Are Protestors Viewed as Terrorists by the U.S.?

We can remind the FBI and the Secret Service that the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution grants American citizens the right to free speech, but it will fall on death ears. These stone-faced, stoic protectors of our government officials are told to ensure that our highest ranking government officials never are witness to our protestations. They even have it written in their own manual how to keep protesters away from the President as well as the media.

One glaringly huge loophole in the First Amendment, that this administration in particular has abused to the extreme, is that it does not guarantee that our exercise of this right must be witnessed by our government officials. With the presidential advance team exercising their mandated duties to ensure that protesters are out of earshot of the president and relocated well out of sight of the president, just what good is the Right to Free Speech when armed bullies forcibly remove the messengers from the area?

The American Civil Liberties Union is taking their job very seriously as well. The ACLU and the ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit on January 15, 2008, on behalf of several New Mexico residents and advocacy organizations who were made to stand more than 150 yards (that’s one and a half football field lengths, for you football fans out there) away from the site of a fundraiser being attended by the president as they peacefully protested the views of the administration, while a group of people expressing support for President Bush were allowed to stand only a few feet from the fundraiser site.

Favoritism? You bet your ass. Favoritism is one of the hallmarks of this administration. Not giving a damn about what his opponents have to say is another. It falls in the same category as refusing to sit down with his enemies to work toward peace instead of hiding behind his military giving out orders to attack. To hide himself away from disagreements, cheapens his stature as a leader. Keeping himself shielded from what his own citizenry has to say whitewashes his reality of our world and makes himself look even more ridiculous when he claims to be ‘in touch’ with American citizens.

Some agents carry their job too far. They block free speech written on t-shirts. They block free speech with larger posters to block out disagreeable ones.

Jeffery and Nicole Rank were arrested at one of the President’s speeches in Charleston, West Virginia, for wearing anti-Bush t-shirts. They settled their case for $80,000.

Leslie Weise and Alex Young were ejected from one of the President's speeches in Denver, Colorado, for arriving at the event in a car with the bumper sticker reading "No More Blood For Oil."

It is bad enough that protesters are forced out of sight and told to keep their opinions to themselves but when armed agents of our government start getting physical and using excessive force against targeted dissenters, then the situation becomes discriminatory, illegal and an affront to every American’s sense of freedom.
http://www.aclu.org/freespeech/protest/26084prs20060706.html getting physical and using excessive force

This increased level of violence and discrimination against protesters can only lead to one conclusion, that our federal government has deemed us to be terrorists. Those of us who care enough about the sanctity of our given right to protest this president’s deeds and misdeeds, have been demonized by our public servants and the ultra conservative right wing radio talk show hosts who label themselves patriots just because they tow the party line.

How did the term patriot become so bastardized as to be limited to only those people who blindly follow wherever the president leads? Their definition is ludicrous and by adhering to this twisted view they willingly subject themselves to falling under tyrannical control. They find it insanely ridiculous that any true American citizen cannot simply accept whatever our president tells us.

"In Germany, they first came for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then, they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics. I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak up." -- Reverend Martin Neimoller, German Lutheran pastor arrested by the Gestapo in 1937

History is no stranger to this breed of patriot. Their past deeds are scary, immoral, illegal and lethal. These are the type of people who blacklist citizens and sabotage their futures based solely on suspicion-McCarthyism; these are the type of people who break into political opponents offices-Watergate; these are the type of people who arrest innocent citizens under the banner of national security-the Gestapo; these are the type of people who hang innocent citizens for being different than themselves-KKK; these are the type of people who resort to illegal wiretapping on American citizens because they are afraid of losing their power over us-NSA warrantless surveillance program.

It is against their doctrine to simply accept our difference of opinion on how this county should be run and allow us our right to say so. They have to spy on us and infiltrate our ranks and even enter our names in a terrorist database as though we are common criminals with an agenda to bring down this government.

The hired enforcers of America’s patriot idealism are a special group of individuals unto themselves. Ultra conservative with a license to harass, they are almost robotic in their strict, single-minded adherence to the enforcement of governmental policy. Homeland Security, FBI and CIA have all the makings of a Gestapo force and they will arrest anyone who speaks out against the president. We have already seen proof of this. It matters little to the victims of these tactics or others who may now think twice about exercising their right to free speech that the courts found in favor of the victims. The mindless minions of the government are ready and willing to step on us whenever and wherever they see fit.

I ask you, how far from the Gestapo of 1930’s Germany have we really come?

