The Way to Remember 9/11
Everyone other than the stray Democrat Socialist mourns today for the 2,297 innocents, including 441 first responders, who died in the terrorist attack on the New York World Trade Center 25 years ago. But we also mourn something else — this nation’s inability to differentiate good from evil in its public policy.
It is important to remember that less than a year before the attack, the two most powerful politicians in America, George W. Bush and Al Gore, squared away in a presidential debate addressing an issue that would literally blow up in their face. By inference, both were adamant that even as terrorist threats increased they opposed (on what they framed as the highest moral grounds) the single policy that would have prevented the highjacking of the planes used in the Trade Center attack — that is, profiling at airport terminals and at the U.S. border.
In the second 2000 presidential debate (Oct. 11, 2000, at Wake Forest University, moderated by Jim Lehrer), Al Gore and George W. Bush discussed profiling. Lehrer asked Gore whether he would support or sign a federal law banning profiling by police and other authorities at all levels of government. Here is my assistant Grok’s account of the exchange:
Gore’s response:
“Yes, I would. The only thing an executive order can accomplish is to ban it in federal law enforcement agencies, but I would also support a law in the Congress that would have the effect of doing the same thing. I just — I think that racial profiling is a serious problem. I remember when the stories first came out about the stops in New Jersey by the highway patrol there. And I know it’s been going on a long time. In some ways this is just a new label for something that has been going on for years. But I have to confess that it was the first time that I really focused on it in a new way. And I was surprised at the extent of it. And I think we’ve now got so many examples around the country that we really have to find ways to end this. Imagine what it — what it is like for someone to be singled out unfairly, unjustly, and feel the unfair force of law simply because of race or ethnicity. Now, that runs counter to what the United States of America is all about at our core. And it’s not an easy problem to solve. But if I am entrusted with the presidency, it will be the first Civil Rights Act of the 21st century.”
Bush’s response:
“Yeah, I can’t imagine what it would be like to be singled out because of race and stopped and harassed. That’s just flat wrong, and that’s not what America is all about. And so we ought to do everything we can to end racial profiling. One of my concerns, though, is I don’t want to federalize the local police forces. I want to — obviously in the egregious cases we need to enforce civil rights law, but we need to make sure that internal affairs divisions at the local level do their job and be given a chance to do their job. I believe in local control of governments, and obviously if they don’t there needs to be a consequence at the federal level. But it’s very important that we not overstep our bounds and I think most people — most police officers are good, dedicated, honorable citizens who are doing their job, putting their lives at risk who aren’t bigoted or aren’t prejudiced. I don’t think they ought to be held guilty. But I do think we need to find out where racial profiling occurs and do something about it and say to the local folks, get it done. And if you can’t, there will be a federal consequence.”
When Lehrer asked if that could include a federal law, Bush said “Yeah.”
The discussion then shifted to hate-crimes laws and the murder of James Byrd Jr. in Texas. Bush stated that Texas already had a hate-crimes statute and that the perpetrators would receive the death penalty (he misspoke about the number sentenced to death). He continued:
“Secondly, there is other forms of racial profiling that goes on in America. Arab-Americans are racially profiled in what is called secret evidence. People are stopped, and we have to do something about that. My friend, Senator Spencer Abraham of Michigan, is pushing a law to make sure that Arab-Americans are treated with respect. So racial profiling isn’t just an issue at local police forces. It’s an issue throughout our society. And as we become a diverse society, we’re going to have to deal with it more and more.”
Gore had also mentioned racial profiling earlier in the debate while discussing America’s values and civil rights. Both candidates expressed opposition to racial profiling in principle, with Gore emphasizing a strong federal legislative push and Bush stressing local control while also referencing Arab-American concerns related to “secret evidence” (a practice involving detention or deportation proceedings based on undisclosed evidence, which had disproportionately affected some Arab and Muslim immigrants).
Most years, we don’t hear much from Bush or Gore on the 9/11 anniversary. For that, be grateful. — tcl
