In the last crypto wars in the 90s and competent scientific explanations of the dilemma between trustworthy and backdoored didn't register with people who think

In the last crypto wars in the 90s and competent scientific explanations of the dilemma between trustworthy and backdoored didn't register with people who think in political terms either. The government side of this is rhetorically, "we can imprison and kill engineers until one of you delivers us a flying pig, whether you still say that's impossible is your call." Some engineer is going to figure out how to meet their requirements. Pigs themselves can't fly per se, but when you get to discussing how far, in what direction, for how long, under what power, and the consequences of doing nothing, even flying pigs become a solvable problem. A technologist will say, "that's horrible, unethical, and wrong, you just ran those pigs off a cliff." Everyone else looks at the politicians and the guys with the guns and says, "See? Flying pigs." They also probably push that technologist over the cliff as well. This is why they call politics the art of the possible. What Barr is saying is that he plans to make tech companies accountable for his problems in justice. This kind of irrational posturing is probably a bargaining gambit on other regulatory areas or just an empty signal to rank and file law enforcement that the whitehouse and AG are on their sides.