Saturday, April 02, 2005

More on Korematsu

A reader writes:

Fair point about Korematsu, but he's hardly the worst example of the equation of victimhood and heroism in our country. Terri Schiavo will probably get the Medal of Freedom.

Also, the point that often seems to be missed is not the race angle, but the GWOT angle. Depriving citizens of basic civil rights in the name of wartime expediency and supporting those acts by suppressing key evidence generated by the intelligence services sounds pretty familiar. It's pretty difficult to read in all the Korematsu obits Judge Patel's lofty warning that Korematsu "stands as a constant caution that in times of war or declared military necessity our institutions must be vigilant in protecting our constitutional guarantees. It stands as a caution that in times of distress the shield of military necessity and national security must not be used to protect governmental actions from close scrutiny and accountability. It stands as a caution that in times of international hostility and antagonisms our institutions, legislative, executive and judicial, must be prepared to protect all citizens from the petty fears and prejudices that are so easily aroused."

The lessons of Korematsu have yet to be completely shunted aside, but my guess it would only take one more 9-11 scale attack for the internment question to get debated in Congress. Can't you see DeLay leading the way on that one? Especially if he suspects an indictment is coming down?

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