Imagine that one day in the not to distant future you answer a knock on your door and find that the Police are there to arrest you for a crime that you haven’t committed, but someone has identified you as having the potential to commit that crime some time in the future. Sounds like 1984 Science fiction doesn’t it. But what if it was actually happening right then and there? What would you do? More appropriately, would there be anything you could do? Or are you one of those who loudly state “That could never happen here?”
Would it surprise you to know that this very concept has been seriously proposed in our government both under the Bush administration and now under the Obama hypocrisy? Bush advocated seining the Internet for “thought” that could be considered criminal and formulated a plan to subject those potential criminals to imprisonment to “prevent the thought from becoming reality”. The Obama White House is now contemplating similar action.
HR 1955, the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act” was introduced and actually passed the House, but thank God it never passed the Senate. It was placed into committee and any statement of its death would be premature. It can still be brought back so we must remain vigilant about this Bill. It would have stripped citizens of their rights and specifically targeted the Internet for investigative scrutiny. The Internet part of the plan was to form a Group that would search the Internet for thought patterns that could be construed as a “potential terrorist” violation of HR 1955. A Terrorist could be a “Homegrown” citizen of the United States or anyone in the world and such a violator could be deemed “an enemy of America”, by the President and would be subject to clandestine arrest and placed into a prison indefinitely, with no access to rights such as Habeas Corpus, or even notice to next of kin. They could simply disappear, forever.
Obama in a recent speech called for laws that would allow for “preventative detention”. He said he was working on a means to imprison people for crimes that they might commit sometime in the future, legislation he said that would be a legitimate, legal framework for this imprisonment. This Preventative Imprisonment would be open ended, that is, a person could be imprisoned forever, very similar to what was proposed in HR 1955.
Preventative Imprisonment may be a new concept for most Americans but rest assured it is not the last time we will hear those two words discussed. It seems that President Obama has signed a Presidential Directive to put in place such a plan. What does this mean?
Preventative incarceration as suggested by Obama is a means to prevent the happening of some crime or illegal activity by means of imprisoning a person or persons before they have the opportunity to commit that crime or illegal activity. The upshot is that a person who has not committed a crime but has been identified as dissident may be placed in prison indefinitely to keep him or her from committing some future crime against the State. Please take a pencil and a piece of paper and list everything you can think of that could be construed as “Illegal Activity”. And let yourself add to that list anything that you as President could decree to mean “Illegal Activity”. You now have a list of things that could be used to quell dissent about illegal Government actions. And you have a list of “ thought crimes” that could be used to imprison an innocent person, forever.
But you say “We need protection from our enemies”. And in answer I will refer you to a very popular National Leader who once told his adoring citizens that if they would give him special powers not allowed by their Constitution, he would be able to protect them from the Country’s enemies. So the electorate gave Adolph Hitler what he asked for.
One day the German Citizens woke to discover, they were the enemies of the State as long as they remained free to disagree with its directives and policies. Dissent was no longer an option because to do so would subject them to clandestine arrest and indefinite imprisonment. They could and many did, simply disappear forever. Call it Preventative Imprisonment.
Our hold on our freedoms is as strong as our resolve to keep them. We need to remain vigilant in protecting our Constitution and Rule of Law. We are slowly sliding down a slippery slope to becoming servants of the State. And all the while the State is evolving into an incestuous marriage between Special Interests and Corporatism. We are looking at our descendants living in a Rollerball Society if we don’t reverse this trend. What are you willing to do about it?
5 comments ↓
Hi Cliff,
Excellent analysis. The Patriot Act is very similar to the Enabling Acts of Hitler's Germany and we have continued downhill ever since, gainig speed as we slide on the business and bankster greased slope.
Most people read the Bill of Rghts as getting permission for those rights. If you read them carefully, they PROHIBIT the government from interfering with those rights.
Now that we have allowed the government to shred the Constitution and Bill of Rights, We now have all the rights of a Marine recruit. The right to say, "Sir, yes Sir!" and do what you are told.
Hi Cliff,
Excellent analysis. The Patriot Act is very similar to the Enabling Acts of Hitler's Germany and we have continued downhill ever since, gainig speed as we slide on the business and bankster greased slope.
Most people read the Bill of Rghts as getting permission for those rights. If you read them carefully, they PROHIBIT the government from interfering with those rights.
Now that we have allowed the government to shred the Constitution and Bill of Rights, We now have all the rights of a Marine recruit. The right to say, "Sir, yes Sir!" and do what you are told.
Steve seems that you and I are certainly on the same page. It is hard to imagine that we the people have let this come about. But we have. So now how do we get out of the mess we have allowed to happen.
In a free society, those who would remain free must also remain vigilant for those immoral and unethical people who would seize any opportunity to steal their freedoms from them. The predators are there always waiting.
Don't worry everyone, our next "elected" president will make sure our collective political ghosts are laid to rest for good. After all, one can not risk a former one term president running for re-election. Then again, maybe a solar flare in 2012 will destroy all we know and spare us yet another sham election.
Of course, we could actually begin a real revolt. By revolt I mean voting for someone who's name doesn't end in (D) or (R). When they don't win by electoral vote, well maybe then it will be time make a call for arms. We are not there yet, however I'd buy I a gun and some ammo if I were you. We can not be that far from there. I know some soldiers, they had very little to say when I asked about being required to fight American's on American soil. It was a very different kind of thought for them and for most to even process the thought it seemed very hard. I know that a truly patriotic soldier would have few doubts about saying no way when it comes to hurt a citizen, much less one who believes in the constitution. The deciding factor I think comes from a strong belief in the constitution vs as a presiding political belief.
As a whole, I believe most people in America do see more of the truth than they know. It becomes a question of what they can integrate into to what they already believe. We know we want freedom of choice for the most part, we know we want honest elections, we know we want people across the world to, including ourselves, to be able to express themselves in almost every way. What Honest American could deny such rights to anyone afterall?
It's unfortunate that so many Americans would deny those rights to another person in another country or class for the simple fact that they are in another country or class and somehow those rights do not apply to them. If you have those rights based on supposed human rights it is hypercritical to deny anyone else the same rights. Perhaps if they are human eating aliens it would make sense. Otherwise you are providing the groundwork for your own destruction.
Yet I present a proof that out current system is a phoney; I control exactly zero corporations. My maximum political donations is $1000. Yet for a corporation, your computer wouldn't be able to print their entire maximum donations in a billion years. That's how big they can be.
"Nacht und nebel" rides again!
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