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TechnoratiFederal Government Involved In Raids On Protesters
As the police attacks on protesters in Minnesota continue -- see this video of the police swarming a bus transporting members of Earth Justice, seizing the bus and leaving the group members stranded on the side of the highway -- it appears increasingly clear that it is the Federal Government that is directing this intimidation campaign. Minnesota Public Radio reported yesterday that "the searches were led by the Ramsey County Sheriff's office. Deputies coordinated searches with the Minneapolis and St. Paul police departments and the Federal Bureau of Investigation."
Today's Star Tribune added that the raids were specifically "aided by informants planted in protest groups." Back in May, Marcy Wheeler presciently noted that the Minneapolis Joint Terrorist Task Force -- an inter-agency group of federal, state and local law enforcement led by the FBI -- was actively recruiting Minneapolis residents to serve as plants, to infiltrate "vegan groups" and other left-wing activist groups and report back to the Task Force about what they were doing. There seems to be little doubt that it was this domestic spying by the Federal Government that led to the excessive and truly despicable home assaults by the police yesterday.
So here we have a massive assault led by Federal Government law enforcement agencies on left-wing dissidents and protesters who have committed no acts of violence or illegality whatsoever, preceded by months-long espionage efforts to track what they do. And as extraordinary as that conduct is, more extraordinary is the fact that they have received virtually no attention from the national media and little outcry from anyone. And it's not difficult to see why. As the recent "overhaul" of the 30-year-old FISA law illustrated -- preceded by the endless expansion of surveillance state powers, justified first by the War on Drugs and then the War on Terror -- we've essentially decided that we want our Government to spy on us without limits. There is literally no police power that the state can exercise that will cause much protest from the political and media class and, therefore, from the citizenry.
Beyond that, there is a widespread sense that the targets of these raids deserve what they get, even if nothing they've done is remotely illegal. We love to proclaim how much we cherish our "freedoms" in the abstract, but we despise those who actually exercise them. The Constitution, right in the very First Amendment, protects free speech and free assembly precisely because those liberties are central to a healthy republic -- but we've decided that anyone who would actually express truly dissident views or do anything other than sit meekly and quietly in their homes are dirty trouble-makers up to no good, and it's therefore probably for the best if our Government keeps them in check, spies on them, even gets a little rough with them.
After all, if you don't want the FBI spying on you, or the Police surrounding and then invading your home with rifles and seizing your computers, there's a very simple solution: don't protest the Government. Just sit quietly in your house and mind your own business. That way, the Government will have no reason to monitor what you say and feel the need to intimidate you by invading your home. Anyone who decides to protest -- especially with something as unruly and disrespectful as an unauthorized street march -- gets what they deserve.
Isn't it that mentality which very clearly is the cause of virtually everyone turning away as these police raids escalate against citizens -- including lawyers, journalists and activists -- who have broken no laws and whose only crime is that they intend vocally to protest what the Government is doing? Add to that the fact that many good establishment liberals are embarrassed by leftist protesters of this sort and wish that they would remain invisible, and there arises a widespread consensus that these Government attacks are perfectly tolerable if not desirable.
During the Olympics just weeks ago, there was endless hand-wringing over the efforts by the Chinese Government to squelch dissent and incarcerate protesters. On August 21, The Washington Post fretted:
Six Americans detained by police this week could be held for 10 days, according to Chinese authorities, who appear to be intensifying their efforts to shut down any public demonstrations during the final days of the Olympic Games. . . .On August 2, The Post gravely warned:Chinese Olympic officials announced last month that Beijing would set up zones where people could protest during the Games, as long as they had received permission. None of the 77 applications submitted was approved, however, and several other would-be protesters were stopped from even applying.
Behind the gray walls and barbed wire of the prison here, eight Chinese farmers with a grievance against the government have been consigned to Olympic limbo.Would The Washington Post ever use such dark and accusatory tones to describe what the U.S. Government does? Of course it wouldn't. Yet how is our own Government's behavior in Minnesota any different than what the Chinese did to its protesters during the Olympics (other than the fact that we actually have a Constitution that prohibits such behavior)? And where are all the self-righteous Freedom Crusaders in our nation's establishment organs who were so flamboyantly criticizing the actions of a Government on the other side of the globe as our own Government engages in the same tyrannical, protest-squelching conduct with exactly the same motives?Their indefinite detainment, relatives and neighbors said, is the price they are paying for stirring up trouble as China prepares to host the Beijing Games. Trouble, the Communist Party has made clear, will not be permitted.
