783). Gore sees a parallel between the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, after the attack upon Pearl Harbor and the treatment of Arab-Americans in the wake of the Bush Administration's fear-mongering and validation of public prejudices against Muslims. (This attitude conveyed from the top also fostered prejudice amongst ordinary citizens: A commonly-cited complaint of some airplane passengers is that too many 'non obvious' suspects are subject to routine frisks, while 'obvious' suspects pass, effective code words for non-Arabs vs. Arabs).

However, there is an essential difference in the curtailment of American liberties after 9/11 and after World War II: its racial and prejudiced nature. During the Cold War, because 'anyone' could theoretically be a communist, all individuals were subject to scrutiny. Thus, no matter how fearful, many ordinary Americans experienced just how onerous and self-defeating the McCarthy witch-hunts were to civil liberties. Additionally, because of the fact that...
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