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Government Using Anti-Terrorism Laws to Crush Dissent

Submitted by George Washington on 09/14/2010 18:55 -0400

The following quotes all have something in common:

"It is not
the function of our government to keep the citizen from falling into
error; it is the function of the citizen to keep the government from
falling into error"
– United States Supreme Court decision in American Communications Association v. Douds

"To stand in silence when they should be protesting makes cowards out of men."
- Abraham Lincoln

"Those who give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Ben Franklin

"The price of freedom is eternal vigilance."
- Thomas Jefferson

"Dissent is the highest form of patriotism."
-Thomas Jefferson

"It
is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human
history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to
improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends
forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million
different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current
that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance."
- Robert F . Kennedy

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds."
- Samuel Adams

"Patriotism
means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the
president or any other public official save exactly to the degree in
which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him
insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to
oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he
fails in his duty to stand by the country."
– Teddy Roosevelt

"To
announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we
are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic
and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public."
– Teddy Roosevelt

“The citizen who sees his society’s democratic clothes being worn out and does not cry it out, is not a patriot, but a traitor.”
- Mark Twain

"Liberty
has never come from government. Liberty has always come from the
subjects of government. The history of liberty is a history of
resistance. The history of liberty is a history of limitations of
government power, not the increase of it."
- Woodrow Wilson

"All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent"
- Thomas Jefferson

"This
country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it.
Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can
exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or their
revolutionary right to dismember or overthrow it."
- Abraham Lincoln, First Inaugural

"In
this point of the case the question is distinctly presented whether
the people of the United States are to govern through representatives
chosen by their unbiased suffrages or whether the money and power of a
great corporation are to be secretly exerted to influence their
judgment and control their decisions."

- Andrew Jackson

"I
am more than ever convinced of the dangers to which the free and
unbiased exercise of political opinion -- the only sure foundation and
safeguard of republican government -- would be exposed by any further
increase of the already overgrown influence of corporate authorities."
- Martin Van Buren, Eighth President of the United States

"As
we view the achievements of aggregated capital, we discover the
existence of trusts, combinations, and monopolies, while the citizen is
struggling far in the rear or is trampled to death beneath an iron
heel. Corporations, which should be the carefully restrained creatures
of the law and the servants of the people, are fast becoming the
people's masters."
- Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th President of the United States

"I
again recommend a law prohibiting all corporations from contributing
to the campaign expenses of any party.… Let individuals contribute as
they desire; but let us prohibit in effective fashion all corporations
from making contributions for any political purpose, directly or
indirectly." Teddy Roosevelt added, "The fortunes amassed through
corporate organization are now so large, and vest such power in those
that wield them, as to make it a matter of necessity to give to the
sovereign -- that is, to the Government, which represents the people as
a whole -- some effective power of supervision over their corporate
use. In order to insure a healthy social and industrial life, every big
corporation should be held responsible by, and be accountable to, some
sovereign strong enough to control its conduct."
- Theodore Roosevelt

"In
the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of
unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the
military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of
misplaced power exists and will persist. We must never let the weight of
this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We
should take nothing for granted."
- Dwight D. Eisenhower

"It
was natural and perhaps human that the privileged princes of these new
economic dynasties, thirsting for power, reached out for control over
government itself. They created a new despotism and wrapped it in the
robes of legal sanction. ...And as a result the average man once more
confronts the problem that faced the Minute Man....
- Franklin Roosevelt

"A
small group had concentrated into their own hands an almost complete
control over other people's property, other people's money, other
people's labor -- other people's lives. For too many of us life was no
longer free; liberty no longer real; men could no longer follow the
pursuit of happiness."
- Franklin Roosevelt

"These economic
royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of
America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their
power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow
of this kind of power. In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and
the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the
Constitution stand for."
- Franklin Roosevelt

"Behind the
ostensible government sits enthroned an invisible government owing no
allegiance and acknowledging no responsibility to the people. To
destroy this invisible government, to befoul the unholy alliance
between corrupt business and corrupt politics is the first task of the
statesmanship of the day."
- Theodore Roosevelt

"We hold
these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal, that
they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that
among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to
secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving
their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any
Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of
the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government,
laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in
such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and
Happiness."
-Thomas Jefferson, American Declaration of Independence

What do the quotes all have in common?

The great Americans who said them would be considered terrorists today.

Specifically, according to Department of Defense training manuals, protest is considered "low-level terrorism". And see this, this and this.

An FBI memo also labels peace protesters as "terrorists".

Indeed, police have been terrorizing children, little old ladies and other "dangerous" people who attempted to protest peacefully.

And a 2003 FBI memo describes protesters' use of videotaping as an "intimidation" technique, even though - as the ACLU
points out - "Most mainstream demonstrators often use videotape during
protests to document law enforcement activity and, more importantly,
deter police from acting outside the law." The FBI appears to be
objecting to the use of cameras to document unlawful behavior by law
enforcement itself.

The Internet has been labeled
as a breeding ground for terrorists, with anyone who questions the
government's versions of history being especially equated with
terrorists.