Just review what happened yesterday and today. Homes of college-aid protesters were raided by rifle-wielding police forces. Journalists were forcibly detained at gun point. Lawyers on the scene to represent the detainees were handcuffed. Computers, laptops, journals, diaries, and political pamphlets were seized from people's homes. And all of this occurred against U.S. citizens, without a single act of violence having taken place, and nothing more serious than traffic blockage even alleged by authorities to have been planned.
A
man whose sister was one of those arrested at one of the raided houses
in Minneapolis yesterday emailed me a photograph of her and her friend
who was also arrested -- Monica Bicking (r.) and Eryn Trimme -- and he
wrote this:
They are still in custody. I've been told that the police have 36 hours to charge her, and that 36 hours starts after the labor day holiday, so they only have to charge her sometime Wednesday. It seems unlikely that they'd do anything to expedite her or Eryn's release.Heres is the extraordinary blog item I linked to yesterday from Eileen Clancy, one of the founders of I-Witness Video -- a NYC-based video collective which is in St. Paul to document the policing of the protests around this week's Republican National Convention, just as they did at the 2004 GOP Convention in New York. Clancy wrote this as a plea for help, as the Police surrounded her house and (before they had a search warrant) told everyone inside that they'd be arrested if they exited the home:They were then planning to actually board up her house for unspecified "code violations", but apparently her neighbors were very vocal, and the police ended up agreeing not to do anything so long as the front door was fixed by 6pm (the front door they'd busted in).
This is Eileen Clancy . . . The house where I-Witness Video is staying in St. Paul has been surrounded by police. We have locked all the doors. We have been told that if we leave we will be detained. One of our people who was caught outside is being detained in handcuffs in front of the house. The police say that they are waiting to get a search warrant. More than a dozen police are wielding firearms, including one St. Paul officer with a long gun, which someone told me is an M-16.That sounds like what it was: a cry for help from a hostage. Hours later, the Police finally obtained a search warrant -- for the wrong house, one adjacent to the house where they were being detained -- and nonetheless broke in, pointing guns, forced them to lay on the floor and handcuffed everyone inside (and handcuffed a National Lawyers Guild attorney outside). They searched the house, arrested nobody, and then left.We are suffering a preemptive video arrest. For those that don't know, I-Witness Video was remarkably successful in exposing police misconduct and outright perjury by police during the 2004 RNC. Out of 1800 arrests, at least 400 were overturned based solely on video evidence which contradicted sworn statements which were fabricated by police officers. It seems that the house arrest we are now under and the possible threat of the seizure of our computers and video cameras is a result of the 2004 success.
We are asking the public to contact the office of St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman at 651-266-8510 to stop this house arrest, this gross intimidation by police officers, and the detention of media activists and reporters.
Any rational person planning to protest the GOP Convention would, in light of this Government spying and these police raids, think twice -- at least -- about whether to do so. That is the point of the raids -- to announce to citizens that they best stay in their homes and be good, quiet, meek, compliant people unless they want their homes to be invaded, their property seized, and have rifles pointed at them, too. The fact that this behavior is producing so little outcry only ensures, for obvious reasons, that it will continue in the future. We love our Surveillance State for keeping us safe and maintaining nice, quiet order.
UPDATE: A Professor at the University of Minnesota who lives in the neighborhood where one of the homes was raided yesterday sent photographs he took which rather conclusively demonstrate federal involvement in these raids:
And Feministing has the video -- here -- of the scene yesterday where journalists were detained, along with an interview with the homeowner whose house was raided.
65 Comments so far
Show AllEvil has only one tool - that is the disruption of peace - it is applied in infinite ways but it is always the same tool - JC
Here is what a group called the RNC Welcoming Committee freely admits to planning to do ahead of time:
Tier One: Establish 15-20 blockades, utilizing a diversity of tactics, creating an inner and outer ring around St. Paul’s Excel Center, where the RNC is to take place.
Tier Two: Immobilize the delegates’ transportation infrastructure, including the busses that are to convey them.
