With Americans still reeling from the January 6 Capitol riot, the Biden administration will begin its term amid a rapidly escalating "tough on domestic terror" mood.
That's never a good influence no matter which ruling party is in office, and perhaps especially bad in times of intense partisan conflict. There are a few things both Democrats and Republicans can almost always come together on, and limiting civil liberties in the name of national security is chief among them. But worse, Biden has never backed away from hysterical policy reactions to perceived crime and terror threats.
"Biden's career was built on the politics of panics," Reason's Jacob Sullum writes. "After 9/11, Biden did not just vote for the PATRIOT Act, which expanded the federal government's surveillance authority in the name of fighting terrorism. He bragged that it was essentially the same as legislation he had been pushing since 1994."
Now, "the Biden administration plans to make domestic terrorism a key focus of the National Security Council, transition officials tell
@carolelee," tweeted Geoff Bennett, NBC's White House correspondent, on Monday. "Officials have been looking at ways to shift government resources previously used for counterterrorism, to combating domestic terrorism."
Former lackeys of the war on terror are already salivating.
"Former intelligence official on PBS NewsHour tonight saying that the US should think about a '9/11 Commission' for domestic extremism and consider applying some of the lessons from the fight against Al Qaeda here at home," noted Evan Hill of The New York Times last night.
("The more explicit they make it that they're using the first War on Terror model for their new one domestically, the better," responded Glenn Greenwald. "Please keep up this candor.")
FYFMFE