The government is also using anti-terrorism laws to keep people from learning what pollutants are in their own community. See this, this, this and this.

Claims of "national security"
are also used to keep basic financial information - such as who got
bailout money - secret. That might not bode for particularly warm and
friendly treatment for someone persistently demanding the release of
such information.

The state of Missouri tried to label
as terrorists current Congressman Ron Paul and his supporters, former
Congressman Bob Barr, libertarians in general, anyone who holds gold,
and a host of other people.

And according to a law school professor, pursuant to the Military Commissions Act:

Anyone who ... speaks out against the government's policies could be declared an "unlawful enemy combatant" and imprisoned indefinitely. That includes American citizens.

The Founding Fathers, Supreme Court justices and presidents quoted above would vigorously protest.

Note: Government apologists are also eager to label
anyone "taking a cynical stance toward politics, mistrusting
authority, endorsing democratic practices, ... and displaying an
inquisitive, imaginative outlook" as worthy of a Stalinist trip to the
insane asylum. I guess the famous Americans quoted above were not only
terrorists, but they were also crazy.

- advertisements -

Tue, 09/14/2010 - 21:12 | 582182 TheMerryPrankster

I always find it ironic that so many Nazis were migrated into the government after WWII. It seems the entire NAZI culture and ideals are a virus that infected our government, fascism grew mightily once the germs of Project Paperclip were assimilated into our nation.

We are now the nation where you must show your papers on demand, and the police wear stormtrooper garb. I remember when cops wore blue uniforms and looked more like bus drivers, now they wear Kevlar head to toe, helmets and boots and automatic weapons, and they kick in doors and shoot first and get warrants later. Many have welcomed the extra security, they are fools.

Wed, 09/15/2010 - 04:41 | 582718 Bagbalm

Indeed, the military war was won against Germany but the ideological war was lost. Nazi tactics and morals were adapted as expedient.

Tue, 09/14/2010 - 20:24 | 582083 Sam Clemons

Notice how everything lately is related to National Security: the debt, the deficit, the Mosque, the Quran burning. Wouldn't they stop spending if they actually believed the first two?

Wed, 09/15/2010 - 09:50 | 583007 downrodeo

It seems like the only excuse that they can use these days. Nobody believes anything else, and for some reason, people seem to accept 'National Security' as a valid excuse for just about anything. I've often wondered what would happen if I went down to the local PD and told them to arrest me because I was an enemy belligerent. Would they laugh at me, or would I get cuffed and jailed?

Wed, 09/15/2010 - 12:34 | 583413 Usotsuki

I really love the FDR quote about controlling people's property, money, labor, and lives. His welfare policies were passed in part by using such falsehoods that Big Business was in control of people's lives. His solution - give the power to government officials instead.

Who was backing FDR anyway? - Big Business. (Look up Murray Rothbard, inform yourself). And look where we are now. Even FDR is rolling over in his grave at what his lies have morphed into today. He only wanted a little more power, a little more control, just so government could "solve" the problem. He didn't solve anything, but made things much worse.

Our politicians are no different today. Just a little more power, a little more control over your lives, money, and property and then they can "solve" our problems. When will we wake up? Government CAN'T SOLVE OUR PROBLEMS! Yet what are our politicians trying to do today? Solve all these "problems" for us, and in the process are creating more, far worse problems.

Oh, we need more "safety" so let's call a bunch of people terrorists to justify taking more power and authority over the citizens. Oh, we need more consumer spending for economic growth so let's demonize rich people, incite more class warfare, and convince the masses to vote for more largess from the treasury.

As many of these quotes allude - we are quickly becoming ignorant spinless cowards who are letting the greatest nation in the history of mankind crumble. All because we are too stupid to open our eyes and see that letting political and idealogical elites force their solutions on everyone through increased government ower and control will not make our lives better. It will makes things infinitely worse.

Who will solve our problems? You will, individually making your own choices in your own rational self interest, to solve your own problems without infringing on the rights of others. Those who choose poorly will continue to suffer because they make poor choices, not because other people make wise choices.

People aren't poor because some people are rich. People are poor because they don't, or haven't learned how to, make the right choices in their own rational self interest. Enabling people to continue to make poor choices and not only survive, but flourish, won't solve anything - it will continue to make things worse.

Speaking of terrorists, have you seen this FEMA training video where government workers learn how the Founding Fathers were terrorists?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAs7V3dDEN4

More power in the hands of government officials; more control over the economy; more government programs to support and reward poor economic choices and behavior. This won't lead to less problems - it will lead to more, just like it has over the last 50 years.

What we really need is not a violent revolution, but an intellectual revolution like our Founder Fathers. This time there is no need to fight or kill anyone. We just need everyone to finally wake up and realize government isn't the solution to our problems; it simply exacerbates them.

The solution to our problems is more liberty, freedom, and letting people suffer the consequeces of their own actions. Then maybe, after enough people have been thrown out of office (and some in jail) for their crimes committed against this country, will can finally return to real economic growth and prosperity.

Wed, 09/15/2010 - 13:41 | 583528 ATG