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In
A Police State Atmosphere
Fascists Will Rise To The Top
by Jay Shaft,
Coalition For Free Thought In Media, November 13, 2003
In
a nation where a police state atmosphere is permitted, the fascists
will rise to the top. This may sound like a crazy, radical statement,
but it is going on in America right now with the current Ashcroft
led Justice Department. With the top leader of the nations law
enforcement structure permitting and enacting more and more assaults
on civil rights and invasions of privacy it is only natural that
many closet fascists will come out into the open.
The United States is now a burgeoning police state, with broad
new powers to intrude upon the privacy and rights of its citizens.
There is often no oversight of this new power, and investigations
into abuses are often hampered or outright halted by the very
rules set up to intrude into citizen’s privacy. The new rules
that are supposed to protect national security often block inquires
into use of that power, and put a muzzle on those who have their
rights trampled.
John Ashcroft, US Attorney General, our supreme commander in the
"War on Terror", has ties in his past to white supremacist/
neo-nazi groups. As George W. Bush's attorney general, Ashcroft
has used the Department of Justice to support Republican efforts
at voter suppression; many of them aimed at black voters.
Ashcroft ran on a platform that included "No Desegregation
of Public Schools" in the Missouri Governor’s race.
Here is a record of his efforts to block desegregation and voluntary
busing in St. Louis and Kansas City.
http://www.pfaw.org/
pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=1097
http://www.pfaw.org/
pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=1099
Ashcroft's Missouri Years Summarized
http://www.pfaw.org/
pfaw/general/default.aspx?oid=1060
He has taken campaign contributions from the white separatist/neo-nazi
group the CCC (Council of Concerned Citizens). They were at one
time known as the White Citizens Council before changing their
name to something less inflammatory and more benign.
The strange story of Ashcroft's connections with the CCC is told
here and here.
If you really want to have your eyes opened to the true racist
nature of the CCC check out their web site here http://www.cofcc.org/.
This site will make you ill if you are not prepared for the level
of hatred that it contains. You can order your choice of Ku Klux
Klan flags, uniforms, stickers, nazi materials, and a patch that
shows a hooded Klansman, a burning cross, and the phrase ''Department
of the Interior: Bureau of Negro Control.''
In the governor’s election race, attorney general’s
race, and his US Senate race, and the elections for many years
before that they gave large amounts of money to help get Ashcroft
reelected. While Ashcroft has never admitted to being a member
of the CCC, leaders and organizers of the CCC have claimed him
as an active member in the past. A news update in December 2001,on
the St. Louis chapter's web site, heralded Ashcroft's nomination
as US Attorney General with an item headlined "Our Ship Has
Come In."
In 1998 after his involvement with the CCC became known, Ashcroft
denied "firsthand knowledge" of the group. This is something
that is completely false and it has been proven many times that
Ashcroft was closely involved with working politics of the CCC.
Ashcroft gave three speeches before the group in the 1990s, saying
that the council stands ''for the right principles and the right
philosophy.'' In 1997, he was photographed in his Senate office,
smiling and joking with the national leaders of the CCC. Yet he
has denied all ties to them and denied knowledge of their racist
sentiments and stands against black civil rights.
Ashcroft and the state of Missouri were sued to get the public
schools desegregated after the federal order to desegregate all
public schools was ignored by Ashcroft after repeated orders from
the federal government to stop segregating all state schools.
These facts have been conveniently ignored and overlooked by the
mainstream media. Repeated attempts by groups like the ACLU, National
Lawyers Guild, and many others to bring these issues to the public
have been largely ignored and silenced by the media.
With our own US Attorney General having these ties to fascism
and repression, how many more totalitarian/fascists are now in
the federal and local ranks with his tacit approval? How many
closet nazis are now stepping into power in the many law enforcement
agencies empowered by the newly created Homeland Security Department?
There have been many recorded cases of federal agents, state,
and local police abusing their new powers granted under the USA/PATRIOT
Act. The stories are making the rounds of the First Amendment
rights defenders and free speech defense groups. Many activists
and so called radicals have been questioned by federal agents,
and had their homes and businesses searched under the clause in
the Patriot Act permitting sneak and peek searches without a warrant
or any warning of a search being conducted.
On November 14, 2001 an announcement was made by the DOJ that
any person designated as a terrorist by the President is to be
placed under the control of the Secretary of Defense and not allowed
the aid of U.S. or foreign courts.
