Why is the second sentence of this article about Trump, when the bill is bipartisan and unanimous? A disproportionate share of the country's low-trust, anti-government types are Trump supporters. It's contrary to EFF's primary mission for it to shred their credibility with Trump voters by becoming a generic anti-Trump outfit.
Is it not relevant that Trump said he would use it to censor his critics? For being “anti-government types” it sure seems like they voted for dramatic and unprecedented authoritarian uses of the government.
The question isn’t whether it’s “relevant,” but whether that framing is the best approach for advancing EFF’s primary mission. I’d argue EFF’s primary mission is best served by avoiding provoking needless partisan fights on an issue where the EFF is going up against both parties.
> For being “anti-government types” it sure seems like they voted for dramatic and unprecedented authoritarian uses of the government.
I came across an excellent article on this, but I can’t find it. Basically, authoritarian populism is a response to the rise of the professional managerial class, and the ideological divergence of that class from the rest of the citizenry.
Most of the rules that affect your daily life don’t come from the President, or even high level cabinet officials, but career government officials and managers, as well as government-adjacent institutions such as universities and certain NGOs (the latter of which set rules through impact litigation). How can voters change how this distributed managerial class governs the country? They can elect someone like Trump, who is authoritarian, but whose authoritarianism is directed chiefly at the government itself and adjacent institutions.
It doesn’t behoove the EFF’s primary mission to alienate the large number of Trump voters who chafe at professional managerial control. Its primary mission is advanced by appealing both to the people who oppose policing porn on the internet, and also people who oppose policing so-called “hate speech” on the internet.
To make a comparison, look at Cato. Traditionally they’ve been more aligned with conservatives. But they have stuck to their guns on open borders and free trade, even though that’s made them hated by much of the more populist modern right.
