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We're in the Beginning Stages of a Police State
In a free society, police agencies respond to evidence of planned and actual criminal activity. ... Police officers in a free society keep the peace; they do not investigate citizens and activities unless there is some reason to investigate. ... In a free society, police do not investigate citizens' attitudes toward the central government, only their action. ... Citizen dissent is lawful in a free society and police agencies do not investigate citizens' attitudes toward the criminal justice apparatus. ... Those conditions no longer exist in the United States! . . . The new [FBI] Guidelines now encourage the FBI to snoop around looking for people who might be suspicious, creating files on anyone who catches their fancy. Agents can now investigate people, organizations, websites, chat rooms and forums for any reason or for no reason at all. They can enter your home without a warrant and are not required to inform you that they have invaded your home if you are not present. . . . Scores of U.S. cities are now using surveillance television camera systems to spy on citizens--shades of 1984. With video cameras perched atop buildings and poles, watching whatever American are doing, do you suppose there might be some potential for abuse in such systems? Christian Parenti's, article, "DC's Virtual Panopticon," in the June 3, 2002 issue of The Nation describes how "police in Detroit and DC have used CCTV [closed-circuit television] to stalk personal foes, political opponents and young women." Smile, you're on Kandid Kamera. . . . Under the heading of 'civil disturbance planning', the U.S. military is training troops and police to suppress democratic opposition in America. The master plan, Department of Defense Civil Disturbance Plan 55-2, is code-named, 'Operation Garden Plot'. Originated in 1968, the 'operational plan' has been updated over the last three decades, most recently in 1991, and was activated during the Los Angeles 'riots' of 1992, and more than likely during the recent anti-WTO 'Battle in Seattle.' . . . We know that the beginning stages of a police state exist in the United States when: a leader is brought into power through illegal means ... a national catastrophe is used as the pretext to begin a war and institute extraordinary restrictions on constitutional liberties ... citizen dissent is held to be treasonous ... the constitutional separation of powers is abrogated by a power-mad executive branch which controls or intimidates the other two branches of government . . . The US Patriot Act was enacted by a Congress that had not actually read it. The only thing representatives and senators got was a two or three page compendium from the White House press office. Nobody was actually given the time to read the provisions of the act. The White House intimidated members of Congress into passing the bill by telling them that if they refused to sign it, they'd be labeled as "unpatriotic"--something almost all members of Congress were frightened of at the time. . . . Lieberman, Daschle and Gephardt later wrote a memorandum stating that Congress had effectively given the Bush Administration "near dictatorial powers."

posted by LoZo 9:02 PM