"Terrorism derangement syndrome"?

I have read several good explanations for why the GOP leadership has decided to make the case that processes that worked in the Bush administration (like civilian trials) won’t work under Obama, and why policies that failed in the Bush administration (like torture or military tribunals) must be reinstated. Maybe it’s simple obstructionism. Josh Gerstein points out that for Republicans seeking to capitalize on Obama’s missteps, his feints and pivots on national security have proved fertile ground. And Greenwald concludes that “our establishment craves Bush/Cheney policies because it is as radical as they are.”

But it’s not just the establishment that opposes closing Guantanamo, trying Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, or reading Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab his Miranda rights. Polls show most Americans want Abdulmutallab tried by military commission, want Gitmo to remain open, and want KSM tried in a military commission, too. For those of us who are horrified by the latest Republican assault on basic legal principles, it’s time to reckon with the fact that the American people are terrified enough to go along.

We’re terrified when a terror attack happens, and we’re also terrified when it’s thwarted. We’re terrified when we give terrorists trials, and we’re terrified when we warehouse them at Guantanamo without trials. If a terrorist cooperates without being tortured we complain about how much more he would have cooperated if he hadn’t been read his rights. No matter how tough we’ve been on terror, we will never feel safe enough to ask for fewer safeguards.