Must we see every single act of wrongdoing, even minor ones, through the prism of 9/11?
STEVEN M. FALK / Staff Photographer
A Philadelphia police officer with Taser in hand chases a Phillies' fan who ran on the field the John Yoo-justified torture regime...  was expanded to many people who had nothing to do with 9/11 and eventually to people who were innocent of any crime altogether.
But even more damaging is the way that attitude -- that any kind of lawbreaking or even potential lawbreaking requires the harshest possible response, with no regard to more than 200 years of momentum toward basic civil liberties and human rights -- is filtering down to other aspects of American life. Exhibit A is what's happening in Arizona.
