Critics at Risk: A Historical Pattern of U.S. Government Overreach

By Cliff Potts, CSO | Editor-in-Chief, WPS News

The United States has a long and uncomfortable history of responding to criticism not merely with debate or political opposition, but with coercion, surveillance, detention, and, at times, lethal force. This is not a partisan observation. It is a structural one. Across administrations of both major parties, moments of perceived crisis have repeatedly produced expansions of state power aimed at suppressing dissent, redefining opponents as threats, and bypassing ordinary legal protections.

Understanding this history is essential to evaluating the risks faced by critics of the current U.S. administration. The danger does not arise from any single leader or moment, but from a durable pattern: when the state frames opposition as an existential threat, critics become vulnerable by definition.

This pattern is visible as early as World War I. Under President Woodrow Wilson, the federal government criminalized dissent through the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. Thousands were arrested for opposing the war, publishing anti-government material, or participating in labor activism. These actions were not aberrations; they were legally sanctioned, upheld by courts, and widely supported at the time. The backlash against these abuses directly contributed to the founding of the American Civil Liberties Union.

The Cold War intensified this trajectory. Federal agencies surveilled, harassed, and disrupted domestic political movements under the banner of national security. The FBI’s COINTELPRO program targeted civil rights leaders, antiwar organizers, and left-wing activists for decades, often using illegal methods. Martin Luther King Jr. was monitored, threatened, and pressured to abandon his work. These actions were justified as necessary to protect the nation from internal enemies.

Foreign wars reinforced the same logic. In Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq, U.S. administrations repeatedly escalated military involvement far beyond initial mandates. When conflicts expanded or failed, the response was not restraint but reclassification: resistance was reframed as terrorism, insurgency, or unlawful combatancy. The distinction between civilians, soldiers, and political opponents blurred.

Nowhere is this clearer than at Guantánamo Bay. Following the invasion of Afghanistan, individuals captured while defending their own country were designated “enemy combatants” and denied prisoner-of-war status. Many were never charged. Some were later cleared yet remained detained for years. The legal justification rested on a novel category designed specifically to avoid constitutional and international-law protections. This framework established a precedent: when the state defines the category, it defines the rights.

Domestically, law-enforcement overreach followed similar lines. Ruby Ridge and Waco demonstrated how federal agencies could escalate confrontations with U.S. citizens into deadly sieges. These incidents occurred under different administrations, yet shared the same assumptions: federal authority was absolute, dissent was dangerous, and force was preferable to restraint.

After September 11, 2001, these tendencies hardened into doctrine. The Patriot Act dramatically expanded surveillance powers. Whistleblowers and journalists faced prosecution under espionage statutes. Protest movements were infiltrated and monitored. Legal safeguards were weakened in the name of preventing terrorism, and these changes were largely bipartisan.

Recent political rhetoric has intensified concern. Language describing critics as “enemies,” “fifth columnists,” or internal threats echoes historical justifications for repression. Such framing matters. Once opposition is labeled subversive rather than political, extraordinary measures become easier to justify. History shows that these measures rarely remain confined to their original targets.

The risk facing critics today is not hypothetical. It is historical. The United States has repeatedly demonstrated a willingness to redefine dissent as danger during periods of stress, decline, or perceived loss of control. The mechanisms already exist. The legal precedents have been set. The only variable is how far they are allowed to go.

For individuals who are highly visible, outspoken, or critical of state power, this history cannot be ignored. Safety is not solely a matter of personal behavior; it is shaped by how governments have acted when challenged before. In that context, caution is not paranoia. It is pattern recognition.

For more social commentary, please see Occupy 2.5 at https://Occupy25.com

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APA Citations

American Civil Liberties Union. (n.d.). The ACLU and the fight for civil liberties. https://www.aclu.org

Britannica. (n.d.). Vietnam War. https://www.britannica.com

Britannica. (n.d.). War in Afghanistan. https://www.britannica.com

Greenwald, G. (2014). No place to hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. surveillance state. Metropolitan Books.

Independent Institute. (n.d.). Ruby Ridge and Waco: Federal law enforcement overreach. https://www.independent.org

Mayer, J. (2008). The dark side: The inside story of how the War on Terror turned into a war on American ideals. Doubleday.

Savage, C. (2015). Power wars: Inside Obama’s post-9/11 presidency. Little, Brown and Company.

Washington Post. (n.d.). Guantánamo detainees and the war on terror. https://www.washingtonpost.com