Mind you, I don't think we should trust or support liberals either, and of course we should be opposed to any laws they might push to strengthen the police state, or any other new laws that could otherwise harm us. However, I think the attack against the right that's likely coming might be a strategically good thing for the left, for the following reasons:
-
Just my opinion, but support for free speech should probably end with people who are organizing so they can murder me, you, and the people we care deeply about. None of these people would support our free speech or even basic human rights if they ever got full control over the government.
-
Corporations never cared about free speech anyway. Those saying that social media will come after leftists next are naively ignorant of the fact that they already have and will do so in the future. It's not as if going after the right will somehow open up a new door for them as far as this goes, but at the very least, denying fascists a platform is still a good thing.
-
If the liberal establishment ever actually grew a spine and decided to confront the right using federal law enforcement (most likely FBI), the efforts towards this could help tie up resources and deflect attention away from organizing on the left.
-
Since most people in local police departments and some federal agencies are in full support of racism and/or fascism, attempts by liberals to address this would likely be a difficult battle for both law enforcement and the liberal establishment, which would benefit the left for obvious reasons.
I've seen some comments on twitter leaning towards supporting the supposed rights of Trump protestors because "free speech" and because it would somehow open the door to targeting the left. This strikes me as naive, since they would do that anyway with the tools they have, but I'd love to hear your opinions on this.
I wasn't aware that this started in response to 'white hate groups'. I had assumed it was designed from the outset to target leftists and the civil rights movement, since the state saw them as a more direct threat to their power.
I am under no illusion that the state won't come after the left if they view it as a threat, and I certainly don't support any expansion of laws or law enforcement that would eventually be used against us. It does seem to me as though the focus is going to be on stopping the right, since they are a more direct threat to the liberal establishment, but you make good points about those resources being used against the left as well, and maybe it's naive on my part to assume we wouldn't be as much of a target while the focus is shifted.