Next Terrorist Target: The Constitution

"Such is not mere speculation by conspiracy theorists but comes straight from recently retired U.S. Army General Tommy Franks, who field marshaled the U.S. wars against Afghanistan and Iraq. In a lengthy interview in this month's Cigar Aficionado, Franks painted a picture of what he called 'the worst thing that can happen in our country': a terrorist attack with WMD, a 'massive casualty-producing event somewhere in the western world -- it may be in the United States of America -- that causes our population to question our own Constitution and to begin to militarize our country in order to avoid a repeat of another mass-casualty-producing event. Which, in fact, then begins to potentially unravel the fabric of our Constitution.' As a result, Franks said, 'the western world, the free world, loses what it cherishes most, and that is freedom and liberty we've seen for a couple of hundred years in this grand experiment that we call democracy.'"
http://www.counterpunch.org/foley12272003.html

COINTELPRO is Back

"The Ashcroft Justice Department has had its eye on peaceful demonstrators and dissenters for quite some time. In May 2002, for instance, the Attorney General announced the elimination of twenty-six-year-old regulations that had prevented the FBI from monitoring "open to the public" events held by domestic religious, political and civic organizations unless it had specific cause for doing so.

These regulations had been specifically developed to counter the COINTELPRO domestic spying program that had led to massive civil rights era abuses during the 1960s and 70s. Now, these restrictions no longer exist -- and such abuses may well be repeating themselves. "
http://www.apfn.net/messageboard/02-21-04/discussion.cgi.2.html

Suspending the Constitution

Ever think that there are things going on in government that are in violation of the Constitution? Brace yourself:
http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/Exec.Orders/Bonfire.Constitution.Pt1.html
http://www.millennium-ark.net/News_Files/Exec.Orders/Bonfire.Constitution.Pt2.html

A "state of perpetual emergency" has existed in the United States since 1933 (the year Adolf Hitler suspended the Constitution in Germany).

Petition to Roll Back FCC Media Ownership Rules

"..A self-governing and free society requires an open, fair, and representative media system with the widest possible dissemination of diverse, local, and independent information and ideas. These are values we hold to be central to our democracy.."
http://www.mediareform.net/action/petition.php?n=fccrules

Demand clean election from Ashcroft

Petition "We, the undersigned, hereby demand that NO voter be purged from centralized voter rolls without proof positive that the voter is ineligible. We also demand a halt to further computerization of balloting until such methods are made unsusceptible to political manipulation, fraud, and racial bias."http://www.workingforchange.com/activism/petition.cfm?itemid=14993

Paper Trail for your Vote

"We must act now to ensure that our voting systems produce accurate and verifiable results. Some states are planning to use machines that will not allow voters to verify their choices. This means that any flaws in the machine or software will never be caught -- and no recount will be possible."
http://petition.democracyforamerica.com/page/p/verify

This is the guy on AFN (what the soldiers hear)

May 3, 2004 - Limbaugh likens the photos to 'anything you'd see Madonna, or Britney Spears do on stage.'

May 5, 2004 - Limbaugh claims 'the reaction to the stupid torture is an example of the feminization of this country.'

May 6, 2004 - Limbaugh calls the torture a 'brilliant maneuver' and the photos 'good old American pornography.'

May 10, 2004 - Limbaugh mimics barking in describing a photo of a nude Iraqi prisoner terrorized by vicious guard dogs [later announces that he was incorrect in asserting that the prisoner had not actually been attacked].

May 11, 2004 - Limbaugh equates brutal sodomizing of Iraqi prisoners to the 'cigar in the Oval Office.'


Commercial on Windows Media Player:
http://mediamatters.org/static/video/mm-rush-commercial-20040511.wmv

Commercial in MPEG 4 (higher Quality):
http://mediamatters.org/static/video/mm-rush-commercial-20040511.mpg

Democracy is dependent upon a well informed citizenry. These folks are contributing to that:
http://mediamatters.org/

Free Bumper Stickers:
http://www.moveonpac.org/stickers/

Here's a cartoon from the Kerry campaign, about Oil interests in the current White House:
http://www.johnkerry.com/features/oil_house/

"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." -- Edmund Burke (1729-97)

Some thoughts from David Korten
From http://www.pcdf.org/Experiment/SeattleThunder.htm:

