IN DEFENSE OF INTERNMENT
The word is out about my new book, In Defense of Internment: The Case for “Racial Profiling” in World War II and the War on Terror. I’ve been keeping it under wraps over the past year as I quietly toiled away in the wee hours of the morning, but since Instapundit kindly mentioned receiving the book yesterday, I am delighted now to share a few more details with you.
The official launch is Monday, August 9. Please check my books page for more info (including documents, bibliography, resources, errata, etc.) and notices of upcoming appearances, speeches, and book signings. For those of you in the Seattle area, I shall return to the Pacific Northwest this Friday, Aug. 6, for a speech sponsored by my friends at KVI-AM. It’s at 7 pm at Cedar Park Church in Bothell. More info is here. Hope you can make it.
My aim is to kick off a vigorous national debate on what has been one of the most undebatable subjects in Amerian history and law: President Franklin Roosevelt’s homeland security policies that led to the evacuation and relocation of 112,000 ethnic Japanese on the West Coast, as well as the internment of tens of thousands of enemy aliens from Japan, Germany, Italy, and other Axis nations. I think it’s vitally important to get the history right because the WWII experience is often invoked by opponents of common-sense national security profiling and other necessary homeland security measures today.
A few things compelled me to write the book. Ever since I questioned President Clinton’s decision to award the Congressional Medal of Honor to Japanese-American soldiers based primarly on claims of racial discrimination in 2000, several readers have urged me to research the topic of the “Japanese-American internment.” World War II veterans wrote to say they agreed with my assessment of Clinton’s naked politicization of the medals, but disagreed with my unequivocal statement that the internment of ethnic Japanese was “was abhorrent and wrong.” They urged me to delve into the history and the intelligence leading to the decision before making up my mind.
I was further inspired by some intriguing blog debates last year between Sparkey at Sgt. Stryker and Is That Legal?. After reading a book by former National Security Agency official David Lowman called MAGIC: The untold story of U.S. Intelligence and the evacuation of Japanese residents from the West Coast during WWII, published posthumously by Athena Press Inc., I contacted publisher Lee Allen, who generously agreed to share many new sources and resources as I sought the truth.
The constant alarmism from Bush-bashers who argue that every counter-terror measure in America is tantamount to the internment was the final straw. The result is a book that I hope changes the way readers view both America’s past and its present.
If you are a history buff, you will undoubtedly enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed researching and writing it. There are some incredible stories of untold courage and patriotism, as well as espionage and disloyalty, that have been buried in the mainstream WWII literature. If you are a parent with kids in high school, college, or law school, I hope you buy the book for your students or their teachers. And if you are simply an informed citizen, seeking answers about why we have failed to do what’s necessary to combat our enemies on American soil (e.g., airport profiling, immigration enforcement, heightened scrutiny of Muslim chaplains and soldiers, etc.), I hope you buy the book to help gain intellectual ammunition and insights on our politically correct paralysis.
Liberal critics always ask if I’ve ever changed my mind about anything. Yes, I take back what I wrote in 2000; I have radically changed my mind about FDR’s actions to protect the homeland. And I hope to persuade you all to do the same.
It’s a daunting task, I know. This issue is fraught with emotion. Already, the first two reviews at Amazon.com have been posted–one on either side of the debate
by individuals who have obviously not read a single page of the book. Another individual, who also admits she hasn’t read the book, e-mailed the following to me today with the subject headline, “Shame on you:”
I have been a fan of yours since spotting you a while ago on FOX news…and I often agree with your views. I’m therefore appalled to read on Instapundit that you have published a book which endorses the internment of Americans of Japanese descent during WWII…I’m shocked that you would use Michael Moore-ish “truth-telling” to make the case for the internment camps. My parents’ families were interned in the middle of the desert in Arizona, and it was far from the summer-camp-like experience your publisher describes on Amazon.com. You apparently note the many “amenities” in the camps—sounds almost like Moore’s depiction of pre-OIF days in Iraq.
Geez, Louise. She compares me to Michael Moore without having read a single sentence of the actual book.
Neither has Eric Muller, who runs the blog Is That Legal? that I mentioned earlier. (He is also mentioned in my book on p. 352.) Yet, based on the book cover and publisher’s description alone, he comments that they do “not inspire confidence that Ms. Malkin is going to be giving us history that is Fair and Balanced.” He complains that the cover unfairly likened “a Japanese-American man to Mohammed Atta”–but he does so without bothering to find out who the man on the cover is. He is Richard Kotoshirodo, a Japanese-American man who by his own admission assisted the Honolulu-based spy ring that fed intelligence to Tokyo that was key to the design of the Pearl Harbor attack. Every scholar and student who writes about Roosevelt’s decision to evacuate the West Coast should know his name and story.
I expect much more emotion-driven criticism like this in days and weeks to come. And I look forward to whatever substantive debate the other side can muster up.
All that said, the fact that the book is being published at all is what made all the hard work of the past year–and the harsh ad hominem attacks sure to come–worth it. Most publishers wouldn’t touch this with a 100-foot pole, and I am grateful to Regnery Publishing for fully embracing my idea. Everything else is icing on the cake (though it would be nice to outsell fluffball Maureen Dowd).
So, stay tuned. I think we are in for a wild but very necessary and educational ride.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- The Waterglass
- Backcountry Conservative
- HOG ON ICE
- mypetjawa v. 2.0 (beta)
- Blogs of War
- Blogs of War
- Brain Shavings
- Californian Sojourn
- The Pink Flamingo Bar Grill
- Solomonia
- Ed Driscoll.com
- The New SteveSilver.net
- Watcher of Weasels
- The Volokh Conspiracy
- The Volokh Conspiracy
- Notes & Musings
- Notes & Musings
- cut on the bias
- Stephen A. Nuño
- The Spoons Experience
- The Peking Duck
- The Volokh Conspiracy
- Right Wing News
- The Peking Duck
- tps12 from Hulver's site
- Thought Mesh
- HerbEly
- Mano Singham's blog
- New Manifesto
- Mean Mr. Mustard 2.0
- Richard Barzen
- zocor
- Loaded Mouth
- rolex
- Kevin Schaufler
- bad credit auto loan chicago. Grumm
- car insurance card sample
- auto calculator canada loan
- ativan
- Bed linen
- avognglk
- equifax credit report
Michelle, you need to stop confusing the bean-counters with the facts. How dare you mention there were Japanese spies in this country before Pearl Harbor. Next thing you know, you’ll be pointing out that we currently have enemies within our borders with innocent sounding names like Dean, McAuliffe, Edwards and Kohn (Kerry’s REAL last name).
It sounds as if we will have a complimentary delving into the more recently seldom solicited vital facts of history and war, to go along with Ann Coulter’s “Treason”. Fantastic! Your work is always an enjoyable and fact-filled read and I’m sure your book will be no less. Good luck!
