Things sure change when one is running for president, especially when the candidate is Hillary Clinton.
As of Tuesday afternoon, up to three of the ISIS terrorists involved in last week's Paris nightmare were either refugees from Syria or posing as refugees from Syria. But, that didn't stop Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee, from attacking Republicans who are demanding the protection of Americans by banning the refugees from entering the country.
Ms. Clinton is taking an issue of safety and turning it in to an opportunity to trash the Republicans. Not all Muslims are ISIS terrorists, but all ISIS terrorists are Muslim, and it only takes one terrorist to cause the deaths of Americans, and we need to learn from the Paris attacks that is is easy for terrorists to slip through.
Back in 2001 when she was the Junior Senator from New York, Ms. Clinton thought differently.
In an interview with Sam Donaldson for ABC's This Week on the Sunday after 9/11/01, Clinton said we needed to do everything possible to prevent a terrorist attack - even profiling. Since it was known that the 9/11 attack was conducted by radical Muslims, Clinton was talking about profiling people who practiced or looked like they practiced Islam.
The Weekly Standard posted a transcript of relevant part of the interview:
"Let's talk about American life now, though," said ABC host Sam Donaldson. "What happens in the future from the standpoint of the question of security versus relaxation or giving up some of the freedoms that we've enjoyed in this country? How far do we go, for instance, on airline security?"
"Well, I think everyone recognizes we have to tighten security. We have to do whatever it takes to keep our people safe," Hillary Clinton replied.
Donaldson said, "Including profiling, senator?"
"I think we have to do whatever it takes, Sam. And I believe that, you know, Tuesday changed everything. Tuesday was a day that America has never, ever had to experience. And I hope to heaven that we never have to again. But we are in a war situation, and we're going to have to do things people do in times of war. I just heard your interview with the mayor, and I think he's right to look at examples in history like the Battle of Britain. Many of us have been studying what others did to carry on. And we know that we have to make tradeoffs in convenience, in our freedom of movement, without undercutting or losing our way of life and our values, which I really want to make America special and great. And we can't ever let anyone undermine that."
Little has changed in the intervening years: the U.S. is still fighting radical Islamists who have the ability to execute major acts of terror throughout the world. As recently as a day ago, these terrorists have warned that the will attack the United States, and the Director of the CIA said there are more attack in the terrorists' pipeline.
But, back in 2001, Hillary Clinton was representing New York, which was devastated by the 9/11 attacks.