"The tragedy of September 11, 2001 awakened a desire among Americans for a new sense of national purpose and unity. Those in power turned that desire to ends wholly contrary to the ideals on which this nation was founded rolling back civil liberties at home, robbing from the poor to give to the rich, and pursuing a policy of belligerence and domination abroad. It remains to we the people to assume our rightful authority and responsibility to protect and advance the great ideals and purpose to which the founder’s dedicated this nation."
..
"Polling data tell us that the vast majority of Americans wants peace, fairness, a healthy environment, opportunity, freedom, democracy, and security for all a world centered on people, not profits; on spiritual, not financial, values; and on international cooperation, not domination. These are not distinctively liberal or conservative values; they are the universally shared values on which the United States was founded."
..
"The real political divide in America is not between liberals and conservatives..the real political contest in America is between those of us committed to a politics based on principle and the common good; and those who pursue a politics of individual greed and power."
..
"the elitist security story calls for waging wars against whole nations in the name of fighting terrorism. Terrorists, however, work in invisible networks that extend throughout the territories of virtually every state in the world. The 9/11 terrorists trained in the state of Florida, were financed by the state of Saudi Arabia, and were led from caves in Afghanistan by a man too powerful for Afghanistan’s weak government to control. So we ignored Florida and Saudi Arabia, and invaded Afghanistan and destroyed its government. Unfortunately, the guilty party Osama Bin Laden escaped. So we responded by invading Iraq, a country with a weak military and lots of oil that occupies a pivotal geographic position in the Middle East, but had nothing to do with 9/11. By any definition Saddam Hussein is an evil man and the world is the better for his being in prison, but he posed no credible threat to us."
..
"Terrorism more closely fits the frame of a crime, than the frame of a war. George W’s embrace of the war metaphor is carefully chosen to make it more acceptable for him to assume dictatorial powers as commander in chief and dismiss his critics as disloyal. Furthermore he has declared the war, and therefore his power, to be perpetual."
..
"Terrorists hate us not for the freedom bestowed on our people by democratic institutions, but rather for our frequent use of the freedom our economic and military power gives us to arbitrarily oppress and humiliate other nations and peoples."
..
David Korten's essay containing the above passages can be found at http://www.pcdf.org/Experiment/SeattleThunder.htm

"An American Coup d'État?"

"How different is America from nations where political power comes quite directly 'from the barrel of a gun'? A curious footnote to American history suggests that, except for the personal integrity of a remarkable American general, a coup d'état intended to remove President Franklin D. Roosevelt from office in 1934 might have plunged America into civil war."

A fascinating article about the attempted coup can be found at http://home.iprimus.com.au/korob/fdtcards/Butler.html

"There is nothing patriotic about perverting the natural love of country into suspicion, bitterness, and hostility." -- Joe Conason

From My Desk:

There are misconceptions in America about the Left, about Democrats, about Liberals, about "Big Government". These misconceptions seeded into the public conscience are intentional, and are instrumental in misguiding the people of America into acting counter to their own self-interest. Because monopolistic corporate power has been allowed to grow to a dangerous size by a corrupt, supposedly representative government, control over the information that the majority of people in America receive has been surrendered to those monopolistic powers.

People generally want peace and prosperity. It would naturally follow that they would want leadership that would increase their likelihood of achieving these ends. When a country is misled into placing into power people who are not motivated to increase the likelihood of peace or prosperity, then that country has been duped. When a country is systematically sold by corporate special interests on the notion that unregulated, "laissez-faire" capitalism is the key to prosperity, that country has been "sold down the river" by greedy proponents of ignorance. Unregulated capitalism results in monopoly, which is manifested by a decrease in productive competition in the marketplace, resulting in a lowering of quality of goods and/or services offered; and it ultimately results in the concentration of a nation's wealth in the hands of a privileged relative few, at the cost of an elimination or reduction in size of the middle class, and a dramatic increase in the number and misery of poor people. Those who decry "big government" in the corporate media are propaganda instruments of corporatism (fascism / crony capitalism), who want to remove regulation from the marketplace and let business run free. This is akin to letting the nuclear reaction in a power plant to take place without a restraining containment structure. It is akin to an un-controlled fire. It is the road to tyranny. Corporations are not democratic.

In order to prevent behemoth corporations, which choke out competition through political influence and monopolization, from becoming political powers counter to the interests of the population, as Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, FDR and countless others warned they would, actual representatives of the population must control them. This requires public review of corporate charters, so that the people can prevent corporations from acting against the best interests of the population; and it requires the prohibition of monopoly, which stifles productive competition and ultimately raises the prices of goods and services. Beginning with the Boston Tea Party, true American Patriots knew the dangers of monopolistic corporations, and when our country was born there were restrictions on what a corporation could do, in order to ensure that they did not become a hindrance to general peace and prosperity. Most of these restrictions have disappeared since then, and corporations currently enjoy rights that were intended for "natural persons".

If you are turned off by the terms "Leftist", "Democrat", or "Liberal", consider the media you are using. Do the concepts of "Free thinker", "Of, For and By the People", or "Tolerant of diverse views" sound better? These are the things a fascist propaganda machine wants you to forget. Please don't. A well-informed citizenry, critical of what they are told and demanding the truth, is crucial if we are to regain the liberty and freedom that is represented by our flag. I encourage you, fellow citizens, to seek out the truth and demand integrity in your representative government, so that we may successfully re-claim our rights to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness".

