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 Germans weren't interested in taking us on.
In order to love our country, our country must first be lovely. Sometimes it is not.I think you've lost perspective.Obviously you're one who has an inablity to separate 'the ideal' from 'reality'.
Anyone like yourself who wants heaven on earth is going to be sorely disapointed.
The most we can offer you on this earth and in this country is an unprecedented and never before tried approach in the history of homo sapiens -
- the rule of law versus the simple edict by a king whose whims could change on a daily or hourly basis.
These laws by which we live are penned by set of representatives elected by the people - and your 'rights' are protected against any one-man's vindictiveness for a crime you might commit as you are tried by jury of your peers.
If *you* can cite a more perfect system for the governship over man - we're all ears, dear ...
The old right is now called 'paleo-conservatism'. Once the terms used to describe a school of thought have been co-opted they're never regained. 'Liberal' once meant the school of thought dedicated to the preservation of personal liberty through the rule of law and by strict personal responsibility. Now it means National Socialism.
Law and order once meant strict adherence to Constitutional bounds for federal legislation, executive action and jurisprudence. Now it means strict enforcement of the most bizarre and niggling laws imaginable, just because those laws are in effect.
Political conservatism once meant preservation of the form of government established within the articles of the Constitution, with strong resistance to amdendments. Now it means FDR socialism, Clay's mercantilist American System and the trappings of the Roman Empire muddled together in a stew.
Forgive the diatribe. I've been thinking too much lately and my temper has mellowed to the point that I don't recognize myself. ;-)
Besides watching "your" "us folks" getting banned?
Okay, next time you're at quarters announced to everyone that what Congress is trying to do is unConstitutional and that everyone needs to stop them.
You can't and you won't. Why? Because the day you joined the navy you voluntarily gave up many personal freedoms that civilians enjoy. And if you exercised your free speech and said something like that you would be in one heck of a world of hurt.
Hell, you even carry a National ID card. You haven't even got the rights many felons do in many states.
You bought into the government line 20 years ago and you're still in.
Spooner was moral. Freeing slaves, even by murder was moral.
You however, are not.
GOOD ONE !!!!! I agree.
All of those are attributes of a patriot, a dispuptor opens his or her mouth and spews forth maniacal ravings with the intent of fomenting a fight that isn't needed nor necessary.
Was it moral when Sherman did it on his famous "march to the sea"? Actually, I don't know whether he and his men could be accused of kidnapping or not; they certainly were guilty of murder and looting, and with the approval of Abraham "with malice toward none, with charity for all" Lincoln.
We both understand how things work ashore and aboard ship. We all have very firm opinions and thoughts, but there are clear reasons why we don't stand out on the fantail and demand to know what that moron Clinton was doing. We do it quietly on the mess deck, in the Chief's mess and in the wardroom.
And even when we're confronted with missions that are going to be crappy and we'd rather be doing somethings else, we close ranks and get the job done. This time, our civilian friends are being challenged to be a part of those ranks.
Fair winds and a following sea.
I actually like alot of this guy's stuff to. This particular article is pure BS though.
I wonder how much of FR these guys read. Do they post or just lurk? I'd be interested to know.
What happened to arator?
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