Michelle,
I am glad to see someone writing a book like this, my mother-in-law is japanese and remembers the treatment WWII less than fondly but at the same time understands part of the reasoning behind it. She was not interned due to they was in Hawaii but had family in CA that was.
Michelle -
Kudos to you for showing the courage to write about things other people wouldn’t touch!
As a student of WWII history I have always known there was more to the story of internment than was being told. I look forward to reading your book.
When are you coming to Cincinnati??
Why should liberals read the book? They can’t understand anything that has to do with national defense. It is beyond their world view. I just hope a liberal congressman is on board next time the Syrian band do their floor exercises on a flight to LAX.
The “racial profiling” undertaken by FDR has no practical application to the current fiasco misnamed the War on Terror.
The multi-cultural nature of our republic - which has been it’s hallmark since Spain and England and France and the Dutch and the Italians - five distinct and separate cultures - began colonizing North America 450 years ago.
In WWII, the fear was that the Japanese, Italians, Germans, etc had loyalties to their provenance. In fact, this fear is well-founded in history.
The problem with the current fisaco is that the people whom you are trying to identify do not, for the most part, have loyalties to a volk or an emperor or a mythical mountain but to an ideal and a religious one at that. In other words, you are not trying to identify people with characteristics any greater than a thought within their head. I know how much the right abhors what it believes to be unorthodoxy in thought e.g. non-Christain, a common name but of foreign origin that is pronounced differently etc etc etc. It is indeed a treachorous trek to allow the government to decide whom among us “thinks” correctly and whom among us does not. Nor is it a power that I am willing to grant.
Michelle - I found out about your book on Instapundit and linked to it yesterday. I missed meeting you when you were in DC promoting Invasion. But I hope I get to meet you this time around.
GsOuPx, what are you babbling about? Is it Christian or Christain? Is it fiasco or fisaco.?
OK, I’ll play along. If the War on Terror is a “fiasco”, what do you suggest we do to wipe out these terrorist monsters, or would you prefer to make nice-nice with them and beg them to not attack us?
We have been handcuffed enough by the liberals in this fight (see Torricelli, Robert and Gorelick, Jamie) and are just now starting to take the gloves off. Perhaps we should go to that corrupt entity know as the UN and ask them to help us, or should we seek and destroy the enemy, wherever he may be?
Here we have another liberal who will not see the facts. It is true that there are non-Arab Muslims, and as has been mentioned in previous blogs, profiling is only ONE tool in our arrsenal. In case you had not noticed, it was not Japanese men who flew the hijacked airliners on 9/11. It is not German women who are blowing themselves and other Iraqis up with car bombs, nor is it Italian matrons who are attacking troops with RPG’s. Unitl they do, it is logical to profile Arabs, because they are the ones that are doing these atrocities.
I know this is meaningless to you, as your name clealy states your views. But if it can influence one person to take asecond look at the quagmire PC has created in profiling then it is worth it.
I understand there may be a case for internment, but I don’t understand why the costs of that internment should be borne by the interned population.
[GsOuPx, what are you babbling about? Is it Christian or Christain? Is it fiasco or fisaco.?}
Do you normally waste bandwidth over typos or are you just a boob? Truth be told, I type fast, rarely proofread as I am muti-tasking with my job and today I forgot my reading glasses at home.
Is that good enough for you Mr. Penn Warren?
[If the War on Terror is a "fiasco", what do you suggest we do to wipe out these terrorist monsters, or would you prefer to make nice-nice with them and beg them to not attack us?]
I’d increase the funding and manpower of the US’s special forces. I’d also stop using US military policy to enhance and enforce US corporate policy across the globe. You need to have travelled outside of our borders extensively to understand how military policy is used to support international corporations in both the mid-east and other parts of Asia. It is not greeted well beyond the walls of a palace.
[We have been handcuffed enough by the liberals in this fight (see Torricelli, Robert and Gorelick, Jamie) and are just now starting to take the gloves off.]
Ad hominem with a non-sequiter chaser. The fact is, Clinton issued an Executive Order [EO 12949 issued Feberuary 8th, 1995] that specifically empowered the Attorney General to do what AssKKKrotch claimed that he was forbidden to do.* The so-called wall that Der Obenfuhrer protested was simply a State of the Department communication that summarized the current rules that were and had been in place for years.
*EO 12949:
Section 1. Pursuant to section 302(a) (1) of the Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve physical searches without a court order-, to acquire foreign intelligence information for periods of up to one year, if the Attorney General makes the certifications required by that section.
Section 2. Pursuant to Section 302(b) of the Act, the Attorney General is authorized to approve applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court under section 303 of the Act to obtain orders for physical searches for the purpose of collecting foreign intelligence information.
Section 3. Pursuant to section 303(a) (7) of the Act, the following officials, each of whom is employed in the area of national security or defense is designated to make the certifications required by section 303(a) (7) of the Act in support of applications to conduct physical searches: (a)Secretary of State;
(b)Secretary of Defense;
(c)Director of Central Intelligence;
(d)Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
[e)Deputy Secretary of State;
(f)Deputy Secretary of Defense, and
(g)Deputy Director of Central Intelligence.
None of the above officials, nor anyone officially acting in that capacity, may exercise the authority to make the above certifications, unless that official has been appointed by the President, by and with the advise and consent of the Senate.
William J. Clinton
The White House. February 9, 1993
[In case you had not noticed, it was not Japanese men who flew the hijacked airliners on 9/11.]
It didn’t eascpae my notice at all that they were mostly Saudi and probably had some advanced military training through that country. So far we’ve attacked Afghanistan and Iraq.
That said, what if it was Japanese men who were not, in fact acting on behalf of Japan but on behalf of some “higher” Shinto or Bhuddist ideal?
Quoting Clinton directives certainly assuages my feelings.
Speaking of ad hominem non-sequitirs, nice reference to John Ashcroft.
Multi-tasking? What, you can babble and chew gum simultaneously?
Thank you for proving the great Dr. Michael Savage’s diganosis that liberalism is a mental illness. You are a perfect case study.
You may want to find your bifocals. I assume you left them up you a$$ when you shoved your head up there.
I think we have the right and the need to identify Muslims, for example, who have an association with the Taliban remnants in Afghanistan with terrorism. It is insanity to do anything else. Insanity. And you don’t have to look very far to find good examples of it.
[Thank you for proving the great Dr. Michael Savage's diganosis that liberalism is a mental illness. You are a perfect case study.]
Wherein have I advocated any particular affinity for the policies of “liberals?” That asked, quoting the mentally ill making comments about whom he believes to be mentally ill certainly does not present a case for your sanity.
[Multi-tasking? What, you can babble and chew gum simultaneously?]
