When I first started blogging at dailykos nearly two years ago, I took a lot of grief (and I mean a lot of grief) for some of my assertions (not that there weren’t plenty of others making them), such as:
The US has fallen to a fascist coup.
The American military/political establishment has long been guilty of the most heinous crimes imaginable.
The war in Iraq was always about oil and empire and was planned far in advance of 9/11/2001.
The elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen.
The so-called ‘War on Terrorism’ is bogus.
Failure to impeach will ensure the end of our democracy.
The Democrats have sold us out.
Bush and his cronies and everyone who supports them or enables them are all war criminals and traitors.
We are never leaving Iraq.
We are NOT a democracy.
We are not free.
I don’t make these assertions so often or so vigorously anymore – I don’t have to. They are made daily by virtually everyone in the blogosphere. My ‘wild-eyed’ hysteria is now common knowledge. Reality has sunk in. In fact, it’s far worse than even I imagined.
The Bush Family Gets Away with Crimes That Would Land Anyone Else in Jail
By Robert Parry, Consortium News. Posted November 26, 2007.
For decades, the Bush family has operated above the law, using powerful connections to brush aside evidence that would put lesser Americans in the slammer.
Even the slow kids are waking up to the fact that we’ve been had. (I am NOT implying that Amy Goodman is one of the slow kids – au contraire).
How the Democrats Are Aligning Themselves with Bush’s Torture Policies
Amy Goodman
Who is speaking for the Democrats these days? A retired General accused of authorizing torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in Iraq.
While the mega-hyper-hypocrites who lie to us all about everything and who so shamelessly boast of ‘supporting the troops’ are actually responsible for the gravest abuses of our service men and women to have occurred at any point in our history.
What they have done to our military is an abomination.
120 War Vets Commit Suicide Each Week
Earlier this year, using the clout that only major broadcast networks seem capable of mustering, CBS News contacted the governments of all 50 states requesting their official records of death by suicide going back 12 years. They heard back from 45 of the 50. From the mountains of gathered information, they sifted out the suicides of those Americans who had served in the armed forces. What they discovered is that in 2005 alone — and remember, this is just in 45 states — there were at least 6,256 veteran suicides, 120 every week for a year and an average of 17 every day.
And Now, As If All the Cheap Shot Betrayals Weren’t ENOUGH, We Have This Pathetic POS – H.R. 1955
With special thanks to ben masel for sounding the alarm on this.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Declaration of War vs. The People
On October 23, 2007 the U.S. Government declared War on the American People. By a vote of 404 to 6, the U.S. House of Representatives approved HR 1955: The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. This act designates every American who acts — OR PROMOTES ACTION — against the U.S. Government to be a TERRORIST. Simply put: If you’ve ever said that George W. Bush should be hanged as a war criminal, you sir, are a Terrorist.
404 to 6. And they did this while no one was paying attention.
WHY HR 1955 WAS RAMMED THROUGH UNDER COVER OF FIRE
By: Devvy
October 29, 2007
© 2007 – NewsWithViews.com“Paper is poverty, …. it is only the ghost of money, and not money itself.” — Thomas Jefferson, 1788
Last week while the horrific fires were burning up Southern California and every major news network, including cable were providing non-stop coverage, a very dangerous bill to liberty and freedom was passed by 404 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Called the ‘Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007’, (snip)
Our own government is preparing to wage war on us and it’s not even the Repubs leading the charge. This little bit of legislative treason comes to us courtesy of our beloved Democrats.
We can all thank the bill’s sponsor, Democrat Jane Harmon [CA-36], and her 14 co-sponsors only four of whom are Repubs.
H.R.1955 Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (Referred to Senate Committee after being Received from House)
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007′.SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM.
(a) In General- Title VIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new subtitle:
`Subtitle J–Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism
`SEC. 899A. DEFINITIONS.`For purposes of this subtitle:
`(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission’ means the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism established under section 899C.
