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The assault on civil liberties
As someone who lived through the Nixon administration and its unprecedented assault on civil liberties — covert operations to infiltrate, spy on and disrupt peaceful protest organizations, breaking-and-entering black bag jobs, political use of the CIA, FBI and IRS — I'm having an increasing sense of dread and deja vu these days.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will go before the Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow to defend the Bush administration's polilcy of spying on U.S. citizens. Here's Time magazine's account of Gonzales's strategy. Given his track record, we can expect a great deal of dissembling and misdirection.
Today's San Jose Mercury News has this: Senate hearings offer window into data mining.
And this: Silencing dissent a growing trend.
Meantime, letter writer John Dunse wonders, as do I, why more news organizations haven't written about this disturbing element of the Patriot Act:
Patriot Act fights dissent, not terrorIf the present version of the ``Patriot Act'' is passed by the Senate, any demonstrators attending security events such as the Super Bowl will in the future be arrested and charged with a federal felony by a newly created federal police force, ``Secret Service, Uniformed Division,'' which reports to ``Homeland Security.'' This little-noticed or publicly discussed provision in the act (Section 605, House Report 109-333) appears to have little to do with fighting terrorism and everything to do with suppressing dissent. ``Freedom of speech'' will become a mockery. Why haven't the newspapers been shouting about this travesty on the front pages?
Lest you think this is a fringe concern, read the bill for yourself: THE UNIFORMED DIVISION, UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE. And here.
More:
Con Law Scholars Dismantle Bush Apology for Warrantless Spying
Markos at the Daily Kos had a good summary last month: Bush to criminalize protesters under Patriot Act as "disruptors."
Patriot Daily News Clearinghouse
Chicago Tribune: A strange symbiosis: Bin Laden, Bush both want Iraq war to continue.
Water Isaacson in today's NY Times Book Review: Spies and Spymasters, a review of "State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration," by James Risen.
The media, of course, are AWOL on this one. And where are the libertarian, liberties-loving Republicans of yesteryear? All cowering under their beds?
February 5, 2006 at 01:57 PM in Current Affairs | Permalink
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Comments
Agree with everything you say with the exception of one word: unprecedented. Look up civil war, WWI and WWII history.
Posted by: Jesus y Osiris de Sublunar at Feb 5, 2006 2:06:35 PM
Where the media are at is where many intelligent citizens are at: rightfully ignoring the far-fetched and borderline nutty scenarios that you're posing about these laws and their usage.
I'm a lifelong liberal, but I see my fellow liberals lately as more of a threat to my right to free speech and dissent than anything the Bush administration is doing.
Please give us any evidence of any actual suppression of dissent. The media will report that - if it exists.
Posted by: Joe Zekas at Feb 5, 2006 2:49:31 PM
Let's look at this for what it is: controlling the internet is as important as the push for a strategic position -- and permanent US bases -- in the middle east (read: Iraq).
In fact, my whole podcast today was around this topic.
Posted by: Steve Borsch at Feb 5, 2006 5:25:01 PM