Ashcroft was questioned about judicial oversight of the Justice
Department in June 2003 while appearing before the House Judiciary
Committee. Ashcroft acknowledged that he did not consult with
members of Congress concerning his significant revisions of the
Attorney General Guidelines governing security investigations.
He warned Committee members that, "As we consider the Constitutional
methods we use to fight the enemies of freedom, we must remember
that terrorism threatens our future."
When people have contact with the Homeland Security Department
they are warned not to discuss the interrogation and questions
asked or be in violation of national security laws. This puts
a muzzle on people who very well might have had their rights abused
or had their rights completely denied. Most of the time they are
not allowed to contact a lawyer or have access to any legal advice.
Our constitutional rights against illegal search and seizure and
ability to invoke the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination
have been taken away under the Patriot Act, and there is no sign
that they will be restored. The very constitution that made us
such a great nation is now just so much toilet paper for Ashcroft
and the rest of the current regime to wipe their collective asses
on.
The founding fathers would be shocked if they could see just how
quickly and effectively the Constitution has been dismantled.
The freedom of every American has been taken away whether the
citizens know it or not. The Bill of Rights has become a useless
as a blank piece of paper as far as Ashcroft and the Bush regime
are concerned.
The press in general has turned a blind eye to this phenomenon
of intrusion and abuse of our constitutionally guaranteed rights.
There have been many journalists who have recorded these abuses.
Often these journalists write for left wing or progressive news
groups, but mainstream media members are blatantly lacking in
the coverage of growing assaults on the constitution.
It appears that the mainstream media is scared of questioning
the government for fear of seeming weak on defeating terror. Often
times the major news groups are working in cooperation with the
government in spreading the hysteria and fear that make it easier
for the feds to suppress rights and enact sweeping new police
state powers. It is all excused by the need to be tough on terror
and stop any more terrorist acts no matter what the price paid
in lost freedoms and privacy.
Now the war on terror and the Patriot Act are being applied to
the war on drugs and other criminal activities, after Ashcroft
assured congress that the Act would not be used for such things.
At the time of the Act being passed, Americans were assured that
it was only going to be used to go after terrorists and to stop
further acts of terror. Now we see more programs and assaults
on rights being enacted by Ashcroft and Homeland Security with
no oversight or supervision. It seems that the excuse of doing
whatever it takes to stop terror now has no leash and the police
dog is now running loose attacking any target in it’s path.
Many US cites, counties, and states have passed resolutions to
refuse to comply with the Patriot Act. Many local and state governments
are refusing to let their tax dollars be used in any way to enforce
the Act. Quite a few local and state law enforcement agencies
have refused to give any officers or agents for use in Patriot
Act enforcement.
This has not stopped the government from going forward with using
the Act to do background checks on private citizens, harass activists
and those questioning the government, and trample many constitutional
rights.
The newest outrage and removal of privacy rights occurred just
last week. Ashcroft announced that the FBI would now do background
checks and records searches on suspected radicals and activists
without a warrant or any warning, and with no access to any records
of what has been done.
Under the new rules of National Security and the Homeland Security
Department, it is no longer possible to have any oversight on
just how the new Patriot Act is being implemented. The FBI has
denied numerous Freedom of Information requests seeking to find
out just how the new powers have been used. The very agencies
exercising the police powers are also responsible for maintaining
the records and oversight of the use of these powers. It is ridiculous
to expect the police state to police itself.
The promise of not expanding the use of the Patriot Act to US
citizens is now so much hot air and Ashcroft has denied he ever
said any such thing. Just how far he will take this repression
of civil rights and invasion of privacy is yet to be seen. It
looks like there is nothing to stop him from doing whatever he
wants in the "war on terror".
By the time many Americans realize how many of the rights, freedoms,
and guarantees of privacy have been stripped away, it will be
far too late to get them back. When you tell the average American
what has happened they either give you a blank look, or parrot
the statement of "at least we’re safer now". No
real safety has yet to be implemented under this new police state
empowerment and many harms and damages have already occurred to
our constitutional freedoms and rights.
Many government officials and quasi officials are now using the
"You have to get tough!" excuse to get away with many
abuses of civil rights and freedoms. There seems to be a prevalent
attitude that any extreme act can be forgiven if it is done for
"safety" and "security". Many local police
agencies have set up their own version of Homeland Security or
work hand in hand with the national agency.
