Surveillance: The conservative backlash
Congressional Republicans and other conservatives reacted with outrage when the Department of Homeland Security distributed an intelligence report on the danger of right-wing extremist groups.
Guess who’s now complaining about intrusive government surveillance of potential terrorists? said Greg Miller in the Chicago Tribune. It’s not Muslims. It’s not liberals. It’s conservatives. The Department of Homeland Security has distributed an intelligence assessment to local law-enforcement officials warning of a “resurgence of right-wing extremist groups” in response to the election of an African-American president. The report specifically warns that “disgruntled military veterans” returning from Iraq and Afghanistan might be recruited by these hate groups to “carry out violence,” citing Timothy McVeigh, the anti-government Gulf War veteran who was convicted of killing 168 in the Oklahoma City bombing. When that report surfaced on the Internet, congressional Republicans and many other conservatives reacted with outrage, accusing the Obama administration of demonizing the Right and stereotyping military veterans as seething, traumatized psychopaths.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the vast, right-wing conspiracy is back, said Jonah Goldberg in National Review Online. The report’s premise is that “the Right is full of whack-jobs, hatemongers, and killers, and if we don’t remain vigilant, bad things will happen.” The only trouble is that there’s no real evidence to support this “nakedly ideological” slander. The report claims that 19 recent war vets have joined the “extremist movement”—that, out of 1.4 million who’ve served in Iraq and Afghanistan. Clearly, the report’s real purpose is to “delegitimize” opposition to White House policies, said the Orange County, Calif., Register in an editorial. By specifically pointing an accusing finger at groups that support gun rights and oppose abortion and immigration, Obama’s Department of Homeland Security is conflating “legitimate dissent” with “dangerous activity.”
Gee, if you have nothing to hide, why all the paranoia? asked Glenn Greenwald in Salon.com. That’s what conservatives said when civil libertarians railed against the Bush administration’s insistence that it could “eavesdrop on telephone calls and read the e-mails of American citizens without warrants.” Thanks to the Right’s vigorous support, federal agencies routinely engaged in domestic spying not only on Muslims but on environmentalists, animal-rights activists, and anti-war groups. But now these authoritarians have “suddenly rediscovered their fear of the federal government.” It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it? “When you cheer on a Surveillance State, you have no grounds to complain when it turns its eyes on you.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Is the Gaza war tearing US university campuses apart?
Today's Big Question Protests at Columbia University, other institutions, pit free speech against student safety
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
DOJ settles with Nassar victims for $138M
Speed Read The settlement includes 139 sexual abuse victims of the former USA Gymnastics doctor
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published