Tier Three: Block the five western bridges connecting the Twin Cities.
http://www.nornc.org/156/
The above alone is evidence of conspiracy.
Give it up mouthpiece of corruption,
[ ______ C I V I L ___ D I S O B E D I E N C E ______]
[ ______ I S __ C O N S T I T U T I O N A L L Y _____]
[ _______ P R O T E C T E C T E D , __ A N D ______]
[ _____ A N Y __ C I T I Z E N ' S __ R I G H T ______]
Namaste
Read up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_disobedience
Um, no it isn't. What part of "Disobedience" escapes you? You cannot block traffic and expect protection of the Constitution.
Hardy so, anyone can dissent and chose to act in defiance of ANY unjust ( or even "just" ) law.
I never said that there no consequences to place oneself in the path of oh so likely authoritative abuse.
You asserted that is was legally "conspiratorial", which is propaganda BS, and as far as I know non-violent dissent and disobedience has seldom ( if ever ) been proven to cause riots ( which is the conspiracy HOOK, it has to do with the intent to cause _h.a.r.m_ -- not disruption ).
I suppose for you, confronting the illegal actions of the gov't must be "illegal" -- but it isn't -- and rightly depends upon the proper administration of the process of law ( not appeal to authority ).
Of course there is widespread proof of gov't & police agent provocateurs who do initiate violence, but that is hardly the fault of the protestors -- is it ?
Namaste
"anyone can dissent and chose to act in defiance of ANY unjust ( or even "just" ) law."
Agreed, but they might expect to be arrested as a result.
"I never said that there no consequences to place oneself in the path of oh so likely authoritative abuse."
That is clear now, thank you.
"You asserted that is was legally "conspiratorial", "
It is, to urge people come to St. Paul, cross state lines in many cases, to organixe into a group or groups, and to systematically block traffic for the expressed purpose of disrupting the RNC convention. Conspiracy is exactly what that is.
"which is propaganda BS,"
Disagreed, it's beside the legal point anyway.
" and as far as I know non-violent dissent and disobedience has seldom ( if ever ) been proven to cause riots "
Also a different point.
"I suppose for you, confronting the illegal actions of the gov't must be "illegal" -- but it isn't -- and rightly depends upon the proper administration of the process of law ( not appeal to authority )."
This is a matter of politics. The political for the "patriots" in the American Revolution was quite sketchy. They were clearly in violation of English law at times but that ceased to be a point as events unfolded.
"Of course there is widespread proof of gov't & police agent provocateurs who do initiate violence,"
I am sure it has happened.
SINCE WHEN IS BLOCKING TRAFFIC A FELONY ?
Namaste
"SINCE WHEN IS BLOCKING TRAFFIC A FELONY ?"
I don't know if it's a felony or a misdemeanor. Fine by me if you want to pretend it's perfectly legal, but you are wrong.
I didn't say it was "legal", I said it was protected.
Even what's clearly supposed to be constitutionally protected, is now apparently illegal, depending on some collection of arbitrary decisions of criminals ( and fellow conspirators ) in the administration and Congress. War crimes are still such, even if coached in YOO-shite claptrap, and prosecutions for murder have no time restrictions.
When the Supreme Court gets around to considering real constitutional issues, there will be many new laws required, while many criminals will possibly have gotten away with legal murder and other crimes. Perhaps it can be shown that the entire Congress has been under extreme personal threats and legal duress, which will invalidate "get out of jail stipulations" ?
The disenfranchisement of the American people from the TRUTH is the underLYING cause of this spat of unconstitutionality, and the corpoRape of America ( with major enabling through accomplices in the jacka$$ sewer main stream media ) will not continue for ever.
On that day, the criminals will scatter and the people will cheer, and who will be in FEAR then ?
Namaste
STOP IT!
Stop seperating the healthy voices of
democracy into two camps: worthy
"peaceful protestors," vs. unworthy "other
protestors."
This division is extremely rank hypocrisy!
You cannot be outraged by the thuggish
brutality and oppression of the police
state when it affects your friends, family
and politics(eg: pacifism), but have no
problem when it is equally doled out to
those who agree with smashing windows as
a political and social way forward.
Most sincerely, Dwayne Chandler, US Army.
