Hasan Piker has never demonstrated any deep familiarity with any topic he has ever opined on yet, we are told, a substantial share of left leaning youth hangs on his every word. What he does have, like most of the more high-profile podcasters, is a flair for saying attention grabbing things, such as his infamous quote that “America deserved 9/11.”
This proved to be a bit too spicy even for a professional wind-up merchant like Piker, and he subsequently apologized. Sure, don’t we all have to apologize for something from time to time? Not rinsing out the mug before putting it in the dishwasher, “forgetting” the pineapple, saying that America deserved an attack that killed 3,000 innocent people…
What is especially obnoxious about Piker’s remarks is that 9/11 didn’t happen to America, it happened to Americans.
It happened to Americans like two-and-a-half-year-old Christine Lee Hanson, the day’s youngest victim, who was killed when the plane she was travelling on was slammed, by Islamic terrorists, into the South Tower of the World Trade Center; it happened to Americans like the hundreds who jumped to their certain deaths from the upper floors of the two towers, rather than suffocating or roasting to death slowly inside; it happened to the hundreds of first responders who ran into hell to save lives and gave theirs in doing so.
And it happened to Minnesotans, like Wayzata’s Gordy Aamoth and Gary Koecheler from St. Paul who died in the Twin Towers; it happened to Minnesotans like Max Beilke from Alexandria, the last combat soldier to leave Vietnam, who was at the Pentagon advocating for veterans when it was attacked; and it happened to Minnesotans like Tom Burnett from Bloomington, one of the leaders of the heroic fight back on Flight 93.
To someone like Piker, such people are merely fodder for a provocative quote, intended to boost his audience and revenues. While it is depressing that such a charlatan apparently has such a large audience, he, of course, has a First Amendment right to peddle whatever moronic, offensive tripe he wishes.
But there is no duty for the representatives of one of our state’s major political parties to roll out the red carpet for him. Yet, today, that is exactly what Sen. Omar Fateh and Rep. Ilhan Omar are doing in Minneapolis. Shame on them both.
To their credit, some DFLers have condemned this, but words are cheap. They will count for little unless the party avails itself of the numerous disciplinary tools at its disposal.