I wonder what they will be called? Maybe Stazi? That would be a good name. Who will they go after? Perhaps parents daring to question school boards? Those with MAGA bumper stickers? Those who write #LetsGoBrandon?
Justice Dept. creating unit focused on domestic terrorism
The Justice Department is establishing a specialized unit focused on domestic terrorism, the department’s top national security official told lawmakers Tuesday as he described an “elevated” threat from violent extremists in the United States.
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Olsen, testifying just days after the nation observed the one-year anniversary of the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, said the number of FBI investigations into suspected domestic violent extremists has more than doubled since the spring of 2020.
“We have seen a growing threat from those who are motivated by racial animus, as well as those who ascribe to extremist anti-government and anti-authority ideologies,” Olsen said.
In other words, they’re using J6, where most attending did nothing wrong, except maybe wander around the building they own in Washington, as an excuse to spy on Americans for nebulous reasons. For Wrongthink. Will there be any oversight? How soon till we learn they’re spying without warrants, that they’re targeting Americans who aren’t doing anything actually wrong, they’re just not conforming to Biden’s agenda? For all Democrats cheering this unit, you should remember that the DOJ unit could next be sicced on you by a Republican president.
But the issue remains politically freighted and divisive, in part because the absence of a federal domestic terrorism statute has created ambiguities as to precisely what sort of violence meets that definition. The U.S. criminal code defines domestic terrorism as violence intended to coerce or intimidate a civilian population and to influence government policy, but there is no standalone domestic terrorism charge, meaning prosecutors have to rely on other statutes.
So, accuse someone of domestic terrorism and then charge them with something else. There was a Senate hearing on Tuesday, and
Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the panel’s top Republican, showed video of the 2020 violence as a counter to the Jan. 6 footage that Durbin showed.
“Those anti-police riots rocked our nation for seven full months,” Grassley said.
The FBI and Justice Department say they treat domestic extremist violence the same regardless of ideology. Sanborn said the FBI has opened more than 800 investigations tied to the 2020 rioting and arrested more than 250 people. Attorney General Merrick Garland said last week that the Justice Department had arrested and charged more than 725 people for their alleged roles in the Jan. 6 attack.
So 250 vs 725, despite all those months of riots. Huh. This is a politicized DOJ declaring war on its own citizens. Not specifically authorized by the Legislative Branch. Can’t wait for the Constitutional lawsuits.
Read: Justice Dept To Create Special “Domestic Terrorism” Unit Or Something »
2021 was another catastrophic and deadly year for weather and climate disasters in the USA, federal scientists announced Monday. There were 20 separate disasters that each cost at least $1 billion in damage, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported.
Leading British and US scientists thought it was likely that Covid 
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is considering updating its mask guidance because of an increase in the number of Omicron-related coronavirus cases, the 
The Build Back Better bill, if it ever comes to pass, now seems unlikely to include any major climate change provisions. But we can still reduce our own carbon emissions, starting with our own homes.
The major questions doctrine may sound like a dry crumb next to Justice Breyer’s admonitions, but how the Court applies the doctrine in this case could have even broader implications for our lives than the OSHA’s vaccination rule itself. At its heart, this is an argument over how much leeway federal agencies have to act or, as the Justices repeatedly put it in the argument, “Who Decides?” Justice Elena Kagan’s questions showed why federal agencies, which have significant expertise and can be held publicly accountable through presidential elections, should be given the leeway to take leadership positions on emerging issues such as vaccines to counter an unprecedented pandemic. Justice Neil Gorsuch’s questions, by contrast, suggested that Congress and State Governments should be the leader on major public health policies, noting that Congress has had a year to act on the question of vaccine mandates and chose not to. One answer to that challenge is that Congress has not acted because it gave that power to OSHA. A more realpolitik answer, though, is because there is no way the Democrats have the votes for such a law.
Planet-heating emissions roared back in the United States in 2021, dashing hopes that the pandemic would prove a watershed moment in greening American society to address the climate crisis, new figures have shown.