Are protesters terrorist? Only in the eyes of those who are protested against. Should we allow them to dictate when and where we protest? Absolutely not. It isn’t a matter of fighting against this government as fanatical Islamic terrorists are. We protest out of love for our country not to be the instrument of its destruction.

Very few of us today are willing to follow the path of those true patriots who fought to free this fledgling nation from the tyranny of England’s King George. But we simply cannot stand idly by and watch in abject horror as this president systematically undermines all that our forefathers protested for, fought for and died for just to appease those who paid money for the privilege of being counted among George W Bush’s cronies.

These so-called modern-day patriots have forsaken their fellow countrymen and placed protesters on the ‘other side’ instead of listening to the protests and taking something positive from what is said with the goal to make this nation stronger and less divisive. We are all in this thing together. It is not ‘Us vs. Them’.

U.S. government as military/business state

This may not be much of a surprise to anyone who follows national politics but the military-industrial complex has become the military-intelligence complex. There used to be a joke floating around that said “Military intelligence is neither”. Meaning our military had gotten weak and they were far from intelligent. However, the Bush administration, under the guidance of Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, changed that.

They devised methods of financially profiting from a military role in Iraq while at the same time guaranteeing the continued need for a bigger, more technologically advanced military presence throughout the world. This administration saw this great opportunity for profit in Iraq and was just brazen enough and unethical enough to put their plan in motion. Their only hurdle to more profit was the fact that the U.S. public will not stand for the return of the draft. War profiteers salivate over having a draft because a larger military means more support staff, more supplies and more weapons which translates to more profit.

But this did not deter them in their profit scheme. They simply hired professional private soldiers, such as Blackwater USA, but did it in such a way as to create a financially symbiotic relationship.

Training Future Private Contractors

Blackwater USA founder, Erik Prince started out in the service of his country and soon learned how to turn his U.S. military training into profit, for himself. Their website states that "Blackwater Training Center was founded in 1996 to fulfill the anticipated demand for government outsourcing of firearms and related security training.” “Anticipated” and “outsourcing” are the key operative words here. Erik Prince did not create this company in ‘hopes’ that the federal government would need his services. He had assurances that his company would become another tool in our governments design for continued world dominance. The U.S. government hires Blackwater USA to train military personnel. Did the U.S. military become ineffective in training their own? Or is this part of a scheme to spread money around to their cronies?

Top CIA and Pentagon officials have taken up high positions in Blackwater USA and retain close working relationships with our government in order to profit from our self-declared ‘war on terror’. A war that we perpetuate in our continued ambition to remain the world’s dominant nation.

Stephen Cambone, once undersecretary of defense for intelligence and longtime aide to Donald Rumsfeld was hired by QinetiQ (pronounced kinetic) North America (QNA), a major British owned defense and intelligence contractor based in McLean, Virginia who has also profited from hiring former high-ranking Pentagon and intelligence officials.

Michael McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, was once the director of the National Security Agency. Between the two positions he received a seven-figure salary at Booz-Allen Hamilton, a major intelligence contractor. The Intelligence community and contractors have become so tightly intertwined at the leadership level that their interests are identical.

Dependence on Private Contractors

Intelligence gathering is becoming privatized and therefore less controlled and scrutinized by politicians. Awarding lucrative contracts to the private sector for intelligence gathering allows the Pentagon more control of their operational outcome by having quicker and more complete access to intelligence. No longer are they dependent on what the CIA decides to pass on.

The proliferation of these private enterprises will not cease after the war is over. The hunger for more and more intelligence cannot be quenched once we have the technology to allow us to gather it. An atmosphere of distrust between citizens and their government officials will always ensure that private citizens will be spied upon.

The Bush administration is already building the case for the need to spy on us under the guise of their war on terror. This legislation is not going to go away after the war in Iraq and Afghanistan. The so called war on terror will continue as long as America pushes its policies onto an unyielding and unreceptive world.

High-tech devices such as military drones and robots, low-flying satellites and jamming technologies will not be relegated to storage after the war. They will continue to be used, this time on us. Civilians will not be able to go anywhere without someone watching.

Private military, disguised as private security forces, will be used much as NATO forces are used throughout the world. They will be used to supplement the National Guard just as they were during the Katrina aftermath.

Failing Diplomacy

Doug Brooks, president of International Peace Operations Association, an association of private military firms, says his members can help ‘where governments have failed’. The failing point of any government to prevent war is when diplomacy fails. Have we lost the art of diplomacy? Have we become so much more eager to resort to violence rather than address our differences at the conference table?

