Already controversial Peter Kirsanow, a Bush appointee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, managed to place his foot firmly in his mouth this week when he suggested that the public would demand detention camps for Arab-Americans if Arab terrorists strike the U.S. again.
I wonder if Mr. Kirsanow did very well in his history classes in school. George Satayana said that “Those who forget the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it.” This quotation was painted above the entryway to the “social studies” (history) department of my high school, so I’ll never forget it. His statements smack of the kind of thinking that led to interment of Japanese-Americans in World War II, a shameful act in that era of U.S. history. All the more frightening because he’s a member of a group that’s supposed to uphold the civil rights of all U.S. citizens.
Some key quotes from Kirsanow:
- If there’s a future terrorist attack in the U.S. “and they come from the same ethnic group that attacked the World Trade Center, you can forget about civil rights” … “the public would be less concerned about any perceived erosion of civil liberties than they are about protecting their own lives.”
- After another attack, “not too many people will be crying in their beer if there are more detentions, more stops, more profiling”
- “There will be a groundswell of public opinion to banish civil rights. So the best thing we can do to preserve them is by keeping the country safe.”
In other words – let’s just curtail all of our civil rights right now just so that we don’t have to do it when the inevitable attack he’s implying happens.
The United States Commission on Civil Rights was quick to distance itself from these remarks, sending out a press release to reaffirm their “Commitment To Protecting Rights Of Arab Americans And Muslims”.
A few days ago I also came across these amazing poll results from a question asked at a “Christian” site – “What is your view of Islam?”. Over seven thousand people voted and while it’s sad enough that only 1 in 10 felt that Islam was a valid religion in its own right (“Islam is just another path to God”), what’s downright scary are the 1/3 that voted for “Islam is pure evil”! It’s frightening that this was even a choice in the first place, but that 30% chose it as their answer makes me ill. Perhaps this poll was rigged or skewed somehow, that’s all I can hope for.
Back to Kirsanow, who also stated that after another terrorist attack “the public would be less concerned about any perceived erosion of civil liberties than they are about protecting their own lives.” Now, I don’t particularly want to die, I’m willing to bet that most people feel the same way – but I’ll tell you how I don’t want to live: in a country that’s thrown out the fundamental precepts of freedom upon which it was founded, or in a world where this kind of mindless bigotry and hatred is backed by those who lead.