In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
[Speaking of ad hominem non-sequitirs, nice reference to John Ashcroft.]
Really? I’m glad that you enjoyed it. I did it on the fly.
[Quoting Clinton directives certainly assuages my feelings.]
I’m not quoting CLinton. I’m quoting the current policy of the Executive Branch of the US government that was initiated by the Clinton adminstration in February of 1995. I had no intent on assuaging any feelings. I was pointing out to you that your Attorney General perjurerd himself before the 9/11 Commission simply for theatrics. What would your hero, Michael Weiner, have to say about those [you] ignoring reality?
I would not ordinairily join a discussion that started by descending to invective, but just a historical point. If you actually knew the history of Imperial Japan and the Great Pacific War you would know that Shinto, as the State Religion of the Empire, WAS a key motivating factor for Imperial forces, as was the medieval Samurai ideal and Bushido code. In fact, the Japanese Emperor was OFFICIALLY a god until forced to renounce that status as part of the peace agreement signed on the deck of the USS Missouri. So, yes I’d say it would be the same.
And this war won’t end favorably until we carry it out the way our parents and grandparents did it in the 40’s. Kill most or all of their soldiers, burn their hiding places to the ground and destroy their equipments of war.
Good Luck,
Charlie 32
Ashcroft perjured himself? And what evidence exists to back this up?
Obviously, Sandy “Socks” Berger perjured himself, but no doubt you’d prefer to ignore that.
Who said Michael Savage was my hero? I said he was great. For your edification, I consider Churchill and my mother to be my heros. Obviously, your mama neglected you. If she cared the slightest bit about your welfare, you wouldn’t have turned out to be a raving lunatic.
I always say when you have no argument, start calling people Nazis.
Thanks once again for proving you are mentally ill.
In the land of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
**************************************
LOL all is relative friend.
A man stumbled onto an isolated valley in which all the inhabitants were blind.
He too, had your attitude, until one night he heard his new friends discussing his “problem”.
It seemed that during the “warm” part of the day, he seemed normal enough, but during the “cool” part of the day he acted disoriented and helpless, as he also did when inside a building he kept running into things and falling down (the blind do not need windows or lights in their homes)
One of the people speaking pointed out that the cause might be the soft vestigial and useless organs on his face that were normally surgically removed in infantcy in their culture. It was decided that maybe drugging him and performing this operation, might in time allow him to lead a normal life.
The King of the Blind upon hearing this discussion decided to abdicate and escaped from the valley, before his well meaning friedns could initiate their plan.
I’m ordering your book.
But I still don’t believe that just because a practical case for internment exists, it is justified. Maybe you’ll change my mind. Probably not.
As a natural-born Chinese American, I’d be hoppin’ mad if my family or I were locked up after a hypothetical Chinese attack on American soil.
[I would not ordinairily join a discussion that started by descending to invective, but just a historical point. If you actually knew the history of Imperial Japan and the Great Pacific War you would know that Shinto, as the State Religion of the Empire, WAS a key motivating factor for Imperial forces, as was the medieval Samurai ideal and Bushido code. In fact, the Japanese Emperor was OFFICIALLY a god until forced to renounce that status as part of the peace agreement signed on the deck of the USS Missouri. So, yes I'd say it would be the same.]
Your point is not lost on me but the narrow Japanese reference to which I was responding was a contemporary one.
I haven’t read the book yet, but am looking forward to it.
More than 25 years ago, I worked briefly with a Japanese-American gentleman who was a highly-decorated veteran from WWII, in the famous “Neisi Battalion” that fought in Italy and elsewhere in the European Theater.
He was a student at UCLA, in ROTC, in 1941 and, with his family, was interned in 1942. We spoke of it once, and he said that when he was first interned, he was angry and felt that loyal Japanese citizens were victims of an injustice. Then, as he was in the camp, he began to hear some of the inmates talking and realized that there were a surprising number of Japanese aliens and Japanese-American citizens who were indeed disloyal and would have done anything they could to assist the Japanese war effort. He said he found this shocking, and it reconfirmed his determination to fight for the US.
Overall, he said that since whites had no good way to discern who among the Japanese residents and citizens were loyal and who were not, except by their actions, the evacuation of Japanese from the West Coast was justified. He did think the internees could have been treated better, and that after the war loyal citizens should have been compensated (his family lost a multimilliion dollar business), but did not fault the internment decision.
Had he not passed away several years ago, he might have been a useful source.
Talk about judging a book by its cover!
I am looking forward reading this with an open mind and, perhaps, getting a fresh persepective on the subject.
I support Internment - of illegal aliens before they can be shipped back to where they came from.
“Godless Jap rice-eaters.” Nice. Can’t you just feel the love? Howard Dean checking in folks.
Speaking of mental illness, ladies and gents, the Liberal Avenger has crawled out from under his rock, proving once again, it is the liberals who are the racists.
You are in dire need of some psychiatric help. Don’t wait for the Kerry health plan (whatever it is today), seek help immediately. Step away from the keyboard, get the yellow pages, and look under “Illness, Mental” and go from there. Surely they have someone located in the fever swamps near you.
[Ashcroft perjured himself? And what evidence exists to back this up?]
He claimed under oath that he was proscribed from acting because of policy that was initiated by Jamie Gorelick. That was an absolute flasehood.
[Obviously, Sandy "Socks" Berger perjured himself, but no doubt you'd prefer to ignore that.]
Present your evidence that he did so and I will consider it.
[Who said Michael Savage was my hero? I said he was great.]
You say “tomato” I say “tomahto.”
[I always say when you have no argument, start calling people Nazis.]
If it walks like a duck…
That said, the lowest form of life is one who brings someone else’s mother into a conversation. That was a wholly inappropriate comment and I demand that you apologize. My mother is an 83 year old saint. That’s ALL that you need to know about her.
Michelle,
Thank you for your courageous work in exposing the farce of “immigration control” on the Mexican border. There is no question but that the Mexican border is the “soft underbelly” of the “Great Satanic Beast” as our country is called in Islam. It is through the border where the enemy will send in its suicide bombers to maim and kill innocent Americans.
In the end, it will be the vigilence of the average American that stops these killers in their tracks. But to do this we will have to learn what to look for. Why is it that the Homeland Security Agency will send out “Corporate Guidelines” for spotting “suspicious activities” but mark at the top of the page “Not for Public Release”? Watch your back Michelle !
Cliff Roberts
Um, I don’t believe anyone’s talking internment of Middle Eastern people: I believe that a case for profiling has been made and profiling should be policy. Profile young male Arabians.
No, it won’t be a 100% solution but it’d be far better than the insane (and deadly) policies Mineta has mandated.
GsOuPx, you are incoherent.
Berger (and Clinton) claimed they foiled the millenium plot. Meanwhile, it was a single border guard at Port Angeles, Washington who did so. Look it up. I’m not doing your homework for you.