The recent Colombian military incursion into Ecuador, to attack the rebel group FARC, brought condemnation by Ecuadors president Rafael Correa and Venezuelan president Victor Chavez. Why wasn’t the action discussed with Ecuador before the raid took place in order to prevent the condemnation and perceived attack on Ecuador’s sovereignty? Venezuela took the action as an attack against them by the United States! Why? Because Venezuela backs FARC, a group that resorts to violence, kidnapping, rape and murder to get what they want. And Venezuela, who represents itself as ‘the peaceful path’, will jump at any opportunity to condemn the U.S. over anything the U.S. does or backs. Missed opportunities at diplomacy that leads to the misinterpretation of actions and supports the misplaced perception of arrogance, can be deadly which is exactly why diplomacy and open, truthful conversation is necessary for the world to move toward peace.

The need for acceptance and understanding is at the core of the ongoing friction between Israel and just about everyone else.

As long as the inability to maintain meaningful diplomatic relations exist between governments there will be wars, and the need for sophisticated intelligence networks.

Donald Rumsfeld understood this, so with Cheney’s support, he set out to modernize the U.S. military into a high-tech, computerized fighting force as a means of covering up what was really going on, the building of intelligence networks through the use of private contractors. The uniformed military and the defense industry were not pleased. Both objected to Rumsfeld’s network centric policies and the accompanying cuts imposed on Cold War-era weapons such as aircraft carriers and artillery systems. But the September 11, attacks served to galvanize the country and provided the opening for Rumsfeld and his allies in the administration to make intelligence the centerpiece of their new “war on terror.” Yes, those attacks proved very fortuitous indeed.

As a result, we attacked a nation that had nothing to do with the September 11, 2001 attacks, we have been instrumental in the murder of countless Iraqi citizens and contributed to the spread of terrorism which ensures that private contractors will always play a major role in the spread of America’s form of democracy and profiteering.

We have become a cancer. We are pushing our government/business model onto the rest of the world through war profiteering. Using our military might where we used to rely on diplomacy serves only those who are in a position to be financially rewarded. People like Stephen Cambone, Doug Brooks, Michael McConnell, Dick Cheney and Erik Prince are war profiteers and as such do not have America’s best interests at heart.

The privatization of what used to be the domain of the military brings about the question of ethics. Once you become private, you take the defense and protection of the American public out of the equation. Now you are no longer concerned with defending this country. Your outlook changes from the altruistic ‘fighting for your country’ to one of fighting for your financial health.

Another attempt to rewrite history

George W Bush is in Israel this week with plans to broker a peace deal in a region that knows nothing but war and hate, and subscribes heavily to revenge as a matter of national policy.

That region will never know peace. This attempt to paint himself as a stalwart of foreign policy and a ‘friend to the world’ will fail as badly as his attempt to present himself as an environmentalist after signing one weak, lame piece of environmental legislation. And the very fact that he thinks just by taking this one action will reverse the effects his illegal actions had on Iraq just proves how much faith he puts in Americas gullibility.

Mr. president, your record on foreign policy is abominable. Do you honestly think the American history books will portray you as a peace activist by virtue of this one trip in this final year of your eight year term? You think you will be exonerated for your crimes against the constitution and the American public by shaking hands with foreign dignitaries in their own land?

The bloody shadows of Iraq and Afghanistan, the campaign of hate against Iran, the threat of World War III, the destabilization of relations with Russia, the egotistical stance against any attempt to combat global warming, these are not the earmarks of a master of foreign relations.

The spying on American citizens in our own homes, the replacing of military leadership until you found one that agrees with you, the rewriting of scientific finding until they matched your personal beliefs, the refusal to do anything meaningful to alleviate environmental pollution, the blatant appointments of under-qualified personnel to key administration posts, the denigration of habeas corpus, the weakening value of our dollar, the selling out of the cornerstone of our economy (Wall Street) to foreign investors, exposing CIA operatives, covering up crimes under the guise of executive privilege, profiteering from war under the threat of terrorist attacks on our shores.

Just what good have you done for this country? This list of crimes against the American people is disgusting, sir. And this doesn’t even begin to address the crimes and short comings of your personal life that were overlooked due to your ties with your father.

If you had not been born into such a wealthy politically powerful family, I have no doubt your life will have ended up an alcoholic wreck depending on the very charities your political party turns its back on, cowering from the police state you have managed to foster. You could very well have become a victim of the very egregious record number of Texas death row inmates you helped populate as Texas governor.

