Stop me if you've heard this one. An Arab, an Eastern European immigrant, a Frenchman, and a liberal elitist from Berkeley plot to destroy America...
Sounds like Fox News channelling Tom Clancy, right? So why is Daily Kos advertising it?
"The Enemy is Here"... "They could be anywhere. Sitting on the bus next to you, teaching your kids in school, living next door..."
The new Showtime show Sleeper Cell is probably the most painful, sad example of media xenophobia that I've ever seen. And believe me, I've seen a lot. The show promotes paranoia and hostility across a broad range of right-wing "terrorist" caricatures, and might as well be a Bill O'Reilly special for all the fevered scare attempts it packs into its promos.
To its credit, "Sleeper Cell" takes pains to point out that not all Muslims are bin Ladens in waiting. But who does it single out instead? Liberals, Europeans, and immigrants. Wow, that's a great leap forwad in tolerance. Forget the fact that EVERY act of domestic terrorism in recent history has been committed by conservatives. Forget Timothy McVeigh. Forget the Montana militias who spent much of the 1990s whispering darkly about Presidential assassination. Forget the abortion clinic attacks of the 1990s. Terrorism to Showtime means a Pakistani with a green card in Berkeley.
The worst thing about this 2002-style paranoia is the fact that we're still dealing with some very vulnerable populations here. The Administration's sudden shift in policy on Jose Padilla appears to have forestalled a Supreme Court challenge, meaning that indefinite imprisonment without trial is still the law of the land for American citizens accused of terrorism. Meanwhile, American citizens perceived to be Arabs continue to be harassed simply for their race. 2002 saw a low point in American race relations, as hate crimes on Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs, Hindus, and anyone perceived to be "one of them" increased, as detailed in this Human Rights Watch report.
I know better than to expect the media to devote significant time or effort to combatting stereotypes. The liberals/Europeans/brown people hate America theme has been pounded on so much that it's become shorthand for an unfortunately large number of people. But why should the internet's biggest liberal weblog support it? I think Kos should pull the ad.