Myopia

Recently, a congresscritter fondly referred to as “AOC” (which her supporters assure me does not stand for anything which includes the term “occasional cortex”) tweeted a tweet (twit?), which read, in part

Ever since the Bush Admin, Patriot Act, & creation of Dept. Homeland Security, the dangerous erosion of American civil liberties has worsened.

I will not provide a link.

Mind you, I don’t really disagree. The Patriot Act was an abomination foisted off on the American people in the name of overwhelming need.* I’m not really convinced DHS was necessary. The problem, as regards the good Congressperson, is that “the dangerous erosion of American civil liberties” began with the Alien and Sedition Acts. Though those have, of course, expired, they set the stage for a series of attacks that have gone largely unabated. Wilson, both Roosevelts, Carter, FISA courts, the NDAA of 2012, Nixon, J. Edgar Hoover…do none of these ring a bell?

My diagnosis of the good congresscritter is myopia of the partisan variety.

*Proving, once again, the wisdom of William Pitt the Younger’s words:
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.”