America's overreaction syndrome

[WhiskeyGrinder]

https://theweek.com/articles/964015/americas-overreaction-syndrome

The events of Jan. 6, 2021 — a president using a series of lies to incite a violent insurrection against Congress as it was attempting to certify the results of a free and fair presidential election — were a very big deal. This includes the failure of security measures on Capitol Hill to protect the building and its occupants from the attack. All of it calls out for a serious response. Precisely what that response should be is a matter for democratic deliberation and debate, informed by input from experts as part of a thorough investigation.

But you know what is not a serious response? A proposal, made last week by the acting chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, Yogananda Pittman, to install "permanent fencing" around the Capitol building, along with "back-up forces" stationed nearby.

The reaction of lawmakers from both parties, as well as that of Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser, was quite negative. So maybe the core institution of American democracy won't end up looking like a remote, imperial outpost in need of permanent physical protection from an angry, oppressed citizenry, which is exactly what would happen if the building housing the national legislature were permanently ringed by protective fencing with police or soldiers ready to strike insurgents at a moment's notice.

Yet the sad fact is that this is exactly the kind of response one might expect from the government of the United States, which has a record by now of wild and irrational overreaction to getting caught with its pants down. Recognizing this unfortunate tendency is the first step toward preventing it from happening again.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

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