Free Speech And Homeland Security

Recently, the Department of Homeland Security issued a booklet on extremist/subversive groups within the country, and found itself apologizing for including radical, right-wing, conservative groups like anti-choice protesters and white supremacists. After the last two shootings by a couple of christian, right-wing radicals (religious extremists), Rachael Maddow, Keith Olbermann and others on the left, have been throwing around the term "home grown terrorist" very loosely.

What ever happened to crazy, or criminal?

We tread a slippery slope indeed, when we start calling one group, or another, 'terrorists'. This terminology is precisely what has given us Patriot Act I and Patriot Act II, FISA, and a host of MASSIVE bureaucracies like the Department of Homeland Security, (Hi, boys). And it is the very reason we have witnessed the shredding of the Bill of Rights, The U.S. Constitution, the Geneva Convention and a myriad of other treaties and civil and labor rights abuses and assassinations. We have seen the end of print media, and the conglomeration of news outlets like Wall Mart, I mean FOX. And now we have MSNBC calling out FOX for being terrorist inciters and sympathisers. Unfortunately, I listen to Rush and Hannity, as well as Schultz and Stephie, and they are all in the tank. Seems like they all drank the Orwellian Kool Aid.

The conversation should never stray from the atrocities being committed in our name, with our money, by our brave and desperate and naive infantry. Seems like we are all a little too head shy from the 60's protests; a little ashamed of how we treated the soldiers when they came home, to say what we all know to be true:

You do not kill for an idea. A concept. A belief. A fear. Even the grunts figure that out after a couple of tours. It is not who we are. It is not Human. War is in- Human.

The way I see it, the biggest obstacle to having a complete police state is the progressive movement. But the so-called left is calling out the Department of Homeland Security for removing these extremist groups from the "terror watch list". Now that they have to answer for that, how easy is it for DHS to justify putting anyone on that list? (I seem to remember, not that long ago, certain voter groups and non-profit groups - labelled as subversive - in Maryland, were being targeted by the DHS.)

And isn't that really the point? Once the Department of Homeland Security responds to these pressures, it's very existence is accepted as a given.

I protest.

The only reason we have the DHS is because of September 11th. And if September 11th was...

Let us not forget;

-warrantless wiretapping,
-unlawful search and seizures,
-torture of non-violent (and known to be innocent) suspects,
-suspension of habeas corpus,
-viper squads in our airports, train stations and subways, and
-fully stocked FEMA camps, nationwide

How about

-a robot war in three countries
-indiscriminate bombing of civilians
-putting out "hits" on political opponents,
-using assassination squads all over the world
-hiring over 250,000 mercenaries (Hessians)

Where is the Fourth Estate? What happened to our democracy? Our republic?

Let us not forget these blatant abuses of our civil liberties. Let us prosecute, to the full extent of American Law, all sociopaths that violate our shared concept of Humanity. And let us not get swept up, once again, into surrendering our fought for freedoms, for "security" sake.

Lest we wake up neither free, nor secure.