A Teeny, Tiny, Really Miniscule Sorta-Defense of GWB

Those who know me know that I have very, very, VERY little good to say about our last president. Seriously, damn near nothing. I can go on and on for hours (and, you know, probably have) about how incredibly crappy he was. But I will say this. Leaving aside what the man and his administration actually did in the aftermath of 9/11 from a foreign policy standpoint (which, again, pretty much ALL BAD), what he said and did on the domestic front in the aftermath of 9/11 with respect particularly to the Muslim community was far better than the ridiculous shitshow to which we're now being treated by the GOP 15 years later. I have, in fact, some firsthand memory of it.

Less than one week after 9/11, GWB gave an address at the Islamic Center in Washington D.C., which you can easily find online. Just Google, "Islam is Peace," because he said that. And, more extensively: "These acts of violence against innocents violate the fundamental tenets of the Islamic faith.  And it's important for my fellow Americans to understand that. The English translation is not as eloquent as the original Arabic, but let me quote from the Koran, itself:  In the long run, evil in the extreme will be the end of those who do evil.  For that they rejected the signs of Allah and held them up to ridicule." Imagine for a moment what the reaction would be in the rightwing punditocracy to those words coming from President Obama.

And, what's more,the Bush Justice Department had pretty strict marching orders: Any hate crimes targeting Muslim Americans in the aftermath of 9/11 were to be dealt with pretty much without mercy. And here's where I tell a personal anecdote. I was a Public Defender at the time and had a client who, you will be shocked to learn, had a violence problem, an alcohol problem, and an intelligence problem (this is an unfortunate and not uncommon combination). I was already representing him on assorted state charges primarily dealing with domestic violence when, in the weeks following 9/11, he made the inspired move essentially to "drunk dial" the 9-1-1 center and make a bomb threat against a small family-owned grocery store. I cannot remember now the nationality of the owners, but I believe they were Jordanian. In any event, he called 9-1-1 from his home landline phone. This was especially smart because not only could 9-1-1 trace the call but, of course, the call was recorded. My client insisted on having a preliminary hearing and the assistant D.A. practically did cartwheels down the hallway at the thought of trotting out the 9-1-1 recording. It was one of those particularly grim moments one has as a defense attorney.

But here's the thing. THE FEDS TOOK OVER HIS CASE. Seriously, this was by itself a nothing case. My client was drunk and stupid but he didn't directly threaten the shop-owner, HE CALLED 9-1-1. Frankly the already-pending domestic violence charges, in terms of actual alleged behavior, was more serious. The Feds are noted for picking and choosing their own cases, and they generally don't take chicken shit. The idea that, prior to the 9/11 attacks, the Feds would have taken over the prosecution of this level of behavior was preposterous. But they did. And the state continued to prosecute him for the same crime, too (Aside: For those of you wondering if this doesn't violate the prohibition against double jeopardy, the short answer is no, and the long answer involves a few beers and more law than you want to know). He wound up doing quite a few months in both federal and state prison for this.

So there you have it. Donald Trump is the most over-the-top and clownish example of where the current GOP has devolved, but there are numerous examples nationwide of GOP lawmakers who are taking only slightly less outrageous stances. It is truly a measure of how appalling they have become when I feel I must hold up the shining example of George W. Bush.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I must shower.