From http://www.todayonline.com/articles/19448.asp
"
US President George Bush and his administration took a further hit yesterday with the release of a controversial movie titled Fahrenheit 9/11.
...
Its first screening earned a 20-minute standing ovation, said to be the longest ever at the [Cannes Film Festival].
...
Fahrenheit 9/11 paints a deeply sinister conspiracy linking the war in Iraq to Bush's family's business relations with the defence industry and Saudi oil money. It also draws a connection between the Bush clan and members of Osama bin Laden's family.
...
Distributor Miramax, is being prevented from selling the movie by its parent company Disney at the behest of White House, says Moore.
...
Moore alleges that the White House is running a campaign to stop the film from being distributed in the US before the November polls.
...
He vowed that Americans would see the documentary soon, even if it took illegal means and that once it was widely seen, Bush and his government would realise their political future is over.
"

You can use this link: http://www.moveon.org/firerumsfeld/ to have moveon.org send the following petition to your members of congress:

YOUR PETITION LETTER

TO: (Your Representative and Senators)
FROM: (Your Name and Email)
SUBJECT: Keep Bush Accountable
__________

Dear (Senator or Representative's name),

(Your personal note)

You and your colleagues in Congress are responsible for ensuring that our tax dollars are used well. But President Bush is demanding another enormous blank check.

Congress must withhold the $87 billion requested by President Bush until he dismisses the team responsible for the quagmire in Iraq -- starting with Defense Secretary Rumsfeld -- and ends the U.S. occupation of Iraq by transferring authority for rebuilding to the United Nations.

Sincerely,

(your name)
(your address)

The 14 Defining Characteristics Of Fascism
(per Dr. Lawrence Britt http://www.rense.com/general37/fascism.htm)

1. Powerful and Continuing Nationalism
2. Disdain for the Recognition of Human Rights
3. Identification of Enemies/Scapegoats as a Unifying Cause
4. Supremacy of the Military
5. Rampant Sexism
6. Controlled Mass Media
7. Obsession with National Security
8. Religion and Government are Intertwined
9. Corporate Power is Protected
10. Labor Power is Suppressed
11. Disdain for Intellectuals and the Arts
12. Obsession with Crime and Punishment
13. Rampant Cronyism and Corruption
14. Fraudulent Elections

Some warnings from history

General (later President) Dwight D. Eisenhower was a Republican. He was instrumental in defeating the Nazis and also in constructing our system of Interstate Highways. As he left office in 1961, he issued a warning to us, which can be read in its entirety at

http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/presiden/speeches/eisenhower001.htm

or

http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html

Some noticeable aspects of these words, lately referred to as the "Military-Industrial Complex Speech", warn of the development of a "permanent armaments industry of vast proportions" that had not existed prior to World War II. He said that "We must never let the weight of [the] combination [of defense and industry] endanger our liberties or democratic processes", and that "Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together."

He also warned that "you and I, and our government -- must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow.", and that "We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage."

He noted the migration of much of our intelligent, educated population into the businesses of security and defense thus: "The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present [..]"

"and is gravely to be regarded."

and that "public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite."

This guy knew what he was talking about.

Register to vote, please.

Earlier in the past century, another guy, Martin Niemoeller, who was a German submarine commander in World War I, when Adolf Hitler was a corporal, remarked years later with regard to the Nazis:

First they came for the communists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a communist;
Then they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a socialist;
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a trade unionist;
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--
because I was not a Jew;
Then they came for me--
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

Don't be a Lemming! Vote ! And read the Constitution and the Bill of Rights while we still have them!

http://www.law.cornell.edu/constitution/constitution.overview.html

Swift Boat enemies of integrity. One was known for demanding high body-counts. Another slung mud for Nixon. Another is a media mogul. That this is not partisan is not the truth. Evil resents a good man who will stand up for his principles, as John Kerry did in 1971.
http://www.salon.com/opinion/conason/2004/05/04/swift/

Wanna get involved? Wanna make some changes? Fed up? Take Action! Hold your representative government accountable. Apathy, resignation and ignorance are the causes of the problems in the world today. You have the resources to help us make a difference. Get informed and take action. Contact your representatives. You can communicate with your legislators easily through the Internet. Send your congressman a letter through their website at http://www.house.gov/writerep/. Let them know what you want. Visit the moveon.org website http://www.moveon.org/front/ and participate in a petition campaign to effect current decisions under consideration. Moveon is airing television commercials all over the country. Visit the democracyforamerica website http://www.democracyforamerica.com/ and find other citizens who are concerned about the state of affairs in our country. Democracyforamerica is the site built by the Howard Dean effort, and currently working to get Kerry in office. Call your radio station. Email your newspaper. Put a sign or a bumper-sticker on your car. Register to vote and visit the polls. Email me. Only through knowledge and action will the situation improve. You owe it to yourself, your loved ones, and your country. Defend your freedom. Take action!

Do you like to listen to radio about public issues in the afternoon but get sick of hearing only the right-wing version of it? Trying to find out the truth? Tune in to Air America Radio (http://www.airamericaradio.com/pub/globalDefault.htm) to listen on your computer or learn of radio stations that are airing it. Find out what you've been missing!

"The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it comes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or any controlling private power." -- Franklin D. Roosevelt

Curious about whether what news you hear or see is giving you the whole story? Democracy Now (http://www.democracynow.org/) is part of the Pacifica radio network, which has been a leading voice of dissent in the United States since 1949. You can see or hear, or download entire programs in their entirety from this site. Enjoy!

The Bill of Rights (Amendments 1 - 10 of the Constitution of the United States of America)

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII

In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.