On September 14, 2001 -- three days after the 9/11 attack, while bodies still lay underneath the simmering rubble in lower Manhattan -- @RepBarbaraLee delivered one of the wisest and bravest speeches in the history of the House, explaining her lone vote against the AUMF. Listen:
For that simple attempt to urge restraint and deliberation, Lee was vilified as an anti-American who harbored sympathy for the terrorist attackers. Yet 20 years later, it's hard to deny it was actually brave prescience, and that voices of restraint at times of trauma are vital.
Obviously, it's obscene to compare yesterday's events at the Capitol to 9/11 or (as Schumer did) Pearl Harbor: obscene and reckless.
But Lee's point about the need for reflection and deliberation, not reactionary rage, applies to all situations where political emotions are high.
But Lee's point about the need for reflection and deliberation, not reactionary rage, applies to all situations where political emotions are high.
From the Cold War to the War on Terror: the harms from authoritarian "solutions" are often greater than the threats they are ostensibly designed to combat.
One need not engage in denialism or minimization of a threat to rationally resist fear-driven fanaticism.
One need not engage in denialism or minimization of a threat to rationally resist fear-driven fanaticism.
Demands that US citizens be put on a no-fly list with no due process whatsoever are back.
https://mobile.twitter.com/samjmintz/status/1347317087711211521
Secret, due-process-free no-fly lists were one of the worst post-9/11 civil liberties abuses -- I reported on them often. Stunning to see calls from Congress for people to be put on them revived in this climate.
I hope people realize what's happening:
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
I hope people realize what's happening:
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
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