A Vote For Baer Is A Vote For The Taliban
By George Beck, Ph.D
Who can forget the images of men and women falling from the World Trade Center buildings? The one of a man diving head first to his death to escape the smoke and flames will stay with me forever. And there are those who we did not see until we collected their remains for burial, the nearly 3,000 mothers, fathers, children and friends, who died instantly or died trying to escape. I certainly cannot forget them.
But not all of us are the same.
One who saw it differently was Lauren Baer—the current Democratic congressional candidate running in Florida’s 18th District against incumbent U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, a Republican. Writing on October 10, 2001 from the safety of Harvard University, nearly a month after the attack, Baer penned an article in The Harvard Crimson, claiming the U.S. response to the 9/11 terrorist attack was a “moment of hypocrisy.”
Let that sink in.
While rescue workers were sifting through the rubble and families were glued to television sets, hoping for news that their loved ones, whose photos were posted all over the city because they were still technically missing, had survived and would return home—Baer chose to remind everyone of America’s “shameful history” and profess her hope that from the terrorist attacks, America would become more “humble and humane.”
“Every day the world is plagued by more mundane battles… These events were just as much an affront to justice as were the events of Sept. 11,” wrote Baer.
Baer went even further, “Some people speak of wanting an America to emerge from these events that is stronger and more proud… I wish to see an America that is more humble and humane.”
Who in that moment of intense hurt, fear and grief would hope that America would be brought to heel and reflect upon its shortcomings? Certainly not a real leader— indeed not anyone who blames victims, preaching the attack should humble us. No. At that moment Americans rallied together—Democrats, Republicans, and independents—because they understood we had more in common—core freedoms that had been paid for in blood many times over—and that the real target of the attack was America herself and what she stood for in a world largely hostile to self-determination and individual rights.
Our enemies understood what they were doing that day. So too did the many who came to their defense on the battlefields of Tora Bora, Kabul and Shok Valley. And so too did our own native Lauren Baers who provided that aid here at home.
Consistent with her past position, Baer should be in Afghanistan representing the Taliban, who attacked polling places and threatened voters there, not in Florida where, regardless of party affiliation, voters wear “I voted” stickers on Election Day without fear of losing life or limb.
George Beck, Ph.D. is the managing editor of Blue Magazine—a law enforcement publication owned and operated by active and retired law enforcement officers.
