Emotional policing is again in vogue Have you condemned Hamas vigorously enough for [insert viral unconfirmed atrocity here]? The murderous rampage by Hamas last weekend against Israeli civilians of all ages and how Israel responds will reverberate for years to come. Israel’s 9/11. In the wake of terrorist attacks here two decades ago, some pundit asked: Would America keep its head? I wrote later: We invaded Iraq on trumped-up intelligence. We conducted illegal surveillance on our own citizens. We imprisoned people without charge, here and abroad. We rendered prisoners for torture and tortured others ourselves in violation of international law. All the while, millions of staunch, law-and-order conservatives supported and defended it, and still do. Vigorously. Did America keep its head? Uh, no. It is happening again. Pro-Israel protesters in New York City think Gaza should be flattened to a parking lot. Wipe out all the Palestinians. There are calls for revenge, for collective punishment. War fever is on the rise again. Someone on Bluesky last night posted that “every single Israeli child will one day be an active member of the IDF.” Thus, none are innocent. Thus, targets for Hamas. Col. John Chivington, a Methodist minister, used that reasoning in 1864 to direct the slaughter of Cheyenne and Arapaho children at Sand Creek in the Colorado territory. (The post has since been deleted.) Responses to the Hamas attack recall not just 9/11 but the earlier Challenger disaster in 1986. Celebrated schoolteacher and payload specialist Christa McAuliffe died in the…