Setting conscription aside, we (most of us) learned after the World Wars that interning Canadians of the same descent as our enemies was unacceptable. I think we have to work towards, and hope, that we’ll learn from the excesses of the aftermath of 9/11.

However, it’s only most of us that learned those lessons. There were people agitating (or at least willing to consider), publicly and privately, internment of the religion and race considered “responsible” for terrorist attacks. But we didn’t do that, because we ignored those lesser voices. And those are the ones who troll on comment boards writing despicable statements.

Our job isn’t to convince them that they’re wrong; it’s to make sure that people who are less certain of the importance of civil liberties than we are don’t end up being swayed by regressive manipulators.