PATRIOTIC ZEAL WATCH
We've heard it a thousand times: if we act like the terrorists, then the terrorists win. And though this may be clichéd, it's true: Islamists use every abuse they can extract from Abu Ghraib, Guantanomo Bay and homeland calls to limit Muslims' freedom as proof that the United States has embarked on a crusade against Islam. Unfortunately, many Americans seem intent on proving them correct. According to USA Today, a nationwide survey of 715 people carried out by Cornell University found
44% favored at least some restrictions on the civil liberties of Muslim Americans...The survey showed that 27% of respondents supported requiring all Muslim-Americans to register where they lived with the federal government. Twenty-two percent favor racial profiling to identify potential terrorist threats. And 29% thought undercover agents should infiltrate Muslim civic and volunteer organizations to keep tabs on their activities and fund-raising.
Now, I'm not sure that allowing feds to listen in on some Wahhabi imam exhorting his congregation to attack American interests--or to insure that zakat does not end up in the coffers of Hizb ut-Tahrir or the Moro Islamic Liberation Front--constitutes "restricting" Muslim liberties. But requiring American citizens to register where they live? I can already hear Osama chortling from his Waziristani bat-cave.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, the poll discovered that "people who paid more attention to television news" were more likely to endorse measures to abridge the liberties of Muslim-Americans. And giving credence to the Michael Moorian view of Red State America,
Republicans and people who described themselves as highly religious were more apt to support curtailing Muslims' civil liberties than Democrats or people who are less religious.
Maybe these God-fearing patriots should ask themselves a question: How can we ask our troops to sacrifice themselves in Iraq if we betray the values they're fighting for back home?
UPDATE: via Andrew Sullivan, Eugene Volkoh underscores my suspicion that the pollsters expanded the definition of "restricting civil liberties" in order to make a catchy headline. But the fact that 29 percent of respondees favor Muslim-Americans registering their location with the feds remains deeply disturbing.