Hero Amy Goodman of DemocracyNow.org, one of America's
best and bravest journalists was arrested along with
members of her staff outside the Republican Convention
and two of her staff were charged with felony riot charges.
Nearly a hundred POTENTIAL peaceful protesters were
arrested BEFORE the GOP convention.
Perhaps MoveOn.org and/or Common Dreams might conduct
a boycott of Minnesota businesses until after the election?
Let's not forget that lawful groups interested in peace are likely to have been infiltrated not only by spies, as Greenwald has shown, but also by agents provocateur.
Of course, the so-called anarchists who've been accused of violence in Minneapolis may indeed be guilty as charged. But we shouldn't be surprised to later discover that the most ardent supporters of violence in the ranks of the anarchist-protesters turn out to have been undercover agents.
That's how it's done, a time-honored technique practiced by authoritarian regimes around the world, and honed to perfection by the FBI during the Vietnam War in the "MKULTRA" program. (Google it and see for yourselves, from declassified files widely available online.)
And non-dissenting, law-abiding citizens come to believe that dissenters are no-good, quasi-terrorists, for which we should all be thankful that we have such zealous local and federal officials.
Incidentally, I wasn't much impressed with the manner in which dissent was handled at the Democratic convention, either. I seem to recall that protesters there were confined to pens that were nearly a mile from the convention center.
How much better are we than the communist Chinese in our treatment of lawful dissent? Not much better!
GaryA
"Let's not forget that lawful groups interested in peace are likely to have been infiltrated not only by spies, as Greenwald has shown, but also by agents provocateur."
Do a google on "Tommy the traveler". During the Vietnam War he was an agent provocateur paid by "the authorities" that traveled from college campus to college campus in upstate New York urging violence as a protest to the war. I was in my late teens at the time in Geneva, NY, home of Hobart and William Smith Colleges. It was big news in the area after a ROTC building was bombed and/or burned. A time-honored technique indeed. I've seen it up close.
-- EKATON --
Amy Goodman and Two Democracy Now! Producers Unlawfully Arrested at RNC
Democracy Now!. Posted September 1, 2008.
What will America's corporate goons do next? Shoot journalists?
They shoot journalists in Iraq. There is no doubt they certainly WILL be shooting journalists in "the homeland" before long.
-- EKATON --
"To Serve and Protect" their Masters.....
Look at the photo (above) of the goon squad. On the left we have an insecure midget with a little weiner, next we have a guy thinking "why am I here'?, and look at the "stack of shit" with the FBI (Federal Bureau of Idiots) jacket on looking "oh so freakin cool"..... and the rest are wondering when they are going to get their next donut.
fiddlerjones reminded us of an appopros quote earlier on this thread. over 100 years ago, plutocrat jay gould said, "I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half."
......"to infiltrate "vegan groups" and other left-wing activist groups and report back to the Task Force about what they were doing."
uh, speaking as a vegan activist, this is absolutely unacceptable behavior to target people like myself. i hope that this will even more increase dissent amongst all types of "left-wing activists" as they call it. whatever. i guess i had best watch out, eh..?
i'm so sick and tired of gullible american people and the lies they believe from their corrupt government and their corporate stooges. why???
"First, they came for the labor unionists..."
Divide and conquer, babe, divide and conquer.
Walk in peace.
Hey toast, Dasts da fack Jack.
The GOPstapo.
And not just the GOP people got gassed in Denver last week too!
That's hilariously funny to someone who lives in Denver and just saw a Democratic mayor and a Democratic govenor work with the national Democrats to act in a very similar way.
The Democrats raided the local convergence center here. The Democrats attacked the people in a park who were holding a 'festival of democracy'. That park was closed and surrounded by fences and riot police by the end of the week.
But, the Democrats still try to spread this total fiction that this is just a promblem with the GOP.
If you want this to end, voting Democrat is not the answer. Remember that the Democrats have almost uninanimously support the Patriot Act. Remember that the Democrats have supported every expansion of Bush's police power. Remember that Reid and Pelosi just help pass the bill expanding FISA rights and the Obama voted for it.
If you want this to end, voting Democrat is not the answer.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
Here's a quick test. Find public statements from Democratic officials decrying these raids. For bonus points, find public statements from Obama in the last day or two decrying these raids.
waiting ....
