Politics & Power Quote by Howard Berman

“Different” does a lot of quiet work here. Howard Berman is describing a mood shift, but he’s also ratifying a new governing premise: after September 11, Congress is expected to treat fear as a legislative fact, not just a public emotion. The line turns a national trauma into an institutional before-and-after, giving lawmakers permission to move faster, argue less, and expand state power with the aura of necessity.

The key rhetorical move is the contrast between “abstract” and “real, tangible threat.” “Abstract” isn’t neutral; it subtly rebukes pre-9/11 skepticism as airy, complacent, even naive. “Real” and “tangible” invoke the language of evidence and immediacy, as if the policy debates that follow will be driven by something like physics rather than ideology. That’s the subtext: dissent can be framed as denial of reality itself. In a body built on negotiation and competing interests, “tangible threat” becomes a unifying solvent.

Context matters. In the early post-9/11 period, Congress was sprinting toward the USA PATRIOT Act, new surveillance authorities, and a broad reorientation of foreign and domestic priorities under the banner of counterterrorism. Berman’s remark captures how quickly the center of gravity shifted: the “atmosphere” is not just grief, it’s a new incentive structure. Members can signal seriousness through hawkishness; agencies gain leverage; civil liberties arguments start from a defensive crouch.

It’s a politician’s sentence that reads like observation but functions like direction: this is the new normal, and you’ll be judged accordingly.