http://www.newswithviews.com/Yates/steven33.htm
DISSENT
IN AMERICA TO BE RELABELED ‘HOMEGROWN TERRORISM’
PART 1 of 2
By Steven Yates
December 2, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
On October 23,
2007, the House of Representatives passed what may be the most dangerous bill
ever to come down the pike. This bill, like many of its predecessors on our
steady march toward totalitarianism, sailed under the radar. There was
virtually no publicity or fanfare. Now, the bill has gone to the Senate, and is
in committee.
The bill is
called the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of
2007 (H.R. 1955/S. 1959). The language in this bill is so maddeningly vague it
could mean anything. It could therefore be tailored to attack any group
opposing national and international policies that have the backing of the
corporatist-governmental power system.
Consider the
definition offered of ‘violent radicalization’ (from Sec. 899A of the bill
being referred to the Senate): “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.â€
This definition
alone ought to raise your hackles! What counts as an ‘extremist belief system’?
What constitutes ‘violence’? Either one is anyone’s guess, because nowhere in
the bill is the word ‘extremist’ defined, nor is ‘violence’ defined. In
practice, they will mean whatever federal bureaucrats or others calling the
shots want them to mean. What about ‘facilitating’? This is a favorite
word in today’s mushy political-correctese. Does it mean ‘causing’? Or merely
‘encouraging’? How much ‘encouragement’?
Consider the
definition offered for ‘homegrown terrorism’: “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.â€
No examples of
‘homegrown terrorism’ are offered.
One could
understand a federal proscription against ‘the use … of force or violence…’
assuming we know what these amount to. But ‘planned’ use? What does this mean?
‘Planning’ involves thought, not action. In such ways this bill kicks open the
door to the officially sanctioned creation of thought crimes that can be smuggled
in under ‘homegrown terrorism’ and treated accordingly. Some critics have
therefore dubbed H.R. 1955/S. 1959 as the Thought Crimes Act of 2007. They have
spoken of the potential criminalization of dissent in America.
There is plenty
more in this insidious bill that ought to scare the living daylights out of
anyone defending basic freedoms recognized by our Constitution. Sec. 899B of
the bill is entitled ‘Findings’ and consists of nine numbered paragraphs—all of
them legislative land mines. There is no need to look at them all. Consider
(3): “The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization,
ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United
States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related
propaganda to United States citizens.â€
Again, the bill
offers no definition or examples of ‘terrorist-related propaganda’ available
over the Internet. The phrase could therefore again mean anything those in
power want it to mean.
Or consider (6):
“The potential rise of self radicalized, unaffiliated terrorists domestically
cannot be easily prevented through traditional Federal intelligence or law
enforcement efforts, and requires the incorporation of State and local
solutions.â€
Read between the
lines. H.R. 1955/S. 1959 would accelerate the federalization and militarization
of state and local police departments. If this bill becomes law, expect more
Taser attacks on ordinary people who haven’t been charged with any crime, but
refuse absolute obedience to cops acting like common bullies. Those paying
attention know that there has been an epidemic of such attacks this year, the
most recent being on a driver in Utah who declined to sign a traffic ticket and
wanted proof that he had been speeding (innocent until proven guilty,
correct?). If this bill becomes law, police militancy will increase, but with
incidents sufficiently widely dispersed that few residents will detect the
pattern, organize, and demand a stop to it.
