Posted on 09/24/2001 3:10:00 AM PDT by Ada Coddington
Unfree Republic
by Jeff Elkins
Let the stench of Middle East flesh reach Paradise reassuring them that these filth have gone to hell permanently."
The quote above is representative of many posted on the FreeRepublic.com site in the wake of the WTC attack, and unfortunately its like is not uncommon elsewhere. Americans are angry, predictably and rightly so, but just as predictable are the side effects. As always, that righteous anger will be accepted as a beloved gift by the state and molded into tools of oppression.
It’s funny how that works. Every single state-sponsored war the US has become embroiled in has resulted in an inexorable increase in the power of the state.
It’s also funny that it’s always assumed that human behavior in the past has no relation to how we behave today. Why those people were old-fashioned, we’re modern, educated, etc.
The beginning of this repeating pattern has already become public with the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. It has an ominous sound, that name, almost Germanic. (I can’t wait to see the uniforms.)
On April 13, 1917, days after our entry into World War One, President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to promote the war domestically while publicizing American war aims abroad. Bush has replicated that step, with this new cabinet-level department.
Under the leadership of journalistic muckraker George Creel, the CPI was a propaganda apparatus unparalleled at that point in world history. The CPI functioned as a de facto public censor, vetting nearly all published material about the war and helping to draft legislation such as the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. In the months prior to our entry into the war and especially after our entry when they were nearly criminal, antiwar viewpoints were rarely heard.
The same pattern emerges now: Penn. Gov. Tom Ridge will be President Bush’s George Creel, and just as in those dim days of yesteryear, he’ll have plenty of willing civilian accomplices. And after all, there’s so much more to censor -- Ridge will need all the help he can get. In seeking warriors for the front line of Internet censorship, Ridge needs look no farther than FreeRepublic.com. The atmosphere there is now poisonous.
Again, look back to Wilson's CPI. It encouraged businesses to spy on their employees, parents to spy on their children, children to spy on their parents, neighbors to spy on neighbors, and above all to report "disloyal," pro-German sentiments. State authorities banned the teaching of German in schools and changed German street names. As the madness mounted, those regarded as pro-German were hounded from their jobs, pressured to change their German names, beaten, and in a few cases lynched. Almost all cases of violence, while incited by the state, were carried out by "civilians" in the grip of war hysteria.
Along with this anti-German hysteria, Congress passed several measures designed to rigidly suppress criticism of the war. In particular, the Espionage Act, passed in June 1917, specified a fine of $10,000 or twenty years in prison for "whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, and whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag."
The Espionage Act was very popular in its day. It was cheered on by mindless lemmings under the influence of state propaganda. Their great grandchildren now inhabit FreeRepublic.com, viciously attacking anyone who questions the wisdom of the state.
Our Congress is considering similar measures under the rubric of "anti-terrorism," and as it was at the beginning of the 20th Century, the FreeRepublic lemmings of the 21st are cheering the morally corrupt politicians along.
It’s not just message posters on the site. The management of FreeRepublic has instituted a "loose lips sink ships" campaign, with new moderators patrolling the forum to delete posts that in their opinion are detrimental to the "war effort."
The FreeRepublic mission statement claims "We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America."
Sanctimonious hogwash. Everything old is new again – the keyboard warriors of FreeRepublic would be right at home in 1917 shilling for Wilson.
September 24, 2001
Jeff Elkins is a freelance consultant and writer living in North Central Florida. His personal website is located at www.elkins.org.
Now if I can figure out how you did that...
Let me try it: Link to Jane's Report on Osama and the Qaeda
You totally missed his point, what happens when the next Bill Clinton takes over?
Ahhh! A breath of reason as last..........
Are there other unidentified players in this drama?
Fact: We got into WWI when German torpedo sunk Lusitania which was carrying munitions to Britain along with 1200 passengers. Germans took out ads in American newspapers warning us not to board this ship. Brits allowed these Americans to be sacrificed to get us in the war.
Result: More government control and one world League of Nations.
Fact: We got into WWII when we embargoed Japan's oil imports(act of war) and left our fleet as sitting ducks for the Japs to attack in Pearl Harbor. Common knowledge that FDR wanted us in the war and was willing to sacrifice these sailors for his Socialist New World order.
Result: the United Nations and half of the world turned over to commies in Europe and Asia.
My shallow thinking American friends need to rethink knee jerk reactions to government propaganda ie. Hugh Hewitt and his Neo Conservative cadre
The same majority who support socialistic policies and abortion? No Thanks
Note: By "100% or nothing" I'm referring to the attitude of those who take the position that, "you either agree with me totally or you're the enemy." With that kind of attitude, it's no wonder that the libs outflank us.
Define us. Define them.
Now, are you going to froth at the mouth and call me traitor or other such nonsense?
Of course it was the oil.
But the play acting, pragmatism, or expediency, whatever we wish to call it has exacted a horrible price.
High enough(?) now to abandon it?
Just like sinkspur to falsely accuse someone of advocating child pornography. This is taking it way out of the realm of reasonable discourse. That post should be pulled.
Sinkspur is plainly a liar.
Considering joining the Constitutional Party at this point of the game though.
Interesting, yes.
In touch with reality? Hardly.
Unless, like Rivero, you thought JFK Jr.'s plane was brought down by a bomb under the wing.
Or, like Demidog, you advocate that America ought to be made safe for child pornographers.
Congress and the Senate?
Did the Senate Secede?
Seriously, this will never happen for the simple reason that if an official Declaration of War is made, a good chunk of our Congress would be prosecutable for Treason and Sedition.
While I would love to see that, they may be ignorant, but they're not stupid.
They would vote themselves into a corner?
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