Posted on 07/19/2002 9:02:52 AM PDT by eshu
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Welcome to the War on Terrorism, Comrade
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You wanted our government to strike back at the terrorists by bombing Afghanistan, right? You cheered when President Bush stood tall and said, "Let's roll!" And you applauded when he said he will root out the evil-doers everywhere in the world. And when innocent Afghans were killed, you said there's bound to be "collateral damage" in a war. When the Feds took over the airports and created enormous inconveniences for passengers, you pointed out that we all must sacrifice for the greater good. When it was revealed that the military were keeping prisoners in secret, and that people might be tried in secret and even executed you pointed out that these things are necessary in wartime. After all, the Bill of Rights shouldn't apply to terrorists, right? The Inevitable Next StepNow the federal government has taken the next logical step the one that proceeds inexorably from all that it has done up to now. The government's Citizen Corps program has set up Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information & Prevention System). At its website, complete with a smiling picture of Big Brother, you can read:Operation TIPS will be a national system for reporting suspicious, and potentially terrorist-related activity. The program will involve the millions of American workers who, in the daily course of their work, are in a unique position to see potentially unusual or suspicious activity in public places.
It's about time, right? We've been pussy-footing around with these terrorists for too long, right? So far the Feds have recruited over a million people to snoop for them cable TV installers and repairmen, telephone servicemen, trash men, and other people who might be around your home during the course of their work. While doing their normal jobs, they'll look for anything suspicious in your home and they'll report to the government anything they think is strange. So anyone coming into your home might be a Federal snoop. Even that neighbor who doesn't like you may be a government informant. But so what? You have nothing to hide, right? When the cable TV man comes to your house and sees those strange books on your shelf, or the catalog from a gun maker in the trash (a catalog you didn't ask for, but was sent to you because your name was bought from someone you deal with), or the unusual amount of electronic equipment you have, he has the opportunity to be a hero and report you to the secret police. He might even get a Gold Star. Or make that a Red Star. But so what? Even if secret agents come to question you, you're innocent, right? You have nothing to hide. You can tell the secret police they've got the wrong man. You can explain later to the neighbors that those policemen and strange-looking agents were at your home by mistake, right? Incarceration for the Greater GoodOf course, the thought police might not accept your explanations. And they probably won't let you call an attorney. But you don't need an attorney if you're innocent, right? And even if they arrested you when you were by yourself and your family doesn't know where you are, your spouse and children won't worry unnecessarily about you. After all, they know you can take care of yourself, right? And it's true that the anti-terrorism experts need to make a lot of arrests, in order to show they're doing something and to justify expanding their budgets. After all, they are government bureaucrats just like the ones who are wiping out drugs, poverty, and illiteracy. But they're doing important work and so you shouldn't complain if you're inconvenienced, right? They may even torture you to get information you don't have. But, hey, it's better to torture ten innocent people than to let one guilty person conceal the plans for the next terrorist attack, right? The America That WasWhen we had a Bill of Rights in America, it assured you of a right to have an attorney present, a right to confront your accusers, a right to know the charge against you, a right to reasonable bail, a right to a public and speedy trial before a jury of your peers. But that was before America was attacked in an unprovoked and vicious act. And so now we must all be willing to sacrifice and accept whatever the government thinks best. You said that yourself, right? And the TIPS program may give you the honor to be one of the first Americans to sacrifice. Since you may be detained in secret, because you might not be allowed to see an attorney, because you might not have a public trial, and because you'll be dealing with human beings who are far from perfect, it's even possible that you could be tried and executed in secret. But so what? Your death will just be part of the collateral damage that's a necessary element in this important War on Terrorism. And you will die happy knowing your government stood tall and showed the terrorists they couldn't get away with the 9-11 attack. Right? |
Previous articles by Harry Browne on Antiwar.com
Let's Just Scrap the Bill of Rights National Defense and National Offense There's A Better Target Than Iraq A Solution for the Middle East Who's Really Winning This War? What Has Victory Acheived? Secret Trials Endanger Security Brute Force Doesn't Solve Conflicts Who Gave Your Rights Away? I Love America. Do You? Isn't It Time for the Truth? Preventing Future Terrorism Do We Choose Death or Peace? What Can We Do About Terrorism? The Overlooked Flaw in Retaliation Harry Browne is the Director of Public Policy at the American Liberty Foundation. You can read more of his articles on his website, and his books are available at HBBooks.com. |
Ron Paul is no better.
Good point! Ron Paul has had his day in the sun, trying to convince people that the Constitution is still relevant, but this is a new era, we needn't be bound by the hidebound strictures of the past!
All of those fuddy-duddies constutuionalist fanatics who can't "get with it" and realize that the 1st, 2nd, 4th & 6th amendments are irrelevant to today's modern world really should either come over to our side or else gracefully go out to pasture and let us get on with the business of ruling the people.
Let's Roll!
The problem is not that the feds waste lots of time investigating and locking up innocent nonentities who have an Islamofascist book or two on the shelf. The problem is that they are so obsessed with going after easy convictions that they don't investigate some really serious terrorism-related citizen tips. There have been some good articles on specific instances in recent months, maybe someone else will have a link.
Shouldn't people on FR have just a wee bit of a problem with this Harry Browne fellow being wildly anti-American? Thank God that most do.
For the unorganized individuals, those toll free numbers still work. And of course it can be done anonymously if you interested in getting even with someone.
Is that a smile on your face, Harry?
Nymphs Finding the Head of Orpheus - John William Waterhouse
Check out the Alien and Sedition Acts. These were passed shortly after the Bill of Rights were ratified and constitute a greater violation of the first amendment than anything going down now.
No country is perfect. But if you won't pay your taxes to a country as fundamentally decent and close to being ruled by law as this one, there is no country you would find good enough to be loyal to. It's a shame that when they catch you for not paying your taxes, you won't get the same treatment as an idiot who sticks up a liquor store. Or who knows, maybe they'll be getting tough on white collar crime?
According to the Governement TIPS website, it is still there.
http://www.citizencorps.gov/tips.html
And of course it can be done anonymously if you interested in getting even with someone.
I have seen a lot of posts on this site where people have made statements about Clinton that could be interpreted as "intimidating," which is of course the new definition of "domestic terrorism," at least according to the PATRIOT USA act.
I probably should report those posters, huh? Anyone who would heap scorn on even an ex-president really is a threat to our national morale and security, after all...
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