`(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization’ means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.
`(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism’ means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
`(4) IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE- The term `ideologically based violence’ means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual’s political, religious, or social beliefs.
So who qualifies as a homegrown terrorist? Easy. You and me. Or anyone who dares oppose anything the Reich does.
Concentration camps are next.
Simply put: If you’ve ever said that George W. Bush should be hanged as a war criminal, you sir, are a Terrorist.
If the Senate passes this bill, a lot of us are going to have a hard way to go, and the transformation of America into a fascist police state will be complete.
See you in Gitmo.
OPOL
59 comments
Skip to comment form
Author
to be hanged as a war criminal, on Daily Kos, as early as July of 2005…under a handle different from TMWNP…
Good thing I live in Canada…
Hang the bastards…all of ’em…
But not before a legal trial and shaving, feathering and tarring…
That radical enough?
I’m outta here, last comment of the night, take care all, be good to one another…
OPOL, you know Dennis Kucinich was one of the six, right?
Now more than ever, we must get him elected…if we actually get the chance to vote, that is…
Peace!
we can trust to do the right thing turn around and screw us
royally? How how sad that hardly anyone was listening to
you 2 years ago! Guess at this point the best way to wake
everyone up is knock all electricity off the grid for a week
or two. Maybe when everyone is forced to get off the couch
they’ll notice the country has been stolen from them…
“Violent radicalization’ means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.”
BushCo is guilty of this.
“Homegrown terrorism’ means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”
BushCo is guilty of this too.
“Ideologically based violence means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual’s political, religious, or social beliefs.”
Three for three. BushCo is guilty of violating all three provisions of the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.
I’m going to look up the word “irony” in the dictionary. If irony means what I think it means, this is exceedingly ironic legislation.
http://www.govtrack.us/congres…
Sponsor:
Sen. Susan Collins [R-ME]hide cosponsors
Cosponsors [as of 2007-10-21]
Sen. Norm Coleman [R-MN]
Status:
This bill is in the first stage of the legislative process where the bill is considered in committee and may undergo significant changes in markup sessions. The bill has been referred to the following committees:
Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
and this will blow your mind..
and what the fuck does this mean?
I ain’t no lawyer, nor am I a Rocket Surgeon, but does this mean they could contract the “work” out to Blackwater?
The are “For purposes of this subtitle.” Hence, they don’t translate across to the powers authorised in, for instance, the PATRIOT Act.
The very real danger in HR1955 is that the Commission will draw up a set of predictably over the top Recomendations, which will sit on the shelf until the next incident, at which point there’ll be a stampede to “pass the Commission’s recomendations.” Much like the process wherein the Department of Homeland security was created, and given extraorinary Republican’s failure to “pass the 9/11 Commission’s recomendations.” Meanwhile, the “Centers of Excellence provision is mostly prk for selfserving “experts,” but the designation grants them some official expert status, useful in hoodwinking Congress and the media in passing the next bill.
The Interntional co-operation segment is dangerous in eroding the cultural set of our own law enforcement, as hanging out with foreign torturers disposes tour guys to see those practices as acceptable police work.
______________________
I caught up with Russ Feingold at a fundraiser for a State Senator last night, seems the first the bill had come to his attention was John Nichols’ column Feingold must block bill assaulting liberties in the Capital Times earlier in the day. Russ told me he planned to read the bill that evening.
I turned to Nichols. I disagree with his conclusion that the bill sets the Commission up as a latter day HUAC, I think he’s mistaking the power granted the Commission to take oaths for power to issue subpoenas compelling testimony.
I’ll be the short guy wearing the orange jump suit that’s too large who is discussing Latin American history and literature. You’ll recognize me. And the rest of us. Essentially, we’ll all be the living, breathing, captive, analog docudharma.
