disadvantaged businesses find more opportunities in the food industry by negotiating agreements between representatives of the firms and large food-service companies."

Translation: He's an ethnic shakedown artist and a political activist crony of Mineta's. And if you dare question his credentials, you'll be knocked down with the race card faster than a high-speed Acela Express train (when it's functioning).