Yes, and hegemony is maintained through a duality of force and consent, both of which this Administration has convinced the mainstream population are necessary.
The actual details of the bill do not bother me as much as it signals, in a sense, the final push of the mainstream to a political right which is conflated with a dangerously nationalistic identity. I cannot say its institution surprises me that much either in so far as state-endorsed torture by the United States has a storied history, not only perpetrated by the states, but in terms of 'education in interrogation' in such places as the School of the Americas. And essentially, I am neither appualed nor disgusted at its actual details, I simply recognize the danger in the premise of such a bill
Most right-wing pundants I imagine will attack me saying such things, or any opposition to this bill as 'anti-american' sentiments, or 'left wing socialism'. However, I do not support extremism in any sense whether it be radical or reactionary, both have an operational premise of the incringement on civil liberties, which, is what this bill is about on a base level. The specifics, can no doubt be argued as just another measure to instill another degree of security, safety, and justice. But the key issue, so aptly put, is pacification. In the West we seem all too tolerant, and moreover encouraging to the incringement of the civil liberties of those whose skin tones differs from ours. How can we be so sure that the current path we are on does not signal the same measures could be put into place domestically?