The strength and state of the nation’s democracy following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 was the subject of a panel discussion Wednesday afternoon at the Hinckley Institute of Politics.
The five-person panel was critical of President Bush’s policies toward immigrants and international students in the wake of the attacks.
“We are witnessing what I call a drive towards patriotic censorship,” said Philippos Savvides, adjunct instructor of political science at the U.
Savvides said there have been discussions to implement a computer system that would track and monitor the movements of international students in the United States, especially those of Arab descent.
“In addition, the president is asking these students for $95 to pay for the same system that would spy on us,” Savvides said.
Savvides has lived in the United States for the past 11 years, but is originally from Cyprus, a small island in the Mediterranean Sea south of Greece.
“A terrorist who has lived in the U.S. for two years has more rights and is more protected than me, who has lived here for over 10 years, and who has acted as a better citizen of the United States,” he said.
John Francis, a professor of political science, said he expected a bigger fallout after the attacks.
“In the aftermath of 9/11, things were surprisingly better than I thought they would be,” he said.
He added that society in the United States is much more diverse than in years past, making some of the president’s policies difficult to implement.
“American culture and society is interwoven with the rest of the world. It’s not like it was 50 years ago,” Francis said.
With every seat in the Hinckley Institute caucus room filled, some members of the audience stood throughout the discussion.
J.D. Williams, professor emeritus in the political science department, said that Bush’s actions are pitting national defense against the Bill of Rights.
“It seems to me that in episode after episode, concepts of the Bill of Rights are being tested,” Williams said, adding that some actions of Bush and Attorney General John Ashcroft have been “simply unbelievable.”
Williams gave other examples of presidents who have violated the doctrines set down in the Bill of Rights, including Abraham Lincoln and Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
He also said he is saddened by the country’s inability to learn lessons from previous wars.
David Sundwall, chair of the Federalist Society in the College of Law, said that democracy today “has to walk a tightrope.”
Sundwall also said that the idea of a military tribunal is one that should be considered for Zacharias Moussaui, the “20th hijacker,” who was kept out of the United States because of visa problems when the attacks occurred.
Mark Button, assistant professor of political science, said the challenge for democratic politics is “distinct.”
“Part of what it means to be a citizen in a democracy is not only to enjoy its freedom but to bear the brunt that makes this lifestyle possible,” he said.
For Sundwall, the attacks eclipsed what he thought would be the most significant political event of his lifetime. “I thought the 2000 presidential elections would be the greatest political event of my lifetime, but less than a year later, I’d learn I was wrong.”
John Walker Lindh, known as the “American Taliban” fighter, was another popular topic for the panel.
“Over the course of the last few months, Lindh went from hapless youth to a religious pupil of Islam, back to a hapless youth,” Francis said.