Thus, Berger lied under oath. Curious how he was stealing the notes that would prove they lied.
I’ll just wait for his incarceration. We evil GOPers will time that to coincide with the arrest of Osama (for you conspriacy types out there).
Your mother? Nobody mentioned your mother, God help the poor woman. She probably plays along with your idiocy, feeling sorry that her diseased offspring has such an imbalance.
Ironic how you libs go about about Nazis, when in reality Hitler was a leftist. You act more like them than just about anyone.
And as for your snide KKK reference, um, which party is it that houses KKK members? Oh that’s right, the Democrats. See Byrd, Robert a/k/a/ Sheets.
LA, what are you on? Hallucinogens? Anti-depressants? They must be strong, since your delusional rants can seemingly be deciphered only by alien lifeforms.
You are a sick puppy.
LA, please increase your dosage. He said “we” are winning the war on terror, meaning the USA. Unlike Bill Clinton, who declared terrorism defeated long ago, before he
dropped his pants for the obese intern.
I guess you’d prefer Commander Kerry and his Band of Two Brothers.
I guess after Michelle’s new book, I can look forward to reading Unfit for Command.
Internment may be necessary when you deal with a poorly integrated group of immigrants such as the Muslims, where their religion regulates their lives to an extent that is extreme in civilised societies, where their leaders openly refuse to support the war on terror, where many of the leaders actively show hostile intentions; the Muslims will have to accept guilt by association and that they can thank their local leaders for that. I have no idea what the Japanese were during WW2 were like, but can assure you that those Japanese, Chinese, Indian and many other immigrants I personally know today (quite many) are proud of the countries they were born in but would never hurt their adopted country (UK). I cannot say the same about the Muslims I have been in touch with (also quite many). “Political correctness” will be the death of the civilised world.
Wow, what a comeback. Calling Bush dumb. The originality and cleverness is just too much to combat.
Don’t forget to call him a war criminal and a Nazi for good measure.
Wow, this debate devolved very quickly. The insults from both sides don’t get us anywhere.
“I know how much the right abhors what it believes to be unorthodoxy in thought e.g. non-Christain, a common name but of foreign origin that is pronounced differently etc etc etc.”
That’s a bit of a hasty generalization regarding “the right,” I believe.
For the purposes of debate, could we assume that most folks all over the political spectrum have relatively benign motives?
Now, it seems that Michelle is using this book to make an argument for practices such as “…airport profiling, immigration enforcement, heightened scrutiny of Muslim chaplains and soldiers, etc.”
Are there constitutional objections to these measures? Or are they opposed by some for extra-constitutional reasons?
I’ll listen with an open mind.
Everyone is so focussed on the Bill of Rights, it might be a good idea to sit down, and READ the Constitution?
All of it.
They might find a surprise in
Article I Section 9 paragraph 2
Posted by Hubris at August 3, 2004 09:53 AM
*************************************
The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion or invasion the public safety may require it.
Is there any way to legislate the segregation of a portion of society by religion without it being un-Constitutional?
I don’t know the answer definitively, but I doubt it.
Posted by The Liberal Avenger at August 3, 2004 10:00 AM
***************************************
Not as a member of a Religion, but as a Clear and Present Danger.
[Berger (and Clinton) claimed they foiled the millenium plot. Meanwhile, it was a single border guard at Port Angeles, Washington who did so. Look it up. I'm not doing your homework for you.]
ROFLMAO…do you believe that the millenium plot involved one nervous Arab with some dynamite in his car?
[Your mother? Nobody mentioned your mother, God help the poor woman. She probably plays along with your idiocy, feeling sorry that her diseased offspring has such an imbalance.]
You have now, twice, which is the last time. Apologize now or be ignored.
Thanks for the response.
LA, are the practices endorsed by Michelle tantamount to “segregation of a portion of society”?
It seems that the practices she is advocating would result in increased law enforcement attention for certain groups (via airport profiling and “scrutiny of Muslim chaplains and soldiers”) but would not otherwise impact those groups.
In other words, these practices would not allow for discrimination by employers, banks, schools, and whatnot.
“Not as a member of a Religion, but as a Clear and Present Danger.”
Would that require any proof? and nobody has yet addressed my original question:
“I understand there may be a case for internment, but I don’t understand why the costs of that internment should be borne by the interned population.”
Malkin’s book is clearly about self-promotion more than anything. Hmm, perhaps I will garner more attention if I choose the most controversial thesis possible and then feebly defend it by using bombastic language and by feigning victimization at the hands of evil “liberal crtics.” Never mind her complete lack of academic credentials. Historian? Professor? Legal scholar? Nope, nope, and nope. Oh, but she does write columns for that hallowed bastion of journalism The New York Post, which most people read for laughs more than anything. It’s humorous how she’s trying to pass this book off as serious piece of historical analysis, though. “A very necessary and educational ride.” Sorry, but i won’t be getting on.
[Now, it seems that Michelle is using this book to make an argument for practices such as "...airport profiling, immigration enforcement, heightened scrutiny of Muslim chaplains and soldiers, etc."
Are there constitutional objections to these measures? Or are they ]
Airports have long had this power going back to the spate of Cuban hijackings in the late 60’s. Immigration enforcement has long been the purview of the Attorney General who can ignore Article I Section 9(b) when it comes to any alien, legal or illegal.
That said, I don’t believe that internment is the correct analogy for what we are trying to accomplish regarding airline safety.
These are all ancillary issues, IMHO, to propagate the Statist tendencies of our corporate government and have nothing to do with our safety.
“Historian? Professor? Legal scholar? Nope, nope, and nope. ”
So jeff, do you or the rest of us possess the necessary credentials to criticize her? Or is an “expert” designation also necessary to debate in the comments section?
>Is there any way to legislate the segregation of a portion of society by religion without it being un-Constitutional?
Well, Islam is not so much a religion as a death-cult. Nobody is objecting to the religious part of Islam. We are objecting to the extreme level of control Islam has on its followers lives, a control that endanger our lives.
[Never mind her complete lack of academic credentials. Historian? Professor? Legal scholar? Nope, nope, and nope.]
Given her target audience, she doesn’t need to be. Michelle and the others who so dominate the mainstream media and who make gobs of money off of this segment of society target the visceral rather than the intellect. The purpose of their “writings” is not to provoke one to thought but to action. We used to call it propaganda. Today we call it “the media.”
“Not as a member of a Religion, but as a Clear and Present Danger.”
Would that require any proof? and nobody has yet addressed my original question:
“I understand there may be a case for internment, but I don’t understand why the costs of that internment should be borne by the interned population.”
Posted by actus at August 3, 2004 10:12 AM
****************************************
The internment without a writ of habeous corpus of US citizens by Abraham Lincoln at the start of Hostilities between the North and South did not include individual proof of anything.
