"Respectable" people are, too!!!
"The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act: A Tutorial in Orwellian Newspeak"
"The Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act: A Tutorial in Orwellian Newspeak
By Robert Weitzel
“Political language has to consist largely of euphemisms . . . and sheer cloudy vagueness.”
- George Orwell -
H.R 1955: the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 recently passed by the House—a companion bill is in the Senate—is barely one sentence old before its Orwellian moment:
It begins, “AN ACT - To prevent homegrown terrorism, and for other purposes.”
Those whose pulse did not quicken at “other purposes” have probably not read George Orwell’s essay, “Politics and the English Language,” or they voted for the other George both times.
Orwell’s jeremiad on the corruption of the English language and its corrosive effect on a democracy was written two years before his novel 1984 spelled out in chilling detail the danger of Newspeak, which renders citizens incapable of independent thought by depriving them of the words necessary to form ideas other than those promulgated by the state.
After its opening “tribute” to Orwell, H.R 1955 is strategically peppered with Newspeak regarding the establishment of a National Commission and university-based Centers of Excellence to “examine and report upon the fact and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States” and to make legislative recommendations for combating it.
The “sheer cloudy vagueness” of H.R 1955, as well as its terror factor, may account for its bipartisan 404-6 House vote but how, in an era informed by the Bush-Cheney administration’s egregious assault on the Bill of Rights, can the phrase “other purposes” fail to raise the “National Terror Alert” from its current threat level of “elevated” to “severe.”
Future “other purposes” will undoubtedly be justified by the Act’s use of the term “violent radicalization,” which it defines as “the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence . . .” or by the folksy, Lake Wobegonesque “homegrown terrorism,” defined as “the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born [or] raised . . . within the United States . . . to intimidate or coerce the United States, the civilian population . . . or any segment thereof . . . [italics added].”
In the service of some self-serving “other purposes,” will “extremist beliefs” become any belief the temporary occupants of the White House consider antithetical and threatening to their political agenda?
Will “ideologically based violence” or the use of “force” become little more than the mayhem resulting after a peaceful protest, daring to move beyond the barbed wire of the free speech zone, is attacked by a truncheon-wielding riot squad armed with tear gas, German Shepard dogs and water cannons?
Will the unarmed, constitutionally protected dissenters who are fending off blows or dog bites, or who are striking back in self-defense become “homegrown terrorists” and suffer draconian sentences for their attempt to “intimidate or coerce” the state with free thought and free speech?
A clue to future “other purposes” may lie in the Act’s parentage. The proud House “mother” of the Patriot Act’s evil twin is Rep. Jane Harmon (D-CA), chair of the Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee. Rep. Harmon has admitted to a long and productive relationship with the RAND Corporation, a California based think-tank with close ties to the military-industrial-intelligence complex. RAND’s 2005 study, “Trends in Terrorism,” contains a chapter titled, “Homegrown Terrorist Threats to the United States.”
Keep in mind that the RAND Corporation was set up in 1946 by Army Air Force General Henry “Hap” Arnold as “Project RAND” sponsored by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Keep in mind also that Donald Rumsfeld was its chairman from 1981 to 1986 and Lewis “Scooter” Libby, Dick Cheney’s felonious former chief of staff, and Condoleezza Rice were trustees. Enough said!
RAND maintains that “homegrown terrorism” will not be the result of jihadist sleeper cells. Rather, it will result from anti-globalists and radical environmentalists who “challenge the intrinsic qualities of capitalism, charging that in the insatiable quest for growth and profit, the philosophy is serving to destroy the world’s ecology, indigenous cultures, and individual welfare.”
Further, RAND claims that anti-globalists and radical environmentalists “exist in much the same operational environment as al Qaida” and pose “a clear threat to private-sector corporate interests, especially large multinational business.” Therein lies the real “other purposes.”
Predictably then, H.R. 1955 is not about protecting homegrown Americans. That protection is only incidental to its “other purposes” of protecting homegrown corporate interest and its unconscionable manipulation of the American political process to fill its coffers. Any thought or speech or action— however protected it might be by the Bill of Rights—that threatens corporate hegemony and profit will no doubt suffer the “other purposes” clause of the Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act.
Anyone doubting the Orwellian nature of an Act that equates anti-globalists and environmentalists with al Qaida terrorists will do well to read Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” and to acquaint themselves with the fate of Winston Smith in 1984."
Authors Bio: Robert Weitzel lives in Middleton, WI. His essays appear in The Capital Times in Madison, WI. He has also been published in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Skeptic Magazine, Freethought Today and on the web sites, commondreams.org and smirkingchimp.com."
"It's Even Worse Than We Thought"
"by: OPOL
Fri Nov 30, 2007 at 16:32:32 PST
When I first started blogging at dailykos nearly two years ago, I took a lot of grief (and I mean a lot of grief) for some of my assertions (not that there weren't plenty of others making them), such as:
The US has fallen to a fascist coup.
