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When the people fear their government, there is tyranny;
when the government fears the people, there is liberty:
-Thomas Jefferson
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Quarantining Dissent
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Quarantining Dissent
Julie & I, being activists on various fronts, (Peace, Civil Liberties and
Environment) are becoming very concerned for our own safety, while trying to
voice opposition publicly. In fact, sending out these newsletters which raise
questions about the Bush Administration practices and policies, is a little
daunting. With the advent of the Patriot Act and various other programs that
allow government snooping without judicial oversight in conjunction with the
Justice Department’s disdainful attitude toward dissent, it is becoming harder
and harder to trust that the Authorities will protect us and our rights under the
First Amendment. The First Amendment of the Constitution reads: 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 people peaceably to assemble and to petition the government for a
redress of grievances. (I added the Italics). Yet the more I hear, the more I
read and the more I experience leads me to believe that those italicized
passages above are being ignored today.
John Ashcroft’s attitude about dissent is well documented in quotes I have
recorded from various periodicals. He told a Senate panel “To those who
scare peace –loving people with phantoms of ‘lost liberty’, my message is this:
Your tactics only aid terrorists”. On another occasion he made it perfectly
clear that he interprets public debate and dissent as undermining the US
Government’s efforts to reduce or eliminate terrorist activities stating that
public discussion would ”erode our national unity… diminish our resolve… give
ammunition to America’s enemies and pause to America’s friends.” So I guess
we pretty well know where A.G. Ashcroft is on the matter of public thought and
dissent, let alone demonstrations.
With respect to demonstrations, the rules have changed. The Secret Service
is now doing site surveys prior to Presidential visits and other high profile
meetings to determine where demonstrators may express themselves. (Let me
clarify: Demonstrators – Anyone who might visibly show opposition to the
President or his, or the government’s policies.) Contrast this with people
cheering the President who may line the parade route. These “Free Speech
Areas” are to be out of the President’s sight, are to be a place easily secured
and are generally to be off limits to the press.1 Now, there is ‘redressing of
government grievances’ in all it’s glory… Not! “To announce that there must
be no criticism of the president, or that we are to stand by the president, right
or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the
American public”. - Theodore Roosevelt: (1918) I’m sure that Teddy would be
stormin’ up Capitol Hill today.
Some of you may think that my concerns are just the paranoia of an old guy
who reads too much. Yet “the times they are a changin’”. It may be hard to
accept that our liberties are being repressed under the guise of fighting
terrorism, but that’s the truth. How about reading a couple of stories about
what this means to the people that wish to be a part of the political process
and unfortunately, for them, they are on the wrong side of the current power
base!
A 71 year old nun and 20 young students barred from flight to Washington.
“Virgine Lawinger, a nun in Milwaukee and an activist with Peace Action, a
Catholic advocacy group, was stopped from boarding a flight last spring to
Washington. She and 20 young students were planning to lobby the
Wisconsin congressional delegation against U.S. military aid to the Colombian
government. "We were all prevented from boarding, and some of us were
taken to another room and questioned by airport security personnel and local
sheriff's deputies," says Lawinger.
In that incident, an airline employee with Midwest Air and a local sheriff's
deputy who had been called in during the incident to help airport security
personnel detain and question the group, told some of them that their names
were "on a list," and that they were being kept off their plane on instructions
from the Transportation Security Administration in Washington. Lawinger has
filed a freedom-of-information request with the Transportation Security
Administration seeking to learn if she is on a "threat to aviation" list”. Read
more at this website 2. including:
Art Dealer / Ralph Nader’s North Carolina’s Campaign manager stopped from
boarding plane and questioned by Secret Service after making a statement to
another passenger that “George Bush is dumber than a rock” His cost to
rebook his flight to make it to his meeting in Germany, nearly $2000.
Local Kansas City man carrying a sign reading “Stop the 9-11 Cover-Up”
arrested in a crosswalk on the way to a protest rally during Mrs. Bush’s visit in
September. The arresting officer was instructed “to keep him out of sight ‘till
Mrs. Bush goes by”! He was held for 2 hours, handcuffed, booked
fingerprinted and questioned about whether he was a subversive. (KC Star
11-19-03 Lewis Diuguid’s column)
“Hey look, Julie. it looks like we’re going to be in the movies”, as I pointed to
the top of the Cheesecake Factory where we noticed the KC Police taping us
across the street from the Peace Rally we were attending. (That’s me, one
Sunday this winter).
Bill Neel, 65 year old retired Pittsburg steel worker carrying a sign “The Bush
family must love poor people, they made so many of us”. Bill was arrested for
disorderly conduct. At his trial, he said, "As far as I'm concerned, the whole
country is a free-speech zone. “Ennnt”, Wrong answer Bill! At Neel's trial,
police Detective John Lanachione testified that the Secret Service told local
police to confine "people that were there making a statement pretty much
against the president and his views" in a so-called free- speech area. 1
The Feds have offered some bizarre rationales for hog-tying protesters.
Secret Service agent Brian Marr explained to National Public Radio, "These
individuals may be so involved with trying to shout their support or nonsupport
that inadvertently they may walk out into the motorcade route and be injured.
And that is really the reason why we set these places up, so we can make sure
that they have the right of free speech, but, too, we want to be sure that they
are able to go home at the end of the evening and not be injured in any way."
Except for having their constitutional rights shredded 1. I guess they don’t
care about the Bush supporters, I guess its ok for them to get run over by the
motorcade as they line the parade route. We will just call them martyrs for the
cause!
The people in these stories are not anarchist they are activist, normal folks
trying to be heard. Many of them are striving for peace and following Dr.
King's lesson of non violent protest. They are finding though that the climate in
this country is changing (and no I’m not talking about global warming this
time). Fear is the order of the day. Keep fear of the terrorists ever present in
the public eye. Use fear to make the public dependent upon the government
for protection. Use fear of terrorism as a justification for suppressing our right
to freedom of speech and assembly.
And if that doesn’t work--- try a little intimidation and force! Stay tuned!
Next time… The Miami Model, so polish up your zoom lenses! You will not
want to miss this extravaganza! Coming in about 2 days!
Take Care
Paul
January 19,2004
