Martin Patriquin: Weaponized public opinion and the damage done

Public opinion has been used to justify any number of atrocities and overindulgences, from internment to environmental degradation to the scapegoating of religious minorities. Being on the side of a given majority — a demographic, jurisdiction or country — is a narcotic for too many politicians, in large part because it is amnesia-inducing. History’s cruelties mean little to anyone relying on the loudest voices for support.
It is the reason why America is putting children in ca