Just last week there was a drug raid in a South Carolina school
where children were held at gunpoint, while police dogs ran riot
in a school corridor. The students were all searched without parental
consent or legal advice. No drugs were found and many students
were terrorized and had guns pointed at their heads and screamed
and yelled at in a very abusive manner. One girl said after she
moved around on the floor an officer stepped on the back of her
neck and put his gun to her head.
When asked about it the principal of the school made some very
shocking statements. He said, "You have to show these kids
that we’re tough on drugs and we won’t tolerate them
anymore." He said that the use of force was justified even
though there were no drugs or anything illegal found.
This is an attitude that is becoming more and more prevalent among
government officials who see the federal government doing the
same thing and getting away with it. There are many in power who
are testing the boundaries of just how much is really exceptable,
and it looks like it’s quite a lot by the governments standards.
This is only going to result in the rise of more officials and
police agents who feel that anything is tolerable as long as it
is explained by the need for security and public safety.
The more assaults on liberties that the American people let the
government get away with, the worse it will get. Unless we try
to put a stop to this now, they will just assume that the people
have no problem with it, and that they support them in conducting
these travesties. In this heightened state of fear and terror
many people are afraid to question the government for fear of
being viewed as un-American and supporters of terror.
Bush’s brilliant statement "If you’re not for us
you against us!" was a stroke of genius on Karl Rove’s
part.
With that one statement Bush tarred any dissenters with the broad
brush of being terrorist supporters, unpatriotic, and un-American.
No other statement could have been as effective in seeking to
negate any dissent no matter how true and factual the basis for
dissent.
In this day and age the government has made it seem un-American
to ever question anything they do. Even with a justifiable grievance
the powers that be have thrown an effective muzzle on many Americans
who might otherwise speak out or publicly question the current
regime. They have made it taboo to raise any specter of government
abuse or misuse of power.
Many petty dictators are now rising up in government agencies
all over the country and there are no safe guards in place to
keep them in check. All you have to do is look at the enforcement
of laws on a national level and see the broad freedom that agencies
are taking with our liberties. When local agencies see the blind
eye turned to all these police state tactics it gives them a sense
of Gestapo power like never before known.
When the people finally figure out what happened they will wonder
how they didn’t notice until it was too late. Sadly a vast
majority will be able to live with the new loss of freedom if
they are spoon fed the myth of being safer and more secure. It
is a historical fact that a majority of the German people under
Hitler’s rule were completely happy with the Nazi power structure.
They never questioned the government as long as the repeal of
freedoms did not affect them. The ones that did wake up and question
the Nazi’s were either exterminated or too afraid to speak
out.
The Homeland Security Department and DOJ have rounded up thousands
of foreign nationals and naturalized citizens under the new terror
laws since the end of 2001. Many nationals with work visas and
school visas from Arabic countries and North Korea, were made
to report in for questioning and possible deportation under the
Patriot Act and NSEARS ( National Security Entry and Exit Registration
Service) Act.
Citizens or nationals of Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea,
Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Pakistan,
Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Sudan,
Syria, and Yemen all had to report in a three stage series.
Non-immigrants from certain countries, as well as other individuals
whom the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) or Department
of State (DOS) designate on a discretionary basis, are required
to be processed under "special registration" procedures,
as part of the National Security Entry-Exit Registration System
(NSEERS). [Source: 67 Fed. Reg. 52583 (August 12, 2002)]
This site has a complete overview of how people had to report
and in what order by country and designation.
http://www.issso.grads.vt.edu/NSEERS.htm
Here are Ashcroft’s prepared remarks from June 6th 2002 that
were made when announcing NSEERS. There is a funny little warning
on the top of the page to the fact that (Attorney General Often
Deviates from the Prepared Remarks)
http://www.usdoj.gov
/ag/speeches/2002/060502agpreparedremarks.htm
Here are his remarks from November 7th 2002 when the NSEERS Act
was actually implemented and carried out.
http://www.usdoj.gov/ag/speeches/2002/
110702agremarksnseers_niagarafalls.htm
It is extremely hard to find out just how many people were deported
under NSEERS as it is classified a National Security matter. FIA
requests for records of who was affected have been denied. Many
people showed up thinking they had all their paper work in order
were deported after being detained, some times for months in deplorable
conditions. I know of several journalists who had dual citizenship
were deported and now cannot return to their jobs in the US.