But I would expect a more serious attack than we have had so far would be required for Congress to go to such extreme lengths.
It WOULD be however Constitutional.
To answer your question. No I don’t think they should have to bear the financial burden, but then if you are in jail you get charged by the day for being there.
GsOuPx,
I don’t follow..how would these practices serve “to propagate the Statist tendencies of our corporate government”?
On another note, let’s not fall into the “appeal to authority” trap. Having academic credentials does not guarantee accuracy/truth, and lacking certain credentials does not necessarily lead to a lack of accuracy/truth.
Habeas corpus ad subjiciendum is an extraordinary remedy, and is by far the most frequently used writ of habeas corpus. It is an independent civil action and a form of collateral attack to determine not the guilt or innocence of the person held in custody, but whether the custody is unlawful under the U.S. Constitution. Common grounds for relief under the writ include a conviction based on illegally obtained evidence, a denial of effective assistance of counsel, or a conviction by a jury that was improperly selected and impaneled. The degree of restraint on a person’s liberty that is necessary to constitute custody entitling a person to habeas corpus relief is not viewed uniformly by the courts. Use of the writ is not limited to criminal matters. It is also available in civil matters, as, for example, to challenge a person’s custody of a child or the institutionalization of a person declared incompetent
I look forward to reading the book, but I see three things that the book has to explain:
1) Why weren’t the Japanese interned in Hawaii, which was arguably the most strategic point in the Pacific for the US, and was where Mr. Kotoshirodo was operating? (Hint: the Hawaiian economy would have collapsed.)
2) Why were the property and businesses of Japanese-Americans confiscated?
3) Why weren’t Japanese-Americans treated the same way as German-Americans? The German-American Bund was a popular pre-war organization sympathetic to the Nazis. The response of the FBI was to arrest the leadership of the German-American Bund when the war started and keep an eye on the German-American community - not mass deportations. Why wasn’t a similar policy followed with Japanese-Americans?
“I couldn’t have said it better myself.
Grade one of Michelle’s syndicated columns for reading level sometime. They use a lot of very short words. Its like having somebody talk to you REALLY… SLOWLY…”
Liberal Avenger, people in glass houses..you know. Here is a sample of the writing at your blog:
“Missouri to vote on gay marriage ban
I’d be very surprised if the state that voted for a dead man over John Ashcroft votes to ban gay marriage.”
That’s the whole post.
Grade one of Michelle’s syndicated columns for reading level sometime. They use a lot of very short words. Its like having somebody talk to you REALLY… SLOWLY…
****************************************
I would not go that far, but I will say writing in a manner which can be understood and shows that the writer understands the words they are using is a lot better than for instance
BEN AFFLECK’s statement “Well, I mean, I think it’s a very difficult question, which is … too
much that may alienate the middle, but you also have to enervate the base …”
Weaken/destroy = enervate the base???
Freudian slip maybe?
jeff:
Since you don’t offer your own academic credentials, research or personal knowledged with respect to the subject matter of enemy alien and Japanese internment, I’ll assume you have none. I have graduate degrees in history and law, and grew up in northern California. I knew a number of Japanese who were evacuated from the West Coast, including the gentleman I mentioned in my earlier post above. Several of my uncles were ranchers in Southern Oregon during the war, were familiar with the camp at Tule Lake and hired some of the internees there during harvest seasons. Based on my own academic training in California history, and the stories I have heard directly from these sources, I have always thought the post-Vietnam era ’story’ on Japanese internment was far more complex than portrayed in the press. Regrettable, certainly, but whether it was necessary, or at least a reasonable reaction based on the information available at the time, remains an open question in my mind.
Certainly, I heard the ‘regrettable but necessary’ view from many Japanese Aemricans and white Americans who lived through the War. Until looking through the stuff on Michelle’s bibliographical page, I had forgotten my uncles’ stories about hearing “banzai” shouts from the Tule Lake camp sometimes when going down with trucks and busses to pick up workers or return them.
For my part, I’m keeping an open mind and would urge you to do the same. The quality of the scholarship, not the technical credentials of the scholar, are what matters. In recent years, there have been many liberal credentialed historians guilty of incredibly bad, falsified or plagarized history: Michael Bellisles (guns), Doris Kerns Goodwin, and several historians writing about communism in the US.
I can’t believe people are giving opinions about a book they haven’t read.. wtf? How stupid can you make yourself look?
I can’t believe people are giving opinions about a book they haven’t read.. wtf? How stupid can you make yourself look?
Posted by demonsurfer at August 3, 2004 10:43 AM
**************************************
We are finding that out aren’t we?
[I don't follow..how would these practices serve "to propagate the Statist tendencies of our corporate government"?]
First off by restricting movement. As soon as we become fixed we become easily monitored. Have you seen the movie “Minority Report?” Warhol used to say that everyone gets 15 minutes of fame. If we go the route of “Minority Report,” forget the fame, we’ll all have 15 minutes of privacy.
Secondly, how do corporations survive? By haviong a steady stream of investment income. Since private investors can be fickle, tappinig into a more permanent source of funding would be the optimal route to take. What source would be more important than a government which is able to borrow money at will to finance itself? The problem, tho, is providing a product or products that a government would want or need. The most obvious products would be those that feed the machanisms of the governments most absolute power - it’s war making ability.
Thirdly, as the collusion between government and business becomes a more public exercise i.e. we are routinely governed at the executive level by players in a big game of musical chairs. What is the typical background of a cabinet member?
This nation has devolved from a limited government in which its war making powers were kept in check by skeptical legislators and populace into its own antithesis - an empire begot through the umbillicalization of corporations and government.
hehe apparently
The worse thing is, by making judement now they’re only invalidating their opinion after (if) they DO read the book, because they’re making it abundantly clear they’re going into it with an opinion already set in their minds. Silly people, could the phrase “never judge a book by it’s cover” be any more applicable?
[I can't believe people are giving opinions about a book they haven't read.. wtf? How stupid can you make yourself look?]
Gee…is that like commenting on a movie that you’ve never seen?
“Gee…is that like commenting on a movie that you’ve never seen?” - GsOuPx
Pretty much
..which I was almost guilty of doing in relation to Fahrenheit 911 a while back :/
[The worse thing is, by making judement now they're only invalidating their opinion after (if) they DO read the book, because they're making it abundantly clear they're going into it with an opinion already set in their minds. Silly people, could the phrase "never judge a book by it's cover" be any more applicable?]
Thus spake the pot to the kettle.
Where was all this “We demand an open mind” when Farenheit 9/11 was released? Or when Clarke’s book was released? Or when O’Neil’s book was released.