Sec. 899C of the
H.R. 1955/S. 1959 would establish a National Commission on the Prevention of
Violent Radicalization and Ideologically Based Violence within the legislative
branch. The Commission will consist of ten members appointed by federal
officials including the president and the Secretary of Homeland Security. The
bill commands the Commission in mind-numbingly repetitious language: “Examine
and report upon the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown
terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States, including
United States connections to non-United States persons and networks, violent
radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in
prison, individual or ‘lone wolf’ violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism,
and ideologically based violence, and other faces of the phenomena of violent
radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence that the
Commission considers important.â€
The Commission
would convene and conduct “studies†for 18 months. Very possibly it will rely
on such biased sources as the Marxist Southern Poverty Law Center’s
Intelligence Project, which bills itself as the gold standard for monitoring
“hate groups†and “extremist†activity on U.S. soil. During this period,
grassroots political groups could find themselves compelled for their own
protection to do the equivalent of background checks on new members and
recruits. Some would doubtless be spies sent by the SPLC or the federal
government itself. They would also have to watch what they send out via email,
or place on their websites. Big Brother would be watching—especially anything
sent to or received from persons based overseas.
Sec. 899D
creates a Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and
Homegrown Terrorism in the United States. This Center would be
“university-based,†suggesting intent to pull academia into subservience. The
lure, of course, will be Homeland Security dollars. The result will be more
infiltration and more academic thought control, this time in the guise of the
“war on terror.â€
The Findings
section ends: “Certain governments, including the United Kingdom, Canada, and
Australia have significant experience with homegrown terrorism and the United
States can benefit from lessons learned by those nations.â€
Articles—on the
Internet, of course—have been appearing regularly on how the U.K is becoming a
total surveillance state, with cameras watching the movements of civilians
everywhere. Is our government to emulate the U.K.? All three societies are
slightly further down the road to police-state conditions than we are. Is that
why they are suggested as good models for those who would carry out the
mandates of H.R. 1955/S. 1959?
Sec. 899E
elaborates: “International Effort—The Secretary shall, in cooperation with the
Department of State, the Attorney General, and other Federal Government
entities, as appropriate, conduct a survey of methodologies implemented by
foreign nations to prevent violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism in
their respective nations.†In other words, our federal government is to study
foreign police states in order to build a better police state on U.S. soil.
Only, however, “[t]o the extent that methodologies are permissible under the
Constitution …â€
If anyone at the
federal level except perhaps Ron Paul had read the bill, they would realize
that by its very nature it is unconstitutional. Nothing in the Constitution
authorizes our federal government to model policies on those of governments
elsewhere in the world—or to conduct the kind of domestic infiltrations and
surveillance this bill would require.
Sec. 899F, in
light of all the above, is almost comical. Are you ready? Here it comes: “The
Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to prevent ideologically based
violence and homegrown terrorism as described herein shall not violate the
constitutional rights, civil rights, or civil liberties of United States
citizens or lawful permanent residents.â€
George Orwell
couldn’t have said it better!
Here is the
million dollar question: what prompted this bill? The only event in
recent years that can be labeled ‘homegrown terrorism’—given the federal
government’s pronouncements as our only criterion—was the destruction of the
Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The federal government executed Timothy
McVeigh for that on July 14, 2001. Even in that case there are unanswered
questions. But while Internet-based claims persist that McVeigh had accomplices
other than Terry Nichols, none are officially recognized. Other attacks on U.S.
soil (World Trade Center 1993 and, of course, the 9/11 attacks) are blamed on
foreigners.
So again: what
prompted this bill?
There is only
one plausible answer. H.R. 1955/S. 1959’s unnamed target is the independent
Patriot movement.
By the ‘Patriot
movement’ I mean red-blooded Americans who proudly defend gun rights, and will
tell you why: an armed populace is a free populace. They have turned off their
televisions and tuned out corporate-controlled media. They have removed their
children from government schools. Many are men and women of modest means at
best—some are living from paycheck to paycheck—and are sick and tired of
bromides on behalf of NAFTA/CAFTA/FTAA, “free trade†and “globalization,†when
they have seen none of the supposed benefits. They are aware that today savings
are nonexistent, while bankruptcies and foreclosures are at all-time highs.
They know,
moreover, that the federal government and its controlled media lie brazenly
with a cooked inflation figure, a “core inflation†rate that excludes food and
energy costs. For part two click below.