As Abigail Adams wrote to John early in 1776 (talking about domestic arrangements, but in words eerily prescient for today’s world):
Abigail, no fool she, continued:
…since I post here and have diaries on the site. And knowing that it sounds arrogant and stupid…and not wanting to take anything away from this carefully wrought diary…
1. I do not support the death penalty in any form, and while I believe that the current administration should be _tried_ for war crimes, and that the US should be signatory to the treaties which would allow that to happen, I do not support in any way hanging anyone now or later nor do I consider that an appropriate or constructive use of interational law. Nor do I presuppose the conclusion of any such trial. Otherwise it’s not a trial, or international _law_ :}
2. There are millions of people who are at genuine and immediate risk. We aren’t them. There are people who are getting deported who have been here since they were six months old, and queer people getting beat up by cops, and poor people, minority and otherwise, who are trapped in police run hells. We — most of us — retain great priviledge and freedom by comparison. My immediate, emotional reaction is that by worrying they are coming after us, we aren’t paying attention to who they are coming after, as I read, as I write.
Anyway…
…it quite probably is already worse than we thought, but I will continue to act as if it isn’t too late, continue to work to trim the sails, correct the rudder, change the heading, even though the shoals loom…
until I am taken away…
this diary is at the TOP of the rec. list! How to go OPOL
The only conceivable remedy is IMPEACHMENT and, at this point, that would be just enough to open the door to correct the vast ill that has been done. Of course, were Kucinich to get in, reversing the ill would be a mission of his — the rest??? Seems like a cloudy issue.
Here’s a brave and committed soul setting out on a mission!
The calls for Impeachment are growing louder by the day — we can only help and hope!
I just read (3) and (2) allowed to my husband. His first response was laughter (as in you have to be kidding me, this is an urban myth, right?), followed by the usual “holy shit, we’re all going to jail.
Fantastic diary. God bless your bravery forever.
May I present to you a brief “history of SCOTUS’ decisions” on our perpetual state of emergency: here is a diary on crisis constitution which goes into depth on the legal quickstand now beneath our journalistic feet. It does not look good. Basically the combination of Patriot Act(s) in conjunction with presidential edict of national emergency, in the historic purview of SCOTUS, do alter the application of our ordinary Constitution. Indeed this situation, from SCOTUS’ POV, throws the normal Constitution out the window when you study case history going back to the civil war.
And you are so right. Now the executive can make whatever he/she will out of any issue.
The most recent texts of Patriot Act(s) (and beware: numbers of resolutions of the first/second/third versions of the Patriot Act do not correlate) essentially reinstate all sedition acts. We stand accused. It’s just up to them to decide when to point the finger.
Regarding that, I am feeling trapped. Maybe you can clue me in on an issue – just a question or two…
Can you either edit or delete diaries you post on [censored]? I mean, after a week or a month or more? Because I can’t. And I have sent polite inquiry after polite inquiry to administration, never answered. Once upon a time Meteor Blades was kind enough to answer a personal email, and told me that post 11/05 new software was installed which froze all previous diaries as they were. Fine, I relaxed. But recently, many times, I have attempted to modify one diary and delete another – and I can’t.
When I posted diaries before, I could edit them that day or so, which I usually did for something like a spelling error or whatever. Therefore I had no reason to notice this.
I don’t like the idea of being journalistically trapped this way, with gizmos on the diary buttons offering “edit” and “delete” which do not function for me. To me this resembles entrapment.
Once a certain former FP’er jumped down my throat on a diary for asking others what was going on, saying I was “whining” to administration or the like. This was untrue. I have always asked respectfully. I told the FP’er not to make assumptions, that perhaps there was a flaw in the creation of my account, and then they apologized. At the end of said exchange I asked them to please pass my message to tech support, as that former FP’er indicated that something was abnormal about my situation.
Nada.
Can you tell me just what is going on?
Because I feel I may have just committed myself to a stockade by posting in a place where I have no further editorial control. Especially in one particular case where I feel I needed to remedy something.
AHCCCC have I made you into blogsphere dear Abby or what, sorry good friend…