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Don't Let the Capitol Riot Become an Excuse for Expanding Government Power
[Reason] The federal government should prosecute those people who committed acts of vandalism or violence. However, we should be leery about giving the feds additional powers.Many of my fellow libertarians were rightly in a tizzy after former CIA director John Brennan, commenting on the right-wing insurrectionists who stormed the Capitol, noted that the Biden administration is "now moving in laser-like fashion to try to uncover as much as they can about what looks very similar to insurgency movements that we've seen overseas." In particular, they were dismayed by his description of an "unholy alliance...of religious extremists, authoritarians, fascists, bigots, racists, nativists—even libertarians." Brennan's former deputy chief of staff clarified the "even libertarians" comments to Politifact—noting that, "many self-identified libertarians acknowledged their participation in the disgraceful events of 6 January." The big concern isn't the cheap swipe at libertarians, some of whom probably deserve it. Instead, the fear is that Brennan's words provide a template for the "mission creep" that accompanies every government effort to battle some growing threat. Let's dispense with the obvious. The attack on the Capitol was an outrage. The federal government should prosecute those people who committed acts of vandalism or violence. Congress and voters have every right to inflict a political price on elected officials who fanned the flames of the insurgents. Homegrown radicalism is indeed a serious problem. However, we should be leery about giving the feds additional powers. "The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels," wrote Baltimore's famed journalist H.L. Mencken. "For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all." Posted by: Besoeker 2021-02-07 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=593623 |