PART 2 of 2
By Steven Yates
December 2, 2007
NewsWithViews.com
And they can
cite the claim of Alan Blinder, former deputy chairman of the Federal Reserve,
that things are going to get worse for the domestic economy—much worse!. In his
view, offered last May, the U.S. could lose between 30 million and 40 million
more jobs to offshoring over the next generation as global corporations pursue
the cheapest labor they can find. For Americans, entire occupations will be
wiped out and replaced with nothing. America will become a third-world country,
as U.S. workers—including many well-educated professionals—go pinwheeling over
the economic cliff. Disruptions now go hand-in-hand with World Trade
Organization meetings. With the growing popularity of commentators like Lou
Dobbs, we could see organized resistance to “free trade†and “globalizationâ€
here at home in the future. Patriots have views of their own on the true state
of the U.S. economy that do not reflect official propaganda about ‘low
inflation’ and ‘low unemployment.’ They are taking the long view. They have
been investing in precious metals, including the Liberty Dollar—recently
targeted for a federal government raid.
Patriots might
also ask pesky questions like, How can the Bush Administration claim to be
fighting a “war on terror†with our borders wide open and still allowing
thousands of illegal aliens into this country every day. (Newsflash: not all
illegal aliens are Mexican.) They have some pretty good ideas why those in
power refuse to secure our borders. They are aware of the stealth effort to
fold this country into a North American Union with a new fiat currency, the
amero, intended to replace our debauched dollar. The integration of Mexicans
with a squatter’s mindset into the economies of our cities and towns will
further drive the third-worldization of America as it drives down American
wages.
Many Patriots
believe we should stop fighting foreign wars where only corporate interests
(and Israeli interests, not American interests) are at stake. No one, after
all, ever showed that Saddam Hussein was a threat to us. Nor has Iran’s Mahmoud
Ahmadinejad threatened us (he has threatened Israel).
Among Patriots
are those who question the legality and Constitutionality of the federal income
tax collected annually by the IRS. They are aware of the shady history of the
Federal Reserve Corporation. Many can name names to go along with the otherwise
vague ‘power elite’ label: Rothschild, Rockefeller, Warburg, Morgan, Schiff,
Aldrich, Harriman, Brzezinski, Kissinger, and so on. Some Patriots would like
to see an independent investigation into what really happened on 9/11.
In short, the
independent Patriot movement completely rejects the direction this country has
been going in since the Reagan-Bush era during which globalism took a quantum
leap culminating in NAFTA, and has been accelerating ever since.
Reading H.R.
1955/S. 1959, Patriots will have still more unwanted questions. Is rejecting
the official consensus on the health and direction of the U.S. economy the same
as ‘terrorist-related propaganda’? Is a person who documents points of view
online that dissent from the Bush Administration’s stay-the-course policy on
the Iraq War a potential ‘homegrown terrorist’? Are the groups associated with
the many websites offering alternatives to corporate media about to be labeled
such, as a precursor to controls over our online activities and demands for
unquestioned support for federal (and globalist) policy? These may sound like
rhetorical questions, but the wording of H.R. 1955/S. 1959 is so open-ended we
have no alternative.
Patriots are
aware, finally, that all except for two or possibly three of next year’s
contenders for the presidency are members of, or are controlled by, the
CFR/Trilateralist/Bilderburg axis, and fear another pseudo-choice between
Globalist Candidate A and Globalist Candidate B.
The Patriot
movement clearly threatens the lust for power that captured Rome on the Potomac
after 9/11, and it threatens the greed of global corporate predators who place
profits ahead not just of the livelihoods of ordinary Americans but of U.S.
sovereignty itself. Moreover, while much of the country of course remains in
its television-induced stupor, the Patriot movement is growing. Within it are
articulate voices who recognize that behind both is the power elite’s drive for
a world government, for which global “free trade†and “capitalism†are Trojan
horses.
