Mainstream Media Discovers Insurrection Act, Ignores Its Own History
Newsweek, like many mainstream outlets, sounds the alarm over speculation that Donald Trump might invoke the Insurrection Act following an ICE shooting. The concern, they claim, is about potential military deployment for domestic law enforcement. Yet, the same outlets largely downplayed or ignored Barack Obama's invocation of the act in 2011 to deploy troops to suppress protests in cities like
Baltimore during the Freddie Gray unrest, or George W. Bush's threat to use it post-Katrina. It's almost as if the 'threat to democracy' shifts conveniently with the occupant of the Oval Office, rather than the act itself. (Or perhaps, who exactly is being suppressed.) One might wonder if the real 'insurrection' some fear is not against the government, but against certain narratives, particularly
when law enforcement actions are questioned. The selective amnesia regarding who else has used (or threatened to use) such powers, and under what circumstances, serves to keep the public focused on the boogeyman of the day, rather than the systemic power imbalances that enable such acts to be invoked at all. Newsweek’s sudden fascination with the Insurrection Act’s implications conveniently
overlooks the more uncomfortable truths about its historical application.