A couple of opinion pieces recently have suggested that the political environment after the Trump administration ends may continue to sustain policies that were increasingly part of the last four years.
Legitimate protest
Akin Olla, a Nigerian-American political strategist and organizer, who works as a trainer for Momentum Community and is the host of This is The Revolution Podcast, writing in the Guardian, foresees a new age of political repression. Republicans have long called for the increased repression of activists and Democrats have caught the tune and returned to their post-9/11 calls for heightening the “war on terror”.
Republicans have long called for the increased repression of activists, but the chorus has reached a crescendo in the age of Black Lives Matter and climate protests. In the last five years, 116 bills to increase penalties for protests including highway shutdowns and occupations have been introduced in state legislatures. Twenty-three of those bills became law in 15 states. Following the killing of George Floyd and the subsequent uprisings, we’ve seen another flow of proposals. For example, Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida would like to make merely participating in a protest that leads to property damage or road blockage a felony, while granting protections to people who hit those same protesters with their cars. Following the storming of the Capitol, DeSantis, a Trump ally, has expanded these proposals with more provisions and harsher consequences. The only thing preventing the passage of many of these laws thus far has been opposition from Democrats. But now the Democrats have caught the tune and returned to their post-9/11 calls for heightening the “war on terror”. Joe Biden has already made it clear that he intends to answer these calls. He has named the rioters “domestic terrorists” and “insurrectionists”, both terms used to designate those whose civil liberties the state is openly allowed to violate. He has declared he will make it a priority to pass a new law against domestic terrorism and has named the possibility of creating a new White House post to combat ideologically inspired violent extremists.1
Max Fawcett, writing in the National Observer, suggests Canada's Conservatives can't seem to quit Donald Trump.
Ironically, Canadians were also involved the last time anyone occupied the capital of the United States, when British soldiers burned the White House and other buildings to the ground in 1814 after the Americans destroyed Port Dover in Upper Canada. But while Canadians like to brag about that historical footnote, few should be celebrating Ted Cruz’s role in the revolutionary cosplay that left five Americans dead and millions utterly humiliated. And although it might be tempting to think that Cruz’s willingness to trade in far-right fantasies is a uniquely American phenomenon, conservatives here in Canada do it almost every day. Not all of them, of course. In a recent piece for The Line, conservative strategist and former Harper staffer Ken Boessenkool noted that “American politics is sick. That sickness has many causes, with acceptance of bad character being near the top. If we don’t recognize that, and do something about it, it could infect us as well.” But with all due respect to Mr. Boessenkool, the movement and party that he’s spent the better part of his adult life in already has a full-blown case of Trumpism. The real question that people like him need to answer is whether it’s terminal or not.2
The tension between the far right and the far left in politics seems to be creating policy responses that will cause legitimate peaceful demonstrations to be under greater surveillance by government and police agencies.
References
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