The American military/political establishment has long been guilty of the most heinous crimes imaginable.
The war in Iraq was always about oil and empire and was planned far in advance of 9/11/2001.
The elections of 2000 and 2004 were stolen.
The so-called 'War on Terrorism' is bogus.
Failure to impeach will ensure the end of our democracy.
The Democrats have sold us out.
Bush and his cronies and everyone who supports them or enables them are all war criminals and traitors.
We are never leaving Iraq.
We are NOT a democracy.
We are not free.
I don't make these assertions so often or so vigorously anymore - I don't have to. They are made daily by virtually everyone in the blogosphere. My 'wild-eyed' hysteria is now common knowledge. Reality has sunk in. In fact, it's far worse than even I imagined.
The Bush Family Gets Away with Crimes That Would Land Anyone Else in JailBy Robert Parry, Consortium News. Posted November 26, 2007.
For decades, the Bush family has operated above the law, using powerful connections to brush aside evidence that would put lesser Americans in the slammer.
Even the slow kids are waking up to the fact that we've been had. (I am NOT implying that Amy Goodman is one of the slow kids - au contraire).
How the Democrats Are Aligning Themselves with Bush's Torture PoliciesAmy Goodman
Who is speaking for the Democrats these days? A retired General accused of authorizing torture and cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment of prisoners in Iraq.
While the mega-hyper-hypocrites who lie to us all about everything and who so shamelessly boast of 'supporting the troops' are actually responsible for the gravest abuses of our service men and women to have occurred at any point in our history.
What they have done to our military is an abomination.
120 War Vets Commit Suicide Each WeekEarlier this year, using the clout that only major broadcast networks seem capable of mustering, CBS News contacted the governments of all 50 states requesting their official records of death by suicide going back 12 years. They heard back from 45 of the 50. From the mountains of gathered information, they sifted out the suicides of those Americans who had served in the armed forces. What they discovered is that in 2005 alone -- and remember, this is just in 45 states -- there were at least 6,256 veteran suicides, 120 every week for a year and an average of 17 every day.
And Now, As If All the Cheap Shot Betrayals Weren't ENOUGH, We Have This Pathetic POS - H.R. 1955
With special thanks to ben masel for sounding the alarm on this.
Thursday, October 25, 2007Declaration of War vs. The People
On October 23, 2007 the U.S. Government declared War on the American People. By a vote of 404 to 6, the U.S. House of Representatives approved HR 1955: The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. This act designates every American who acts -- OR PROMOTES ACTION -- against the U.S. Government to be a TERRORIST. Simply put: If you've ever said that George W. Bush should be hanged as a war criminal, you sir, are a Terrorist.
404 to 6. And they did this while no one was paying attention.
WHY HR 1955 WAS RAMMED THROUGH UNDER COVER OF FIREBy: Devvy
October 29, 2007
© 2007 - NewsWithViews.com"Paper is poverty, .... it is only the ghost of money, and not money itself." -- Thomas Jefferson, 1788
Last week while the horrific fires were burning up Southern California and every major news network, including cable were providing non-stop coverage, a very dangerous bill to liberty and freedom was passed by 404 members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Called the 'Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007', (snip)
Our own government is preparing to wage war on us and it's not even the Repubs leading the charge. This little bit of legislative treason comes to us courtesy of our beloved Democrats.
We can all thank the bill's sponsor, Democrat Jane Harmon [CA-36], and her 14 co-sponsors only four of whom are Repubs.
H.R.1955 Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (Referred to Senate Committee after being Received from House)SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the `Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007'.SEC. 2. PREVENTION OF VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM.
(a) In General- Title VIII of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 (6 U.S.C. 361 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following new subtitle:
`Subtitle J--Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism
`SEC. 899A. DEFINITIONS.`For purposes of this subtitle:
`(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission' means the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism established under section 899C.
`(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.
`(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism' means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
`(4) IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE- The term `ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs.
So who qualifies as a homegrown terrorist? Easy. You and me. Or anyone who dares oppose anything the Reich does.
Concentration camps are next.
Simply put: If you've ever said that George W. Bush should be hanged as a war criminal, you sir, are a Terrorist.
If the Senate passes this bill, a lot of us are going to have a hard way to go, and the transformation of America into a fascist police state will be complete.
See you in Gitmo.
Tags: fascism, (All Tags)"I'm calling the Senate again tomorrow and requesting a fillibuster.
May not do any good, but I'm doing it!
So Alex Jones is correct, and these fascista Globalists are making their move!
I am ashamed to be an AmeriKan these days, readers!
I am so sorry for having failed to stop these madmen, world!
It looks like it may be up to you to save us from ourselves!
Sob!
Well, no matter what happens to us, THEY WILL FAIL!!!!
By the GRACE of GOD, FREE HUMANITY WILL PREVAIL!!