One last example on the rise of a police state is the arresting
and detaining of suspected terrorists at the Guantonimo Bay Marine
Installation down in Cuba. The Justice Department has repeatedly
refused to charge the detainees with a crime and prevented them
from having access to any legal council. In defending the right
to hold them the Justice Department and US regime have called
them "foreign combatants" even if they were never captured
on a battlefield.
Despite the obvious fact that identifying them as combatants should
make the detainees prisoners of war, they have been denied their
rights granted by the Geneva Convention on POWs. The case is currently
going before the US Supreme Court and it will be interesting to
watch whether they rule for or against releasing these prisoners.
If their ruling upholds the right of the Justice Department to
take prisoners and hold them without trial, legal representation,
and to hold them indefinitely, it will further cement the current
police state powers. The Justice department has contended that
by holding them outside the United States, the prisoners do not
have the right to a trial in the US or any privileges granted
to those who are US prisoners.
If this is not an example of a police state in action I do not
know what is. Numerous human rights groups and constitutional
rights advocacy groups have filed Freedom of Information Act requests
and cases against the DOJ and the US government. Below you will
find a denial of FIA information that was given to EPIC.
This is from Electronic Privacy Information Center info page on
the terror war detainees
http://www.epic.org/open_gov/foia/cnss_v_doj.html
DC Circuit Court Upholds Secrecy of DOJ Detentions: On June 17,
2003, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, in a divided opinion
, [PDF] endorsed the Justice Department's efforts to keep secret
the identities of hundreds of individuals detained after the September
2001 terrorist attacks. In this decision, the Court affirmed the
District Court’s decision to withhold all specific detention
information, and further allowed the Justice Department to withhold
the names of detainees and their attorneys. The Court found that
this information could be properly withheld pursuant to FOIA Exemption
7(A), which exempts law enforcement information that would interfere
with enforcement proceedings if released. The decision comes in
a Freedom of Information Act case in which EPIC is a plaintiff
and co-counsel.
Here is more information on the USA/PATRIOT Act and some prepared
statements by Ashcroft
Electronic Privacy Information Center USA/PATRIOT Act page: http://www.epic.org/privacy/terrorism/usapatriot/
Attorney General Ashcroft's Prepared Statement June 5th 2003 given
when appearing before the House Judiciary Committee: http://www.house.gov/judiciary/ashcroft060503.htm
We are currently in a police state atmosphere where fascists will
rise to the top like turds in a giant cesspool. The signs are
all around just like they were around in the beginning of the
Nazi Third Reich takeover of all state affairs with a massive
police and security force. It was excused then as being the price
you had to pay for safety and security, and necessary for continued
freedom and prosperity.
Sounds familiar right?
We are set upon a course of using war for world domination, using
the flag as a symbol of state power and authority. The government
uses easily absorbed catch phrase slogan propaganda like "God
Bless America", "Safety and Security", "War
on Terror", "War for Liberation and Freedom", "Preemptive
Strike", "Might Makes Right", "Retaliation",
"Let No One Challenge Our Might", "We Will Take
the War to Them", "If You’re Not For Us You’re
Against Us", and many other Bushisms.
The power structure for a police state is already in place, and
for the most part unchallenged. Will Americans realize this before
it’s too late? I sure hope so, because I happen to like the
freedoms of writing articles like this, and being able to challenge
the right of the corrupt leaders to govern our country. I like
to have the option of dissent if things are out of control or
just plain wrong.
I will close with these excellent quotes from the book 1984.
"There was of course no way of knowing whether you were being
watched at any given moment."
George Orwell, 1984
"…the consciousness of being at war, and therefore in
danger, makes the handing-over of all power to a small caste seem
the natural, unavoidable condition of survival." George Orwell,
1984
Here is an excellent article examining what fascism is and how
the current US regime fits the image:
Fearing Fascism
http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:
TWC5Zx3mBT4J:www.buzzflash.com/
southern/2002/06/20_southern.html
+Ashcroft+1970+attorney+general+campaign+race&hl
=en&ie=UTF-8
Jay Shaft: Editor - Coalition For Free Thought In Media eMail:
freethoughtinmedia2@yahoo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/
group/coalitionforfreethoughtinmedia
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