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
26 and 3
Nah, I just made that up. Actually I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Got any links?
" The _ G O P s t a p o ."
____ S T O P __ G O P o ____
Namaste
Continuing loss of our civil liberties;
this doesn't surprise me, though it is disgusting in seeing the authorities act in this way.
Look at all the good little NAZI soldiers in blue in that last picture. DISGUSTING Nazis.
Why is it starting to feel like the storyline to "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones"?
And there are so many of them!
More and more everyday.
I get a feeling things are going to get pretty nasty before (if) they get better.
What we are witnessing is the loss of political control by Western corporate capitalism.
The present powers that be are in great fear of public dissent. They know they are about to lose control. That is the reason for increasing powers of the security state and a move to Fascism.
We as a nation are witnessing an emerging social consciousness that recognizes that corporate capitalism is oppressive and that the rights of capital has become the enemy democracy.
Just keep dissenting in unique ways to beat the oppression of corporate capitalism, the higher angels of our nature will ultimately rule. It is the evolutionary destiny of humankind.
It's kind of good that Gustav screwed up the RNC. Otherwise there would have been a lot more arrests and maybe even some deaths. St. Paul 2008 would have looked like Chicago 1968,and MSM would not have been able to cover it up.
Tried to call the # listed in the post. Got an answering machine, left a blistering
message re Gestapo tactics. Feel better already.
MSM cover up?. So why does CD use MSM stories on this website?
Unless, or until, control of the US government is returned
to true Americans who actually put America FIRST, this will
continue and worsen. But, the idea of American patriotism
has been badly damaged by false patriots who pass illegal laws,
trash the US Constitution, support the torture of captives,
and live only on the FEAR that they can instill in YOU.
Good examples are Senators McConnell, Sessions, Conyers, Bond,
and Kyle, and, of course the Smirking Chimp Bush and draft dodger Cheney. Add in Mukasey, Chertoff and Rumsfeld and you have the current disasters that are consuming this nation. Craven coward chickenhawk war mongers all.
You left Obama, Clinton, Reid, Pelosi, Biden and a bunch more names off the list.
---------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
New, Organized labor did organize sections of law enforcement, but it has never worked as a central strategy for reasons that ought to be obvious in the age of Blackwater. The privatized state apparatus can always outbid the public sector a contract with law enforcement and bring in highly paid mercenaries, or in the words of Jay Gould, "I can hire one half of the working class to kill the other half". You allege that this problem is the fault of organized labor, but just for the record, it was the effort of several labor leaders to counter this development with "class conscious" but effectively brutal law enforcement that misled labor organizers like Jimmy Hoffa Sr, who at one time was a very effective leader of over the road trucking organization. If organizing the cops built class consciousness, the battle would have been over long before now. And by the way, no one ever built a police force with "class consciousness" more extensively then Joseph Stalin. The struggle is for an empowered workforce, not just one in command of the gun.
The truth is there is enough blame to go around in terms of what organized labor should or should not have done. I think your assessment of labor's role in this mess is way too dismissive. The larger problem is the power of the monied elite, who govern all education and who rule through a universally propagated notion of scarcity in an age of technical abundance, religious mysticism and artificial need. This ruling elite makes the task of raising class consciousness much harder then any labor movement can remedy in less then generations of battle, and organized labor in this country has never had its own poltiical identity.
Everyday America does not have real clue of how far along the plan is concerning their lockdown.
Do really believe they are anywhere near prepared for this?
If the powers that be even sniff a hint of this.. They will lock it down!
They are already well along on this with “NS PD51,” which begin with “Operation Garden Plot” that came out of the Nixon administration..
Ever since the protests of the 60’s came so very close to bringing about a full scale revolution, and scared the hell out of the powers that be. They decided back then, that would never let it get that far again. That they would cut it off at the knees.
That’s what this is all about. Cutting dissent off at the knees.
The elitist system in their eyes, must be protected and will be protected at all costs..Including your freedoms and mine.
These jackboots don't have clue about the real origin of the orders they follow.
They are mindless..