Patriots,
moreover, are not powerless. They may look powerless as they meet and plan in
the back room of the local Denny’s. But they definitely did a number on the
badly wanted (by the power elite) amnesty-for-illegal-aliens effort—grassroots
efforts stopped amnesty-for-illegals four times this year, as irate callers
shut down Congressional switchboards and floods of emails crashed servers! Patriots
are not a bunch of peons who can simply be told by government officials to keep
their mouths shut! In the event of, e.g., a strike on Iran—especially in
the wake of the ongoing catastrophe in Iraq—these people are bound to be
trouble, as are many other groups who oppose foreign wars for different
reasons. They will be trouble if Cintra, a foreign corporation, persists in
building a NAFTA Superhighway. Organized resistance has already emerged in
Texas and Oklahoma against the NAFTA Superhighway system, which would take
hundreds of thousands of acres of land through post-Kelo eminent domain.
Cintra’s contract is supposed to run for 50 years!
The feds can’t
just “go after†Patriots and antiwar groups, though—not without giving away
their hand. Hence evil bills like this one to relabel their activities as
‘homegrown terrorism,’ serving as potential domestic preemptive strikes against
possible civil unrest.
Obviously, H.R.
1955/S. 1959 will do nothing to protect Americans against real terrorism. What
it should do is raise the question of who protects Americans from their own
government? The bottom line is that if this bill is rushed through the Senate
and signed by President Bush, it raises the specter of anyone dissenting from
official national and international policy being labeled a ‘homegrown
terrorist.’ Coupled with earlier abominations like the Military Commissions
Act, the John Warner Defense Authorization Act, and Presidential Directive NSPD
51/HSPD-20†signed by Bush on May 9 of this year—all of which will be inherited
by Bush’s successor—Patriots can see that our present direction is toward
totalitarian rule by brute force, with dissent and alternative voices and
products being ruthlessly suppressed. Just two weeks ago we saw the
above-mentioned raid on Liberty Dollar headquarters. Even as it destroys the
value of our fiat currency, the Federal Reserve Corporation doesn’t want the
competition. H.R. 1955/S. 1959 could lead to the coerced shutting down of
alternative news sites on the Internet, the end of alternative newspapers and
talk radio shows, culminating in federal raids on the residences of known
patriots (in the case of Patriots who question the legality and
Constitutionality of the federal income tax this has already happened).
Finally—H.R.
1955/S. 1959’s Sec. 899C stipulates, “the Commission may, to such extent and in
such amounts as are provided in appropriation Acts, enter into contracts to
enable the Commission to discharge its duties under this section.â€
In other words,
the Commission may hire private contractors to identify and isolate ‘homegrown
terrorists.’ Blackwater, the increasingly notorious private army, comes to
mind. Should we see a power elite caused economic crisis with tens of thousands
of suddenly unemployed people taking to the streets protesting globalist
policy, will federal officials contract with Blackwater to engage in a little
“crowd control�
Four hundred and
four members of our House of Representatives voted for this abomination (219
Democrats and 185 Republicans). Six votes were cast against it (split three and
three). This overwhelming bipartisan support speaks volumes about where the
present Congress stands—and about the absence of any substantive difference
between the two divisions of the Rome on the Potomac Party.
H.R. 1955/S.
1959 is now in the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental
Affairs. We need to fax or call our Senators and tell them in no uncertain
terms that We The People oppose this bill (use the U.S. Capitol Switchboard
toll-free numbers 1-877-851-6437, 1-800-833-6354, 1-888-355-3588,
1-866-220-0044, 1-866-808-0065, 1-877-762-8762, 1-866-340-9281,
1-800-862-5530). We need to demand a NO vote to one of the most frightening and
dangerous pieces of legislation I think I’ve ever seen! The edifice of a
totalitarian America is under construction in increments under our noses! H.R.
1955/S. 1959 is just the latest installment. We now have very little time to
get up off our duffs and do something to stop this! For part one click below.
