As of October, FBI To Allow Warrantless Investigations

I Don't Believe in Imaginary Property writes "Attorney General Michael Mukasey has agreed to allow Congressional hearings, but not to delay, the implementation of new FBI regulations that would allow them to spy on American citizens who are not suspected of any crime. As an editorial in the New York Times points out, this is a power that has a history of abuse. In times past, it was used to wiretap Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to spy on other civil rights and anti-war protesters." As Dekortage points out, "Several senators have formally complained that citizens could be investigated 'without any basis for suspicion,' which the Justice Department denies."

Comments

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

[jawtheshark]

Fascist America, in 10 easy steps

My history teacher pointed those out in 1997 and he wasn't thinking of the USA back then. I thought: come on, it can't be that easy! However, seeing what happens in the USA, I humbly have to retract that opinion.

1. Invoke a terrifying internal and external enemy: 9/11 Terrorists, enemy combatants and unspoken Islam
2. Create a gulag: Two words... Guantanamo Bay
3. Develop a thug caste: Not yet, I think so at least.
4. Set up an internal surveillance system: See article
5. Harass citizens' groups: Again, see article and peaceful oriented groups have already been infiltrated. Okay, my source is Roger Moore so a grain of salt the size of Canada is needed.
6. Engage in arbitrary detention and release: This goes along with Guantanamo. However, non-fly lists are in those lines....
7. Target key individuals: Is most certainly happening....
8. Control the press: Conglomerates do this... Don't even bother. Real historic dictatorships couldn't do this as well as capitalistic US.
9. Dissent equals treason: If you're not with us, you're against us.... I have to say no more.
10. Suspend the rule of law: Habeas corpus is gone, more laws have followed and more will follow.

Trends shape history

[Brain-Fu]

History is not made by individuals. History is made by trends. Specific individuals who are surfing at the leading edge of a trend may get the spotlight, and hence the credit, but really it was the trend that made the change, not the person.

The net effect of current trends is a lot of corruption in our government, plainly visible to the public, with a large collective yawn in response.

Sitting around shouting that people need to stand up and do something will not, in and of itself, create a trend of people standing up and doing something.

For that we will need something bigger. And more painful.

Re:That sucks D:

[tjstork]

Guns and homemade bombs worked pretty good against an army with tanks, snipers and airplanes in Algeria, Viet Nam, Afghanistan (twice), and in Iraq. So yeah, let's imagine a scenario where the Feds try to impose some sort of dictatorship... you'd have an army of 500,000 active duty soldiers trying to suppress an technologically sophisticated and armed citizenry with 80 million rifles and god knows what sort of homemade contraptions. Good luck. Government by the consent of the governed is a statement of fact, not an ideal.