Norman Mailer, in ARMIES OF THE NIGHT, suggested that in the 1960s the authorities' armed soldiers for this sort of thing were country boys, who were being allowed to turn their resentment of city kids into action. It's a part of this story that there are so many young (mostly) men who are willing to don a blue jacket with initials printed on the back and carry out actions that they must know are the opposite of what their Grade Six Socials teachers taught them that their nation was all about.
(It's all organized labour's fault, for not organizing these cops, and raising their class consciousness, so's they'd stop attacking their fellow working people.)
Guess whenever "liberals" or "lefties" of any sort have any kind of gathering at home, we should put a "Welcome" sign on the door, and leave it open - keep from having to replace it after the Swat Team kicks it in. Guess we should be thankful it's just a boot kicking the door in and not a couple of those big bombs they're dropping on innocent peoples' houses in the Middle East just because someone thinks a "terrorist" might be there.
Or like the one they dropped on the MOVE people in Philly a couple of decades ago.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
If this sort of law enforcement wasn't "fascism" when it was visited upon organizations like the Socialist Workers Party, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, AIM or the Black Panthers, then it isn't "fascism, plain and simple" now. And quite frankly, it's the sort of law enforcement that's been practiced in inner cities and on the reservations for quite some time, whether the recipients of such treatment were in political formation or not. Hell, ask the United Mine Workers what sort of crap has been directed at rank and file organizers What makes it fascism in the eyes of many white middle class people is that the state is evidently entering a period when it will no longer make exception for any form of dissent with the corporate authorities. But for many of us, this is the same old stuff, just a different day. Welcome to Amurrika, you all. It's been like this for a long time, it's just that it was more selective with its targets up until this last few years. And the truth is, many "progressives" were willing to let a lot of this go by until they became the targets. Well, welcome to the real U.S. of A, you all. And guess what? You ain't seen nothin' yet.
When many of we who've been in the militant democratic opposition first heard and saw Barrack Obama mouthing apologia for the imperialist project in the Middle East back in 2004, we knew full well this was the sort of crap that was going to go on behind the scenes as he was moved to the forefront of the American empire by the section of the ruling elite he represents, in this case, Agribusinesses like Archer Davis Midland. It isn't "fascism", plain and simple. What it is is a new form of totalitarian government, tailor fit to the "American" political mood. The new totalitarianism doesn't need classic fascism, not when it can buy off so many of us.
By the way, no one ever said this was going to be easy. If any of you out there have acquaintences who are telling you this bullshit is just going to collapse due to the pressures of the Constitution or any other such magic bullet, keep your distance from such nonsense. This is going to continue to be a long, uphill, bloody climb, made more difficult by the fact that the empire is very likely going to be led by a smiling upper middle class Black prostitute, or, the suede denim secret police, as Jello Biafra once called the coming mess. Strength to your inner resolve, your sense of history, and your sword arm.---M. Hureaux
I've was around at the time of the raids on the Black Panthers and other dissenters. Hardly a sentence was spoken without using the term "fascism".
Nevertheless, I do agree with you about the unique character of this particular fascism. Bremer in his corporate uniform and combat boots is a nice little illustration.
We are speaking of classes here despite the difficulty of many citizens getting to that conclusion. The ruling class never gives up power willingly. In fact, it will gladly take everyone down with it. This class has consolidated its power and resources and honed its propaganda skills (and empirically learned how to neutralize dissent) in the past few decades. There is a difference from earlier years even beyond the blatant tools of fascism being put into place in the form of "legislation".
The best way to deal with the situation is to decentralize, IMO. Make many different targets that spring up every time one is put down. Look upon ourselves not simply as protecting a "way of life" but as creating a society in all its elements. Such a course of action not only sidesteps the sad black hole of "reform", but is a rational way of dealing with the primary reality that there is no possible way centralized and global corporatism can effectively address the environmental and economic changes that will soon be the most relevant facts in the world.
I've heard it called _ F A S C I S M _ from the gitgo; I guess we run in different circles --
__ So what's the problem with that name ?
__ Is it just because jacka$$ sewer main stream media refuse to use it ?
Namaste
If it was them "illegal" immigrants being busted, that would be ok, but this is an outrage!!!
___________
There's a glory in the morning because the earth turns 'round and a promise in the evening when the sun goes down
Depends on who you are talking about as to whether its Ok.