Living in Paris, I was directed to this site by a friend who wished I see what passes for discourse in the States. Among our group, I am the only one who defends America, who, in her past, upheld the promise of her creed of enlightenment and liberty. Indeed, the French owe her for fulfilling the promise of the Revolution, failed as it was in France (please, no mention of WWII…if it were not for France, you would be playing cricket.)
I am appalled by what I read, and can perhaps hope it does not reflect the sentiments of the majority. What, exactly, does Mme. Malkin suggest is the end result? Deportation of all Muslims from your country? Will Asians be next? What of blacks?
Of course, here, we have our lunatic fringe, who wish to expel all immigrants, return mother France to her glory. But they are just that - the fringe. I suspect it is not the same with Mme. Malkin.
Good luck!
Yep, I saw Minority Report. That one guy was a mean old bastard, huh?
Among the practices espoused by Michelle, I don’t see one that restricts movement other than immigration enforcement, which is not an application of a restriction of movement to citizens.
As for your second point, none of the practices relate to war-making ability and products (other than perhaps immigration enforcement?). Also, most corporations have little or nothing to do with defense contracting.
“What is the typical background of a cabinet member?”
Is this a rhetorical question meant to suggest corporate backgrounds among cabinet members? Unless someone is a lifelong politician/bureaucrat (which constitutes a separate problem), business experience is likely.
That being said, I wouldn’t mind seeing restrictions (sort of like a non-compete clause) on what people do AFTER they leave their office.
“Thus spake the pot to the kettle.”
..please illustrate. Where did I express any judgement based on (mis)preconception? Nowhere. I guess I’m not that stupid
[Also, most corporations have little or nothing to do with defense contracting]
At the risk of misquoting a long ago Fortune magazine article, I will only say that the % was not only eyebrow raising, it was frightening.
[Among the practices espoused by Michelle, I don't see one that restricts movement other than immigration enforcement, which is not an application of a restriction of movement to citizens.]
One does not need to be physically restrained to have their movement restricted. KNOWiNG that I am going somewhere or BEING ABLE to track me as I move or communicate is a form of restriction. In some cases, worse. That was my reference, I’m sorry if it was vague but I’m typing in 30 second snippets as I continue to multi-task here.
[That being said, I wouldn't mind seeing restrictions (sort of like a non-compete clause) on what people do AFTER they leave their office.]
I’d rather see people of better character and moral fiber attain office. A system is only as corruptable as the people who populate it.
“A system is only as corruptable as the people who populate it”
true that.
This book is scaring the heck out of the Liberal Avenger. His posts are dripping with fear. That has made my day!!
Liberal Avenger,
Isn’t there a substantive difference between airport profiling and ethnic cleansing, with no slippery slope in between?
Depending on what the issue is, profiling in general can lead to all different kinds of groups.
For example, if a serial killer was known to be living in my neighborhood, I would expect the police to question me (white male/early 30s) at length.
You’re a brave woman Michelle. While I have to admit that I’m sceptical, overall, of the universal justivication of interning all of the Japanese during that time, a scholarly examination of the period should not be verboten.
I look forward to reading it.
Hello, Michelle,
Thank you for your bold and continuing effort in behalf of openness to political debate and Conservative values. I am anxious to read your new book on the subject of internment. Clearly, the Left Wing revisionists have stigmatized and stifled this debate as surely as they have the issue of profiling by shrieking ‘McCarthyism’ to slam the door on the subject. In my view, regardless the failings of McCarthy the man, we have similarities between todays Islamists and yesterdays Stalinists. Both have hidden behind defenses of the very system they have wished to overthrow. Furthermore, Islamists are more committed to creating unbridled violence on American soil, therefore a much graver threat. Dealing with the insidiousness of Islamism om American soil in a way that doesn’t destroy the fabric of American constitional democracy and pluraslism is the heart of this debate. The soul required for preserving America’s future is in replacing the yoke of moral relativism with more absolute guidelines of good and evil, a daunting assignment considering the entrenchment of political correctness in the media, courts and classroom. Only by clearly defining the enemy, can we go forward with adequate defensive solutions involving issues of profiling, immigration and internment while preserving American Constitutional values. Thankfully, the debate is gathering momentum with little time to spare.
you all are a scary bunch of people. can’t you see bigotry, racism, and xenophobia when it’s staring you in the face? japanese internment is a horrendous stain on united states history. it was totally unjustified, and you all should be ashamed of yourselves.
jill:
Your reaction is emotional, not rational. Ought you not read the arguments to determine whether Japanese internment was unjustified or justified? Wanting to know the facts (as opposed to the received wisdom) is hardly something to be ashamed of.
Whoo boy, como doo daa…duh, what was ya think’n Michelle?! SInce I know you aren’t stupid, far from it, you elected to step right in the middle of it, when thousands of voices were saying, walk around Michelle, walk around.
What could have driven you to do such a thing? I guess I’ll have to read the book.
jill,
How about using some facts to back up your feelings next time.
Yours was a dumb post.
Dan Kauffman
“The internment without a writ of habeous corpus of US citizens by Abraham Lincoln at the start of Hostilities between the North and South did not include individual proof of anything.”
Which doesn’t make it right.
“But I would expect a more serious attack than we have had so far would be required for Congress to go to such extreme lengths.”
I agree.
“It WOULD be however Constitutional.”
If congress suspended it, yes.
“To answer your question. No I don’t think they should have to bear the financial burden, but then if you are in jail you get charged by the day for being there. ;-)”
Usually under the theory that you’ve been proven to have done something bad. But not all jails charge that.
What percentage of Asian immigrants who were sent to the internment camps were actually American citizens? I understand that in a time of war we must take steps to protect the general populace. But the rounding up of American citizens like cattle, confiscating their property, and putting them behind barbed wire without a trial isn’t something we should be proud of.
Looking forward to reading your book and hearing you speak in Bothell on Friday.
Henri, if you believe that popping into a comments section on a blog provides you with an understanding of what passes for discourse in the States, well, I guess that’s what you believe.
After reading French editorials, seeing French political cartoons, and perusing comments from French readers on any number of websites, should I conclude that discourse in France has devolved into puerile and irrational bitterness?
But getting back to internment, is it the “lunatic fringe” in France that’s herded your Muslim population into festering ghettos? Is that “fringe” part of the 60+ percent of the population that feels there are too many Muslims in France?
Jill,
You need to talk to people who were in California at the time, both whites and Japanese-Americans. It was a totally different situation that what you are living in today, so don’t use your life experiences as a reference, use theirs. Before passing judgement in a knee-jerk reaction put yourself in their frame of mind.
I am sure that is what Michelle did when writing her book.
I am not going to make a judgement one way or the other until after reading the book, and everyone else should do the same!
J.J. I don’t know who you are trying to impress but you failed miserably, at least on my account.
