By Stewart N. Thorpe of Citizen Press Revolution
This is a follow up on my Patriot Act – Details Inside. So, why should you care about the growing invasion of your privacy? If you don’t have anything to hide, why worry, right?
A "federal terrorist offense" is distinguished by "the intent to influence or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion, or to retaliate against government conduct," explains Rep. Patsy Mink (D-Hawaii). "This broad, unclear definition may include groups such as Greenpeace, along with the terrorists." This category also includes People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which "could be investigated as a terrorist group because one of its members hits the secretary of agriculture with a pie," says Laura W. Murphy, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Washington office.
In other words, protesting against government conduct could result in you being investigated by the federal government.
In the weeks after 9/11, student demonstrators, civil libertarians, global justice workers, and peace and animal rights activists had all been labeled as terrorist sympathizers. It has become an offense to have intent to influence the conduct of our government by intimidation, coercion, or retaliation, no matter how nonviolent it might be. It is not the duty of the public anymore, apparently, to attempt to influence the conduct of its government.
It is nothing new in our history to have our federal investigators targeting and harassing political dissidents. And McCarthyism is a prime example of what happens when a self-righteous moral ground against Evil itself (Communism) is used as justification. Now with the self-righteous justification and abuse of the 9/11 excuse, the government is acutely astute to target groups who raise a critical voice or protest against the actions of the government. President Bush has drastically cut and wants to cut more funding to public broadcasting programs, for instance. This is America, after all, dissent and freedom of speech are actions which sympathize with communism err, terrorism – and we all know that they hate us for our freedoms. If you think George Orwell’s 1984 doubletalk couldn’t happen in real life before, we now have more than ample proof today that it is happening and is happening more often.
Nowadays, if you question government policies, especially regarding the “war” on terrorism or the Iraq war and occupation, you are accused of being unpatriotic, soft against terrorism, or even to “hate America”.
We even have a case where fifteen-year-old West Virginia sophomore Katie Sierra was suspended from her high school for wearing a T-shirt that read, "When I saw the dead and dying Afghani children on TV, I felt a newly recovered sense of national security. God Bless America."
A rapist in Hamilton County, Ohio was sentenced for 15 years in prison after beating and raping a 57-year-old woman. A Californian environmental activist was sentenced for 22 years and 8 months after burning three SUVS at a car dealership where he also took precautions to ensure that no lives would be harmed. Our government is upping offenses with a political intent or intent to influence conduct of our government (including the free markets) and laying our heavy-laden punishments against what is otherwise known as civil disobedience, even nonviolent civil disobedience.
It goes more than just being investigated and being spied upon (that usually comes first). There was a group of prominent intellectuals, including Edward Said of Columbia University and philosopher Anatole Anton of San Francisco State University, who signed a letter stating that they had been threatened for criticizing U.S. foreign policy. Following up this letter, the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, a right-wing academic group founded by Lynne Cheney (yes, the Vice President’s wife), released a report accusing 40 college professors of not showing “enough patriotism” since Sept. 11. Patriotism nowadays no longer means exercising your freedom of speech and acting upon the spirit of democracy that drove the American revolutionaries to criticize and protest against King George. These are now symptoms of being “Anti-American” and even terrorist sympathizers.
In the words of the White House press secretary herself, Ari Fleisher:
"People have to watch what they say and what they do."
Welcome to King George W. Bush's America.
I am careful and aware of what I type into search engines, or say on the phone these days. Because even without being guilty of something, a person could easily be wrongly accused. My uncle has a sentencing in March and he may have to go to prison because the government found a pic of child porn on his computer. But he didn't even know it was illegal, or that it was child porn because the age limit is 16, so many times 16 year olds can look like adults. And it wasn't like my uncle was distributing anything. He didn't think he had anything to worry about. But once the government got him they put him on house arrest for 1.5 years, took away his computer, made him quit his job (since his job is teaching computer software), and now his sentencing will be soon.
I mean, he could be down-playing what he did to the family, but I really don't think he was aware that he was doing anything wrong. And now he may have to go to prison. I sure hope the gov. catches the people who actually made the porn because I would hate to think that they're still doing that while my uncle may be in jail just for having a pic on his computer.
Sometimes people can just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
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