Last week in Denver, when out in the streets listening to speeches, people knew and were outraged about the town in MS that had been raided and where hundreds were detained.
Of course, from their fancy podiums, the Democrats never said a peep about it.
----------------------------
"To know, and not to do, is not to know"
www.samsonsworld.blogspot.com
It's breathtaking how brazen the authorities have become in their disregard for the Constitution or even basic humanity. Many decry the lack of courage of Americans to stand up against this tyranny, but as this article itself reveals, even the feeblest attempts to protest will be met with overwhelming violence, all nice and legal.
There is another way, not a sacrifice-free one. Instead of directly challenging the power structure, which is utterly futile, attack the beast where it will hurt: its pocketbook.
Here's the sacrifice part: do everything you can to stop giving money to government and corporations. Cancel all unnecessary services, such as cable television, cell phones, everything not absolutely essential. Pay off all debts to terminate the flow of interest payments to corporations. Take a lower paying job to reduce your income taxes. Move to a cheaper locale to reduce your housing costs and property taxes. Trade your expensive car for a cheaper one that gets good gas mileage to reduce your automobile and gasoline taxes. Do everything you can to reduce the amount of money you give to the government and corporations. That's nice and legal and involves no physical or political risk.
Another thing you can do is NOT vote. If nobody voted, the system would no longer be seen as legitimate. People will howl that they will be wasting their vote that way. Do you think your vote matters anyway? Does it matter if figurehead #1 or figurehead #2 gets elected? If enough people did not vote that would send a far louder signal than voting for one of the establishment choices.
If enough people turned their backs on the present system and looked for and worked toward an alternative system, the present one would die from attrition and economic starvation.
Such an approach definitely involves sacrifice, but it's sacrifice that can produce meaningful change instead of bashed in heads. I doubt that my idea will find much support here, but that's my prescription. (And by the way, I have done all the things I advise, and feel happier than I have in years.)
Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/
Ok - done my part.
"Here's the sacrifice part: do everything you can to stop giving money to government and corporations. Cancel all unnecessary services, such as cable television, cell phones, everything not absolutely essential. Pay off all debts to terminate the flow of interest payments to corporations. Take a lower paying job to reduce your income taxes."
Check - I have 'opted out' years ago. Quit working, ride a bicycle and pay only state sales tax. I get by on the generosity of others. The taxes they pay I have no control over.
"Another thing you can do is NOT vote. If nobody voted, the system would no longer be seen as legitimate."
Here's another that would require mass participation (and sacrifice of some). When arrested, never settle for a plea bargain. If EVERYONE demanded a "fair and speedy trial" the courts would soon be so overwhelmed that the speedy part cannot be accomplished. Not to mention the additional costs of a jury trial.
Maybe the PATRIOT Act has erased this option - I don't know. But I do know, as is, the judicial system utterly depends on plea bargains.
I totally agree about refusing to plea bargain. Some 90% of cases end in a guilty plea because the prosecutors pile on bogus charges, so that the defendant is looking at 100 years if convicted. Of course, given that prosecutors engage in misconduct and dirty tricks all the time and the judges go along with it, a defendant faces a good chance of getting convicted even if innocent. Nevertheless, I agree that we should always demand a jury trial.
Dave
http://daveeriqat.wordpress.com/
It's not always the extra charges, but lesser time for the original charge. And that is very appealing. Trust me, I've been there.
Plea bargain = slap on the wrist
Jury trial = get your ass kicked
There is the problem with getting this type of movement off the ground. I'd be the first if I knew there would be a following.
When you are called for jury duty, and the trial is over some stupid charge like possession of a quarter ounce of any "substance" simply hang the jury and vote not guilty in spite of even overwhelming evidence. There are lots of bogus charges and you'll know them when you see them. If you can get the whole jury to go along with you and find the obviously guilty perpetrator not guilty its called jury nullification, which is the jury's refusal to convict for an obviously bullshit law. I'm not talking about rape and murder trials, but such things as speeding tickets, loitering, etc. You'll know them when you see them. It'll really piss off a lot of judges and prosecutors but so what. Most of them are corrupt anyway. Monkeywrench the system in creative and LEGAL ways.
-- EKATON --
Awesome idea!!
Good post. Just added you to my BLOGS folder in favorites.
