The Conservative Political Action Conference Encouraged Domestic Terrorism In Broad Daylight. Are We Prepared For Speech Like That? – Above the Law

Better known as speaking truth to power, Parrhesia is an old Greek concept that I think really gets at the heart of what the 1st Amendment is about. A great James Baldwinism is that [n]ot everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced and, the bravery it takes to speak truth to power is often thought of, often rightly so, as the pivotal part of standing up to abuses of power, tyranny, terrorism, etc. But the power in yelling that the Emperor is naked in a public square lies in an assumption that everyone is pretending to not see what is in front of them. Under this model of parrhesia, criticism is powerful because it exposes an issue that must necessarily remain hidden for things to go about normally. Which is to say, parrhesia loses a great deal of its power when the Emperor flaunts their nudity.

ACPACpanelfeaturinga Houston-area state school board candidate proudly displayed a banner proclaiming We Are All Domestic Terrorists during a Saturday session in the main event hall.

[Julie] Pickren claimed the line was meant to be tongue-in-cheek, according toTexas Monthly. Nobody in this room is a domestic terrorist, she assured the attendees in the Hilton Anatoles Trinity Ballroom. Political experts say that despite Pickrens assurances, the slogan represents a departure from conservatives past attempts to reappropriate labels given to them by groups they perceive as their political opponents.

Parrhesia doesnt work if the response to the truth telling is Yes. So what?

Cal Jillson, professor of political science at Southern Methodist University, said the slogan is likely another attempt to repurpose liberals derogatory labels for right-wingers as badges of honor for conservatives. Past examples include conservatives mocking embrace of deplorables, Hillary Clintons characterization of Donald Trump supporters. See also: Senator Ted Cruzs recent adoption of the phrase dangerous radicals, which the junior senatorcooptedwith pride during a Friday CPAC session.

According to Jillson, however, We Are All Domestic Terrorists is new territory for conservative repurposing. We cannot afford to take it as a joke anymore, she said. To label yourself domestic terrorists is over the line.

Id like to elaborate on what the line here, is. But first, a detour. The Overton Window is a fun concept to share at parties after a few drinks. It is pretty popular too. I think most people are familiar with it. The general idea is that when it comes to policy, some things you can say and advocate for that people will take as givens and other things will lead to deadpan looks at a camera that isnt there and accusations of tin hat wearing. And while it is that, it is more than that. The Overton Window is a powerful heuristic for thinking about the reasonability and feasibility of public policy advocacy and implementation, but something about thinking of it as a window throws me off. Take a house for example. The fancy ones have multiple windows and floors. It can be easy to think of the windows as being separate from each other generally it makes sense to think of them as such. And of course, to stretch this already tired metaphor, some windows have darker outlooks than others: widows looking out at brick walls, light blocking shades, etc.

My point is that it is easy to look at different parties and their respective Overton Windows. Democrats may be ready to talk about police reform but not police abolition, Republicans openly identifying as domestic terrorists but not actually being domestic terrorists. En masse at least Dylan Roof was definitely a domestic terrorist, and I hear tell he was much closer to the Donald Camp than the Biden one. But when you factor in that Democrats and Republicans are, at least in theory, bargaining for votes from the same pool, namely Americans, it may make more sense to think of the Overton Window and the line overstepped as a horizon, and a shared one at that. This isnt a matter of a Democratic window or a Republican one, this is one of those fancy windows connected at the hinges that reflect and occlude each other. And that distinction matters. The infographic here is super helpful for seeing the point. While dangerous, statements like We are domestic Terrorists from the right are more than just their declarations. It sets the parameters for how advocates foruhh, the people who dont want to be associated with terrorists, have to respond. A long standing rallying point from Democrats has been Vote Blue No Matter Who, but that response to political issues is a lot less effective when 1) there is widespread doubt in the veracity of voting mechanisms and 2) next terms Supreme Court is likely to give the thumbs up to gerrymandering that will cut voting as praxis at the knee. A foreseeable Democratic response to Were just terrorists now would be a call for law and order, which is what used to be the good old Republican standby. The window cedes rightward.

Speaking truth is cute, but it stops being effective when being a terrorist becomes a point of pride. The power of calling cops lawbreaking murders is deflated when they claim The Punisher as their representative. What do you achieve by pointing out that the Christian Right is trampling over the traditional separation of Church and State when thats a rallying point?

What sting is left in accusing Trump supporters of being Nazi sympathizers when it is openly known that they swing this flag at his rallies?

Whose opinion is changed by saying Hey, Trump is a literal Nazi when it is open knowledge that he wanted his generals to defer to him like he thought Adolf Hitlers generals deferred to him?

You fucking generals, why cant you be like the German generals?

Which generals? Kelly asked.

The German generals in World War II, Trump responded.

You could take the time to meticulously point out that these are literal Nazis (or Nazi sympathizers, Id like to be fair) on American soil who were either in power, currently are, or are striving to be, no one would deny the facts, and youd likely be met with something like this.

You know who the real Nazis are? The woke mob trying to stuff vegan breakfast sausages down our throats at the Cracker Barrel

No seriously. People are pissed off about that.

The traditional American defense to what were seeing is to keep talking. The answer to hate speech is more speech, and the like. But counter speech, parrhesia included, has its limits. January 6th was a failed coup, yes, but with rapidly lowering distrust in basic government, and a normalization of terroristic advocacy, something has to give. I do not know what the answer is, an overhaul of our 1st Amendment jurisprudence, an Establishment Clause stronger than a used Kleenex, some combination and additions surely. But as the horizon of the enumerable political stances that can be held in public is trending toward violence and radicalism, a long held bulwark of counter speech, parrhesia, has crumbled. In a landscape like this, what power is left in free speech? With new slogans like We Are All Domestic Terrorists, will the old ones like Vote Blue No Matter Who hold up anymore? Domestic Terrorism is the threat were facing if the insurrections and politically motivated mass shootings and disarray of the rule of law havent been enough, heres your sign. What now?

Inside the War Between Trump and His Generals [The New Yorker]

CPAC Dallas panel proclaims We are all domestic terrorists [Chron]

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord in the Facebook groupLaw School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim,a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email atcwilliams@abovethelaw.comand by tweet at@WritesForRent.

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The Conservative Political Action Conference Encouraged Domestic Terrorism In Broad Daylight. Are We Prepared For Speech Like That? - Above the Law