The best thing to happen to this country will be the collective departure of you and your administration from public office. It cannot happen soon enough.

You and your puppet masters may attempt to rewrite history, sir, but the majority of people in this country know you and Dick Cheney for what you really are, sad remnants of an old west mentality of shoot to kill and declare yourself as the moral, law-abiding authority.

Bush is fooling only himself

A headline says that Bush argues Iraq report does not signal war is lost.

Of course he will say this. If he admits the report is accurate then he would have to admit to failure. If he admits failure then he will have failed his daddy’s honor. And let’s face it, this is the true reason George the Second so callously took this nation to war. His own misguided ‘sense of honor’ to right the wrong in what his daddy should have done during his little war. Clearly, George the First should have taken out Saddam Hussein when he had the chance. But honor would not allow him to. George the Second is not ‘hindered‘ with honor. This is why he was chosen by the political powers to ‘right this wrong’. He used American soldiers to ‘assassinate’ a foreign head of state. Something this country has sworn never to do. Sure, no one walked up to Saddam and placed a gun to his head and pulled the trigger. He used the anger of the Iraqi people under the promise of a democratic government to do it.

George the Second has sent many American soldiers to their deaths to carry out his goals and he continues to cost even more American lives because he refuses to quit.

George the Second is not man enough to stand on his own and admit he made a mistake in going after Saddam. That would require that he admit to lying to the American people when he ‘interpreted’ another report to meet his agenda. That report, which came from our very own CIA, told him there was no evidence of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He chose to believe otherwise. Now, instead of admitting he was wrong and stopping this senseless taking of Americans lives and of Iraqi lives and of destroying a once beautiful nation and culture, he stubbornly sides with military advisors who will never admit defeat and who clearly have their own agenda (which is to go down in the history books as the greatest warriors ever. This is what all military leaders aspire to. Hell, it’s the only thing they can aspire to.)

He thought he could pull a ‘John Wayne’ and save his daddy’s honor and the honor of the American people. He is too blind to see that he has done nothing more than to eroded even further the perception of what America truly stands for. Since you Bushites have ‘forgotten’ what America stands for, let me tell you.

We stand for freedom. In fighting to maintain our freedom, we have earned honor. Sadly, we are not honoring ourselves by fighting in Iraq. We are not honoring ourselves by fighting in Afghanistan.

I love America. I salute and praise our brave American soldiers. They do only what they are told to do and go where they are told to go. I write these essays in an attempt to find the right words to express how we are failing the memory of all of those who have fought wearing the American military uniform during times when our freedom was in jeopardy. Our freedom is not in jeopardy in Iraq. Our freedom is not in jeopardy in Afghanistan. If we ‘lose’ the fight in these countries we do not ‘lose’ any freedom.

Our honor is what is at stake in these countries, but only because George the Second keeps us in these places. The people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Russia, Iran, and the rest of the world know the reason we are fighting in these countries. They know that honor has nothing to do with it. We are still in Iraq because a handful of American financial interests are still making lots of money. We are still fighting in Afghanistan because we are trying to get revenge against Osama bin Laden. We are ‘winning’ shamelessly in Iraq and failing miserably in Afghanistan. Neither of these deployments bring honor to the American people.

We don’t need the military to restore honor to the U.S. The military is but one part of the overall makeup of a true America, not the only one, George. We broke away from a nation that was ruled by tyrants, such as yourself, intent on spreading their form of government throughout the world. We broke away because we were tired of suffering at the hands of a ruling class elite that refused to represent what ‘we the people’ wanted.

The people who formed America over 200 years ago wanted nothing of spreading their form of rule to the rest of the world. They wanted nothing more than to live their lives in peace without being taxed to death and without having to live under the watchful eye of a government who is supposed to protect us. Are our taxes too high? For what we get in return for those taxes, the answer is a resounding yes! Do we live under the watchful eye of the government? When we have to worry about what we say to one another for fear of being hauled into jail and interrogated under the auspice of some ‘terrorism law’ that this president wants to enforce, the answer is another resounding yes! Is this government protecting us? When it has become unsafe for Americans to travel anywhere in the world because of our governments policies, then the answer is a resounding no!

This, ladies and gentlemen, is not the America I wish to live in.

When this president, any president, can override judicial decisions, interpret reports differently from what experts say in order to meet his own agenda, circumvent laws by ‘presidential decree’, or decide that ‘we the people’ don’t really know what is best for us then we need to remove that president lest we fall into the feudal system days of pre-America, land of the free.