-- EKATON --
I'm speechless
Why are you shocked? This has been going on for YEARS! Chicago 1968 the cops SMASHED the heads of demonstrators. At Seattle in 1999 the cops tear gassed the ENTIRE city to protect the globalist WTO elite. During the anti FTAA protests in Miami the cops housed hundreds in filthy pens in a parking garage. When I was in Humboldt county in 2004 protesting to save the Redwoods activists would be extracted at 200 feet in the air risking their lives which had been going on for a decade yes including under C(lie)inton, etc, etc. Under BOTH Repigs and Dims get it straight and clear.
I may vote for Obama because Palin is a straight up lunatic but it's with no illusion that the beatings for oil and the corporate global elite won't continue under Obama they will contiue and every bit as brutal, just look at what happened at this years DNC!
C'mon. I doubt we're getting the full picture here.
Obviously, Osama bin Laden has been flitting from home to home in the St. Paul area, hiding out with various sympathizers (especially the vegans and nuns!). The wiretaps and surveillance were put in place only to ferret out these extremist foreign threats, right?
I'm betting the feds and local constabularies are closing in and we can expect the announcement about his capture at any moment.
There's even several verified reports of
__ woman with towels on their heads,
__ wrapped around their wet hair
Namaste
I think OBL is working on his press release. Our way of life has changed and we have given up our freedoms. Isn't about time for OBL to announce "mission accomplished?"
ANOTHER SIMILAR RAID IN BERKELEY THIS WEEK:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2008/08/27/18530407.php
UCPD and Feds Raid Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley
Wed Aug 27 2008 (Updated 08/29/08) UCPD And Feds Ransack Berkeley Activist Community Center
On August 27th at around 10:30am, 5-6 police officers from three agencies made their way into the Long Haul Infoshop in Berkeley, broke down every door, and confiscated all computers on the property. Computers taken included those used by the Slingshot Collective and East Bay Prisoner Support. Police also broke into cabinets, cut locks, and went through mail.
People arrived after being informed of the situation, and demanded that the police show a warrant. The police said they would show one once they were done, and they did. Both CopWatch and The Berkeley Daily Planet were there to cover the incident. The raid was conducted by the UC Berkeley Police, Alameda County Sheriff, and the FBI. The police stated that the computer equipment "may have been used to commit a felony." This is the first time there has been a raid since the infoshop opened 15 years ago.
Its a shame how truly gutless the American people have become....when England treated your people like this , your forefathers rose up and had a revolution about it....now this ingnorant, diluted generation prefer to just sit on their fat pathetic asses , stuffing themselves with double cheesburgers, and ignore it...prefering to watch American Idol and pretend they still live in a free democracy. How Sad.
"The only means of strengthening one's intellect is to make up one's mind about nothing, to let the mind be a thoroughfare for all thoughts." - John Keats
The police raids are sweeping up 'suspected' protesters, Roman Catholic nuns, independent media and children.
The police smash their way in, or just abduct the people off the street.
When a crowd gathers to protest what the police are doing, witnessing the police state tactics, the police release the detainees without charge. Or apology.
It's called Fascism, people. Plain and simple.
Walk in peace.
Exactly -- FASCISM. Anyone is a fool who thinks we are still a democracy.
Although, as has been said, Fascism has been alive in this country for a very long time to certain groups of people. Even before all this, a neighbor or anyone who doesn't like you could always call Animal Control and say they suspect you have more than the allowed number of pets in your home -- 4 instead of 3, for instance. With no justification or proof, Animal Control would show up at your door. Once you've opened the door to answer it, they can come in AND THEY DO. They stick their boot in the door and rummage through your home looking under beds and going in each room. ALL WITHOUT A SEARCH WARRANT. This has been going on for DECADES! Fascism has been alive in this country -- and because we let it happen before, it has grown like a virus unchecked. Now we are a very very sick country. It won't be easy to get rid of the virus, but I believe we will. WE WILL. WE HAVE TO. There's no choice.
The agents of Freedom Bashers, Inc (FBI), take direction from CheneyOilCo like they were bred for the job.
http://www.knoph.com/pics/war criminal1.jpg
What American Citizen will ever trust the Fascist Bastards Incorporated again?
How many generations will it take to undo this Police State and restore trust?