Unless John Lithgow is commanding a terrorist force to stop people from dancing, then Biden is, once again, violating the law.

James Varney:

Founded in 2020 in the aftermath of the George Floyd protests, the Black Legacy Project describes itself as "a musical celebration of black history to advance racial solidarity, equity and belonging." It brings together artists of all backgrounds "to record present day interpretations of songs central to the Black American experience and compose originals relevant to the pressing calls for change of our time."

A similar arts group, Nu Art Education Inc., an offshoot of the NorCal School for the Arts, says it is "following the theory of change that utilizing theater arts" can be "a tool to teach and practice conflict resolution in the classroom."

While both outfits share a mission of using the arts to inspire social change, they have something else in common: counterterrorism. Or rather, both have received taxpayer grants through the Department of Homeland Security's "Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention" (TVTP) program. Together, the two groups have received more than $1.4 million since the Biden administration doubled the program's annual budget, to some $20 million per year.

Grants to arts cooperatives and educational initiatives strike some as odd for a department charged with protecting the United States -- including its southern border, now viewed by many as virtually open to illegal migrants. Against that backdrop, FBI Director Christopher Wray recently warned Congress of the heightened threat of terror in the U.S. at a time of wars raging on two continents with America involved on the sidelines.

On Tuesday, Wray told the Senate Judiciary Committee the "threat matrix" is "blinking red lights everywhere."

Given such concerns, Andrew Arthur of the Center for Immigration Studies, a critic of Biden policies, said the DHS grants are misplaced. "It's kind of hard to see how all that is going to help stop terrorism," he told RealClearInvestigations.

Well yeah, it is a little hard to see, now that you bring it up.

The program has its roots in the Obama administration under the concept of "countering violent extremism" and has drawn criticism ever since from both left and right -- albeit for different reasons. During the Trump administration, the leftist Brennan Center for Justice faulted the "anti-Muslim and xenophobic rhetoric and policies" in such programs, which "also target refugees, asylum seekers, and Black Lives Matter activists."

The Brennan Center said "the reality is that these programs, which are based on junk science, have proven to be ineffective, discriminatory and divisive."

That was then. Now, having doubled the program's budget, the Biden administration is using the money to advance parts of its agenda not directly related to terrorism. Increasingly the DHS grants, like much larger ones at other departments, are part of the administration's "whole of government" effort to promote "diversity, equity and inclusion" and quash what it considers misinformation.<

While proclaiming that that the grants are designed for "local communities across the country to develop targeted violence and terrorism prevention programming in their communities," the Department of Homeland Security also stresses its focus on DEI.

"Ensuring equity is a key priority of the TVTP Grant Program and 41 percent of this year's grant recipients are devoted to underserved populations, compared to 25 percent last year," the DHS website says, noting grants have gone to historically black colleges and universities, seven "Minority Serving Institutions (MSI)," a Native American group and another serving the LGBTQIA+ community.

When Biden lies and says he's increased money to "combat terrorism," and claims Republicans are "pro-terrorist" for objecting to this spending: Remember, Biden considers normal Americans to be terrorists and his "counterrorism" money is just for DEI propaganda.