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.
The big difference we'll see between the two parties is that the democrats will embrace the creation of the police state enthusiastically while the republicans embrace it "reluctantly". Both will embrace it, though.
Edd
Please identify the "far right" and your perception of their "abuses."
If a disruptor is someone who believes patriotic loyality to one's nation is more important than my petty political agenda at a time of war, then I am a disruptor.
Loyalty to one's nation and loyalty to a bunch of politicians who in the past have proven themselves to be cowardly, self serving and opportunistic are not the same thing. Such loyalties are not interchangeable. Some of us recognize and understand that. Do you think that some of the most crooked, treacherous creeps on both sides of the aisle have suddenly found virtue in the last couple of weeks? Do you think that the few who are well meaning but incredibly stupid have suddenly received an infusion of intellect and cognitive reasoning capabilities?
Instead of permitting ourselves to be drunk on a cocktail mix of hand-wringing hysteria and testerone, some of us prefer to think, question, and maintain vigilant watch over those people elected and appointed to preserve our system of government - particularly the individual liberties and responsibilities that make our nation unique in all the world.
Why would any TRUE patriot have a problem with that?
Light bulb just went on.....now I fully understand why Horowitz despises Dr. Alan Keyes and wrote so disparingly of him.
And to think, he's the guest speaker on the 'big boat' trip. LOL.
Left and right may be irrelevant in this case.
Leftists like the idea of the police state for social reasons.
Those on the right support it in the name of law and order.
Throw all those campaign contributions in from those who seek to make a profit on the technology involved, and the combination is almost unbeatable.
When are Americans going to hold their government responsible for this mess?
LMAO...Thanks, merc!
Some people just do not understand the danger all of us are in!
Thanks, Jim, from all of us.
You have changed your tune a little, just a few days ago you were advocating wiping out millions upon millions of innocent people with nukes, now you say just the enemies.
BTW, we aren't at war, it's a euphemism. They are making war on us, and our congress has not seen fit to declare war on them, yet. We are engaged in some preliminary preparations and investigations. After we do that, I hope the congress has the balls to declare war on the proper people and eradicate them. I will be disappointed in another "war" without declaration, in violation of the constitution.
Now back to the question, what was your screen name before? Your main purpose in being here is to trash libertarians, not talk about the attack. Cmon, be a man, don't lie and say you never posted here before.
Agreed, Sandy. That goes in my "stolen for future use"* file.
*royalty payments forthcoming</font size>
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