The threat to our freedom posed by new security legislation

 

Caitlin Johnstone raises some cogent issues about where our "security state" is heading.

Biden has often boasted of being the original author of the Patriot Act years before it was rapidly rolled out amid the fear and blind obsequiousness of the aftermath of 9/11. Now in the aftermath of the Capitol riot we are seeing a push to roll out new authoritarian laws around terrorism, this time taking aim at “domestic terror”, which were also in preparation prior to the event used to manufacture support for them.

. . .

The only way to sincerely believe more Patriot Act-like laws will benefit Americans is to believe that the US will only have wise and beneficent leaders going forward, and the only way to sincerely believe the US will only have wise and beneficent leaders going forward is to be completely ****-eating stupid. The trajectory has already been chosen, and that trajectory is the one that has already given rise to Trump. Continuing along that same trajectory can only give rise to something far uglier, and that something far uglier will have whatever new authoritarian powers are added by Joe Biden.

They’re not actually worried about “domestic terror”, they’re worried about any movement which threatens to topple the status quo. They want to make sure they can adequately spy, infiltrate, agitate and incarcerate into impotence any movement which provides a threat to America’s rulers and the system which funnels them wealth and power at the expense of everyone else. The movements which most threaten this are not rightists, who are generally more or less aligned with the interests of the oligarchic empire, but the left.

This is who they’ll end up targeting going forward, and whatever Biden and Company wind up rolling out to fight “domestic terrorism” will help them do so.

There's more at the link.

Ms. Johnstone is a left-wing commenter, but also a pragmatist.  On this issue, I agree with her.  More security legislation, arrogating more dictatorial and authoritarian powers to the executive branch of government, will inevitably be misused by those with a penchant for rule by decree.  It'll also be used against potential political opponents, just as the Obama administration weaponized various departments in the administration (the IRS, the ATF and others) against its critics.

Any law that can be misused by, or distorted to the advantage of, the powers that be, will be abused.  Take that as a given.  The solution is to give them as few laws to abuse as possible - not to multiply laws for them to abuse.  We already have more than enough laws to protect our nation and our institutions.  Better to apply them - fairly, and across the board, not just against potential political threats - than to add new ones.

Peter