Just a few anecdotes to put the debate into some historical context:
1) My father’s family was interred during WWII. As mandated by then existing immigrantion law, my grandparents were not U.S. citizens: my father and his 2 siblings were citizens.
2) No one has mentioned the fact that internees were offered the opportunity to sign a statement declaring their allegiance to the U.S. or the Emperor of Japan. My father, being a young college student, declared his allegiance to the Emperor. I can’t remember the exact figure, but I recall a substantial # of others did the same.
3) Despite the previous event, he was allowed to leave the camp and finish his college education at the U of Nebraska (en route he met my mother).
4) On my mother’s side, one uncle fought and survived; one died @ Anzio. Her family resided in Colorado and was not interred, due largely to the then governor.
I personally question whether a mass internment was necessary. However, I must point out to the younger members of this debate that German sabotage during WWI was a factor that was and should have been considered, and given the nature of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, strategic concerns–even if tinged by racism–sometimes necessitate what in retrospect may have been overly harsh, even useless, actions. A family friend told me that the youngsters and teenagers adapted fairly easily to life in the camps; as might be expected, adults faced with loss of businesses, homes, and livelihood, took it much harder.
In other words, the issue is complex; the U.S. goverment has admitted an error was made; and the issue has relevancy for today’s war and should be debated with all pros and cons. Can we use a little context, thought, and discussion before launching into diatribes and personal attacks, please?
Just a few anecdotes to put the debate into some historical context:
1) My father’s family was interred during WWII. As mandated by then existing immigrantion law, my grandparents were not U.S. citizens: my father and his 2 siblings were citizens.
2) No one has mentioned the fact that internees were offered the opportunity to sign a statement declaring their allegiance to the U.S. or the Emperor of Japan. My father, being a young college student, declared his allegiance to the Emperor. I can’t remember the exact figure, but I recall a substantial # of others did the same.
3) Despite the previous event, he was allowed to leave the camp and finish his college education at the U of Nebraska (en route he met my mother).
4) On my mother’s side, one uncle fought and survived; one died @ Anzio. Her family resided in Colorado and was not interred, due largely to the then governor.
I personally question whether a mass internment was necessary. However, I must point out to the younger members of this debate that German sabotage during WWI was a factor that was and should have been considered, and given the nature of the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, strategic concerns–even if tinged by racism–sometimes necessitate what in retrospect may have been overly harsh, even useless, actions. A family friend told me that the youngsters and teenagers adapted fairly easily to life in the camps; as might be expected, adults faced with loss of businesses, homes, and livelihood, took it much harder.
In other words, the issue is complex; the U.S. goverment has admitted an error was made; and the issue has relevancy for today’s war and should be debated with all pros and cons. Can we use a little context, thought, and discussion before launching into diatribes and personal attacks, please?
I do not think that internment of Arabs is the right course of action at this time. I cannot speak to WWII, because I was not around, but I tend to believe that there is a good possibility that many intelligent and knowledgable people that could have been assets in our war with Japan were stuck in camps. I also recognize that there were possibly many enemies just waiting for their chance to attack America for the Empire in those camps, so it is a prickly question.
Having said that, I am all for profiling for the purpose of security against potential terrorist attacks. It is only logical. Additional security checks for Arab males at airports, scrutinizing suspicious behavior and so on is the only thing that has a chance of saving American lives. If this “victimizes” honest individuals whose only link to terror is their ancestry, then they are just more victims of the terror attacks and it is regrettable, but necessary.
As I have said many times on this site, I would rather apologize to an honest Arab American for the extra scrutiny and the singling him out because he was an Arab than apologize to 30, 300 or 3000 families because their loved ones died in the next terrorist attack.
I would have the opportunity to make amends to the Arab, such opportunity is lost with the dead.
actually, i’ve done extensive research on the internment of japanese-americans during world war II, which is why i feel comfortable saying that it was a heinous occurance that cannot be justified and should not be repeated. was i there? no. i’m sure that at the time, it seemed like a justifiable and right thing to do. however, hindsight has shown us that it was unequivocally wrong. to suggest that it wasn’t that bad because “the kids adapted to the camps pretty well” is sick. it wreaked havoc on the japanese-american community, destroying businesses and de-humanizing an entire group of people based entirely on their racial background. yes, we were fighting a war, but that does not justify the detention of an entire ethnic group. and notably, we were at war with certain european nations too, but germans weren’t rounded up and indefinitely detained en masse.
Jill,
Wouldn’t it be good to read the book to get another point of view?
For example, you wrote:
“yes, we were fighting a war, but that does not justify the detention of an entire ethnic group. and notably, we were at war with certain european nations too, but germans weren’t rounded up and indefinitely detained en masse.”
The publisher’s summary of Michelle’s book says:
“- who resided in enemy alien internment camps (nearly half were of European ancestry)”
It never hurts to look at another perspective (one can always reject it after looking).
Here’s a response to the post listed above…
I look forward to reading the book, but I see three things that the book has to explain:
1) Why weren’t the Japanese interned in Hawaii, which was arguably the most strategic point in the Pacific for the US, and was where Mr. Kotoshirodo was operating? (Hint: the Hawaiian economy would have collapsed.)
Answer: According to the 1940 census, ethnic Japanese made up 40% if the population of Hawaii. In California, the population was 1.6%. Military authorities had considered moving all ethnic Japanese to Molokai or the West Coast but moving 40% of the population was logistically and indeed financially impossible. That said, there was an internment camp in Hawaii and Sand Harbor. More importantlym Hawaii was under military martial law at the time.
If the the authorities could have evacuated all ethnic Japanese from Hawaii they would have. They could not so they did not.
As an aside, Japan had a battle plan in place for the invasion of Hawaii that intended to utilize ethnic Japanese during the occupation. The plan was scrapped after Japan’s defeat at Midway.
2) Why were the property and businesses of Japanese-Americans confiscated?
Answer: This is a myth. As stated by Col. Karl Bendetsen in a 1972 interview long before this history became politicized…
“First, about their assets, their lands (Nisei could own land), their possessions, their bank accounts and other assets, their household goods, their growing crops–nothing was confiscated. Their accounts were left intact. Their household goods were inventoried and stored. Warehouse receipts were issued to the owners. Much of it was later shipped to them at Government expense, particularly in the case of those families who relocated themselves in the interior, accepted employment and established new homes.
Lands were farmed, crops harvested, accounts kept of sales at market and proceeds deposited to the respective accounts of the owners.
Whenever desired, Shinto and other religious shrines were moved to the centers.
Second, it was never intended by Executive Order 9066 and certainly not by the Army that the Japanese themselves be held in Relocation Centers. The sole objective was to bring relocation anywhere in the interior–east of the Cascades and Sierras Nevada and north of the southern halves of Arizona and New Mexico. Japanese were urged to relocate voluntarily on their own recognizance and extensive steps were taken to this end. The desire was to relocate them so that they could usefully and gainfully continue raising their families and educate their children while heads of families and young adults became gainfully employed. They were to be free to lease or buy land, raise and harvest crops, go into businesses. They were not to be restricted for the “duration” so long as they did not seek to remain or seek to return to the war “frontier” during hostilities.
