As a follow up to my speech delivered Friday, I 'd like to further discuss my interpretation of the Violent Radicalization Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act, S.B. 1959, currently in the Senate.
The act itself doesn't state any provision to arrest anyone, but it creates the framework that will not only allow such behavior, it will facilitate it. From that viewpoint, the dangers are many. First of all, it is unacceptably ambiguous and adds unchecked power to the government. Secondly, it is targeted toward groups and individuals who are simply, "prone to violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence", not necessarily those who have such a history. Thirdly, it is the same tactic the Nazis used to exploit the rule of law against the people of Germany.
The bill is exceptionally vague in scope aside from its establishment of a "Commission" and a "Center" of intellectual experts of sorts. The Commission is to be composed of members (political appointees) appointed by various government officials who will serve for the life of the Commission. Life membership means permanent power which promotes abuses, unlike temporary power which usually incorporates some measure of accountability and fosters balance in political ideology. The bill includes no means of checking the power of the commission or grounds for any punitive actions against any member(s) of the commission. Essentially, the Commission is solely responsible for the work of the Commission and it answers to no one--the Commission is above the law.
Additionally, there is no specification or definition of violence. Does it refer to individual acts of violence, such as assault, or social acts of violence such as a subway bombing, or an institutional form of violence such as an after-hours facility bombing at an arms manufacturing plant. Therefore, anyone who is accosted by a policeman during a civil disobedience who tries to shield his face from baton blows could be considered to be a potentially violent, radical person. Or, another example, anyone who attempts to forcibly cross a police line, as members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and other protesters did in D.C. on September 15, would be considered a radicalized person or a homegrown terrorist.
This bill shows an obvious misunderstanding of the true nature of terrorism. Terrorism is more a reaction to exploitation or oppression and less a foundational agenda as we've been led to believe. Terrorism is the last act of those wishing to influence governments, or undo oppression or suffering imposed by any particular government, governmental agency, or by any private agency in the knowledge of a government that refuses to resolve the grievances of the people. Therefore, by establishing a government agency to "prevent" domestic terrorism that focuses its attention on the population instead of the government itself, they are opening the door to domestic tyranny and outlawing any resistance thereto. Simply put, anyone who believes in the philosophy of the Declaration of Independence and the true intent of the 2nd Amendment in the Bill of Rights would be considered by this Commission as violent radicals--potential terrorists or those, "prone to ideologically based violence." Under this legislation, it would be a valid argument that based on the history of the United States Revolution, any person who favorably regards the ideal of freedom won by the hands, and blood, of the people can potentially be considered a threat to the government--a terrorist. Any peaceful organization that subscribes to the same political agenda, without subscribing to the same tactics, as a violent organization would be put in the same category and considered as a terrorist organization.
Creating new laws that add power to government and target the population, establish forms of justice/government outside the realm of the traditional legal system, and promote action to "prevent" crimes or acts of violence is an act of tyranny as all these are tactics of oppression that facilitate the transition from a Republic to a Fascist Dictatorship. Any action taken against an individual or organization to prevent a potential crime is a violation of civil liberties and is against the Constitution. According to the rule of law established by the Constitution, we are innocent until proven guilty of actually committing a crime. Until a crime is committed, there is no justification for legal action. This bill reverses that completely--allowing someone to be considered a criminal or terrorist without any such crime or act of terror actually being committed.
The Nazis used the legal system to subjugate the German population. Every new legislation was worded in such a way that it would be accepted by the people. Then, once put into affect, the end result was not as the people had expected or understood it would be. Still, there was no particular law that created the oppression--it was the comprehensive series of laws, passed in progression, that ultimately gave Hitler total power. The same tactic is being used here. This is exactly what Franklin, Jefferson, and Madison warned us about. It is exactly what numerous great minds throughout history have warned us about.
"What happened was the gradual habituation of the people, little by little, to be governed by surprise, to receiving decisions deliberated in secret; to believe that the situation was so complicated that the government had to act on information which the people could not understand, or so dangerous that, even if people could understand it, it could not be released because of national security. The crises and reforms (real reforms too) so occupied the people that they did not see the slow motion underneath, of the whole process of government growing remoter and remoter. To live in the process is absolutely not to notice it - please try to believe me - unless one has a much greater degree of political awareness, acuity, than most of us ever had occasion to develop. Each step was so small, so inconsequential, so well explained or, on occasion, 'regretted'. Believe me this is true. Each act, each occasion is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for one shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join you in resisting somehow. Suddenly it all comes down, all at once. You see what you are, what you have done, or, more accurately, what you haven't done (for that was all that was required of most of us: that we did nothing) . . . You remember everything now, and your heart breaks. Too late. You are compromised beyond repair." ~From "They Thought They Were Free: The German People from 1935-1945" by Milton Mayer.
Doublespeak and self-subjugation is the name of the game. In order to feel safe, the people ask or allow the government to limit their liberty--to put them in shackles. Germany did not become a Dictatorship overnight. It was a long and gradual transition. The Bush administration has been working on this transition for seven years now. The groundwork had already been laid long before that. Remember, the egalitarians in the United States supported Hitler. They wanted FDR to follow suit here. They later asked the then Secretary of Defense, former Marine Corps General Smedley Butler to lead a military coup against FDR. Is there any wonder why Ike warned us about the Military-Industrial Complex?? The Neo-Conservatives are nothing new, they're simply old-school feudalists seeking to reestablish the old power structure of the few ruling the masses in perpetuity.
This bill puts all the focus on people, on the population. Anyone who would attempt to suggest to the Commission that the acts of government are responsible for radicalizing anyone into an act of terror would surely be seen as a radical himself, for the sake of protecting the power of the commission. Government cannot effectively oversee government anymore, especially when all politicians are bought and paid for by private corporations who profit from war and oppression. This bill creates the framework for additional steps towards total tyranny. Just remember, most people are inherently peaceful until they are fucked with. Then they will eventually defend themselves. Under this bill, no one has the right to defend themselves! That is the definition of oppression and tyranny.
That is my critical analysis of this bill and why, as a patriot, sworn to defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic, I am profoundly against this bill. Please contact your Senator and voice your own opposition to this bill. Thanks for reading.
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