Shen - I think careful means a lot of things in this context.
Lets take the most vile racists. Says all sorts of awful things about people of color, wanting the country to be purified or whatever.
Should a government agency be monitoring everything that person is saying because they have racist ideas?
Should we have a secret intelligent court, like FISA, to get secret warrants for surveillance of this person on the basis of their racist ideas?
Should this person be put on no fly lists because of their racists ideas?
Should we restrict their ability to purchase guns because of their racists ideas?
Should they be prohibited form government jobs because of their racists ideas? From any government contracts? From receiving government services?
Should they be prohibited from attending a public university for holding such racists ideas?
Should we prohibit media form share such rhetoric? Should we require social media to suppress such racist ideas?
This doesn't even get into what is a "racists" idea or what qualifies at "white supremacy." There are some that argue every action or policy is either "racists" or "anti-racists" - that there is no such thing as non-racist. Is that the standard we should be using for who to monitor, who to follow, who to get secret warrants for surveillance? If not, what is that standard?
There was a massive overreaction (or at least dangers reaction) to 9/11 that built an incredible surveillance state and gave the government a lot more power than it had before in the name of fighting extremism and terrorism. I fear that we are about to have a massive expansion of this.
Turn the war on terror inwards. Do to ourselves in some ways what we did to Afghanistan and Iraq without having any good plan and and good idea about the consequences.
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In response to this post by Shenhoo)
Posted: 01/21/2021 at 11:27AM