In furtherance, from the very beginning I initiated diligent measures to urge the Japanese families to leave with the help and funding (whenever needed) of the WCCA (Wartime Civil Control Administration) on their own recognizance and resettle east of the mountains. To this end, I conferred with the Governors of the seven contiguous states east of the mountains. I called a Governors’ Conference at Salt Lake City. I invited them to urge attendance by members of their cabinets, by members of their legislatures and by the mayors of their communities. It was a large and successful conference. I advised them in full, sought their full cooperation, asked them to inform their citizens and to welcome and help the evacuees to feel welcome without restrictions, to become members of their inland communities and schools and to help them find employment and housing. I told them that these people would become a most constructive segment of their respective populations. These who resettled certainly did. Where needed I told them that the WCCA would provide financial support for a limited period.
Further to this end, I conferred with the elders of each major Japanese community along the Pacific Coast, wherever they were and, as well, in Arizona and New Mexico. I carefully explained all this to them. I urged them to persuade their fellow Japanese to leave before the evacuation to assembly centers began and while it was proceeding. I assured them that the WCCA would provide escort, if requested, by those who felt insecure. We organized convoys and shipped to those, who had resettled, their stored possessions.”
3) Why weren’t Japanese-Americans treated the same way as German-Americans? The German-American Bund was a popular pre-war organization sympathetic to the Nazis. The response of the FBI was to arrest the leadership of the German-American Bund when the war started and keep an eye on the German-American community - not mass deportations. Why wasn’t a similar policy followed with Japanese-Americans?
Answer: Neither Germany nor Italy had a navy that could sufficiently project enough power to invade the East Coast of the United States. Japan had developed such a force that had succeeded in developing the largest empire in the history of mankind in a matter of months. One reason for the lack of preparedness that led to Pearl Harbor was the belief Japan could not project forces so far to the east.
You may recall when the Japanese Imperial Army arrived in the city of Davao in the Phillipines on July 23, 1941 the colony of 30,000 ethnic Japanese living there (as long as ethnic Japanese in the West Coast) welcomed them with open arms. Many volunteered their services as scouts and translators for the invading forces.
If Japanese-Filipinos with a history in the Philippines as long that of Japanese-Americans in America could so quickly side with the invading forces in Davao, who’s to say the same thing wouldn’t have happened on the West Coast?
(trackback)
http://www.andrewhagen.com/archives/2004/08/03/753/
J.J.,
The satire is a bit forced, I think.
I am Japanese-American, my grandfather and his family were interned during WWII, and I enjoy Michelle’s writings. I will have to reserve judgment until I read this book, but I do admit to being somewhat unsettled by its title.
I think Michelle is trying to stimulate debate about the merits of racial profiling in our present age of international, guerrilla style, non traditional warfare. The internment of Japanese in America during WWII provides an allegorical, historical base for that discussion. I don’t believe (at least, I hope) Michelle is calling for the wholesale internment of an entire racial group.
I fundamentally believe that the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII was morally wrong. I fundamentally believe that any sort of internment (read detained without due cause) action against Muslim/Arab-Americans would be morally wrong. It is plainly true that we live in uncertain times and can’t afford to view the world through rose-colored glasses… but I also believe that we cannot afford to give up our principles of liberty, equality, and justice. The very same values the Islamic fascists seek to destroy.
Anyway, just some quick thoughts from a person who has not read the book yet.
One more point:
The Japanese-American Claims Act of 1948 paid out $48 million (in 1948) to petitioners who filed for losses caused by the evacuation.
The “pennies on the dollar” comments refer to what could have been earned had the evacuation not occured rather than what was actually lost.
Certaintly the thousands of American military men fighting around the world for $16/month could have made a lot more at home, too….
J.J.,
The shtick must get tiring, no?
It’s sort of an ongoing satirical straw man argument.
GsOuPx:”collusion between government and business”
If the present condition smacks of collusion to you, sir, thank God or whatever you believe in, that you did not live in the 19th Century, before the SEC or FTC were created, or anyone had even heard of Antitrust legislation.
And, “Minority Report” was a movie, fiction. It can tell a story, but should not be confused as fact.
As an American Muslim, just one question:
before they round us up, will we have the option to leave? I love this country, born and raised, served in the NG for five years, but if they start putting us in camps, so you all can feel safe, I’d rather leave. Was that option given to the Japanese?
J.J., please explain to me how you can thank Michelle for allowing comments in one post, deride your opponents for their opinion, and then post a vulgar personal insult as your 2:54 post does.
It is unacceptable language, disrespectful to the lady who runs the site, and would evoke the disapproval of even the most rough-hewn teamster, were one here to read your vitriol.
Basely done, sir, a foul offense!
J.J.,
Perhaps I could create a fake, vitriolic leftist commenter and we could have the two fictional constructs debate each other.
No, on second thought..the joke would get kind of old. Wouldn’t it?
… and your 3:01 post, J.J., should get you banned.
Michelle,
Hats off to you for taking on such an important, under-researched and politically radioactive topic. You are one gutsy journalist. Without the advantage of having read your book, my opinion is that the treatment of the West-Coast Japanese was terrible (by U.S. standards). On the other hand, I can’t say how else the real security threat could have been addressed by officials trying to respond to an extreme national emergency with only minimal appropriate counter-intelligence resources (I’d bet that the security services (Army, Navy, FBI and Treasury probably had less than a dozen qualified Japanese linguists between them)).
I’ve also heard that this episode produced an odd juxtiposition: J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, opposed the internment as unconstitutional while California Gov. Earl Warren (future uber-liberal Supreme Court Justice) was a strong supporter of internment. I wonder if you can confirm this?
As an American Muslim, just one question:
before they round us up, will we have the option to leave? I love this country, born and raised, served in the NG for five years, but if they start putting us in camps, so you all can feel safe, I’d rather leave. Was that option given to the Japanese?
Answer: According to War Relocation Authority records, 13,000 applications renouncing their U.S. citizenship and requesting expatriation to Japan were filed by or on behalf of Japanese-Americans during World War II. Over 5,000 had been processed by the end of the war.
J.J.,
You are not fooling people.
You are a liberal trying to convince us that you are one of those scary Republican racists.
Nice try, moron.
>As an American Muslim, just one question:
>
>before they round us up, will we have the option to leave?
You can thank your peers and betters for bringing you into this situation. I have in vain looked for some support for the war against militant Islam from Muslims and seen none whatsoever (apart from some that have converted to other faiths). I only see whining about