That's a very nice lecture, but I think it's almost entirely digressive.

The "success" of the Patriot Act really has nothing to do with classic liberalism, neoliberalism, leftists, Democrats, Republicans, or Kamala Harris. These are the current background details in which an age-old dynamic plays out: A threat gives those in power a chance to grab more power and they take it. Once they have it they do not give it up easily.

It just boils down to a truism: Those who seek power seek power. There's really nothing more to it than that.