A Police State in America

[Doctor Dre]

A Police State in America
Read it...some has to


Just sitting next to a friend who expresses an anti-Bush opinion can get you into big Secret Service trouble in George W. Bush?s United States.
By Frederick Sweet

Recently on Michael Feldman?s National Public Radio show ?Whaddya Know?? a high school junior told the audience how he and his friend had recently been stopped on a city bus by the Secret Service.

The two high school students had obtained tickets from an insurance company to attend a pro-Bush campaign rally. Evidently, before the students could get off the bus, the Secret Service already knew who they were and that they had worked for John Kerry?s campaign. That was enough for the students to be labeled ?national security risks.? Unless they turned around and went home, they would be arrested, warned the Secret Service agents.

Carrying out President George W. Bush?s violation of American citizens? civil rights is something of a cottage industry for the Secret Service, abbreviated SS.

These unfortunate initials recall Nazi Germany?s defensive security organization, der Schutzstaffein, abbreviated SS. Adolf Hitler?s Waffen SS units became the backbone of the ruling Nazi party?s private military force. Hitler put them in charge of suppressing his regime?s opponents within Germany (and eventually abroad). Now the American SS is running Bush?s police state.

?Police state?? Think I?m exaggerating? Is it too harsh .... too off the wall ... to suggest that America is becoming a police state like Nazi Germany? Think again. The Bush process had its beginnings long before the 2004 election campaigns began. Moreover, creation of a police state is a gradual process [see footnote].

Bush?s First Year

Fully ten days before the 9/11 terrorist attacks on New York City and Washington DC, the Houston Chronicle had already run its chilling story under the banner headline, ?Danger Zone: Justice Department Looking More Like Secret Police.? The Chronicle expressed its outrage over John Ashhahahahaha?s attacks on two journalists, Vanessa Leggett and John Solomon.

?The Justice Department must immediately stop its attempts at threatening and intimidating journalists and writers,? said Ray Marcano, president of the Society of Professional Journalists and managing editor of the Dayton (Ohio) Daily News. ?Someone at Justice needs to be held accountable for these outrageous acts.?

The Chronicle wrote: ?What?s going on here? Why the reluctance on the part of the government to at least explain itself? Targeting journalists for simply doing their jobs. These secret police tactics are more appropriate for some Third World, fascist regime.?

Police states do not happen overnight. John Ashhahahahaha had already established the groundwork for Bush?s police state before the ?war on terrorism? provided him and his regime with a credible pretext. Since then, consolidating and reorganizing all of the government intelligence and police agencies under the Office of Homeland Security was proposed by the Bush administration. The Republican Congress quickly approved and funded the proposal, and the Bush administration implemented it.

Totalitarianism: ? ... imposing a form of government in which the political authority exercises absolute and centralized control over all aspects of life, the individual is subordinated to the state, and opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed [emphasis added].? -- The American Heritage Dictionary

Bush Years Three and Four

As the November presidential election approaches, Bush?s police state tactics for silencing dissent and eliminating opposition has been accelerated. Of the hundreds of examples--thousands if the suppression of dissent in New York City during last month?s Republican National Convention is counted--here are a few recent examples of ?opposing political and cultural expression [being] suppressed?:

(A short list of recent Secret Service actions against peaceful dissenters is posted at http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/dream...shbashers.html)

? September 23, 2003

The American Civil Liberties Union charged, in the first nationwide lawsuit of its kind, that at events attended by Bush and other senior federal officials around the country, the Secret Service has been discriminating against protesters in violation of their free speech rights.

According to the ACLU lawsuit, local police, acting at the direction of the Secret Service, violated the rights of protesters in two ways. People expressing views critical of the government were moved further away from public officials, while those with pro-Bush views were allowed to remain closer. Those clearly expressing anti-Bush views were herded into a ?protest zone,? while those who merely observed, but did not express a view, were allowed to remain closer.

The ACLU emphasized that security is not at issue because anyone wishing to harm officials would simply carry a sign with a supportive message or no sign at all. ?The individuals we are talking about didn?t pose a security threat; they posed a political threat,? the ACLU?s Witold Walczak said.

When last year Bush came to Neville Island, PA, protesters were herded behind a chain-link fence in a remote area out of sight of the press corps and the President, while supporters were allowed to line the motorcade route. One man, who refused to be corralled, was arrested.

?There is nothing more American than raising your voice in protest, and there is nothing more un-American than a government that attempts to hit the mute button when it doesn?t like what it hears,? said Witold Walczak, Legal Director of the ACLU of Greater Pittsburgh and a member of the national ACLU legal team that filed the September 23 lawsuit.

The ACLU said it had seen a significant spike in such incidents under the Bush Administration, prompting it to charge officials with a ?pattern and practice? of discrimination against those who disagree with government policies.

Totalitarianism: ? ... opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed.?

? May 11, 2004

The Associated Press and the Hattiesburg American filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Marshals Service over an incident in April in which a federal marshal erased reporters? recordings of a speech Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia gave to high school students.

? August 29, 2004

The Secret Service barred private citizens who had already gotten tickets from attending a Republican campaign event. This had been the third such incident in West Virginia alone. Students Jeff Rogers and Jessica Williams, both of Wheeling, WV, got tickets for the Bush rally from a friend. But when they got to the ticket table, a Secret Service agent accused Rogers of working for Kerry?s advance team, which Rogers denied. However, he had interned with the Ohio County Democratic Party. Ms. Williams was undecided. The two thought they would compare Bush?s speech with what they?d heard from Kerry on his July 31 visit to the city. Mr. Rogers was quoted: ?I was just there to listen ... and get a perspective of what he [Bush] thinks about the issues. Neither one of us was going to cause any disturbance. We were just going to respectfully listen and, afterward, process through what we agreed with and disagreed with.? He added, ?They said, ?We?re not going to let you in. Nice try, though.??

Totalitarianism: ? ... opposing political and cultural expression is suppressed.?


___________________________
Footnote: On July 31, 1932, Hitler?s Nazi party won 230 out of 608 seats in the Reichstag, making it the majority party, but he was not yet in power. It was several years before Hitler became the cosmically evil war criminal. On January 30, 1933, Hitler was finally sworn in as Chancellor. Historian Alan Bullock describes it: ?Hitler came to office in 1933 as the result, not of any irresistible revolutionary or national movement sweeping him into power, nor even of a popular victory at the polls, but as part of a shoddy political deal with the ?Old Gang? whom he had been attacking for months.... Hitler did not seize power; he was jobbed into office by a backstairs intrigue.? At the time, most Germans couldn?t imagine that Hitler would last long because his bombastic and swaggering manner and his overly simplistic speeches about Germany?s social, economic, and political problems were a ?joke.? Politically sophisticated Germans dismissed Hitler as an inept caricature, but he and his accomplices consolidated their power by passing national security legislation supported by a stacked court. During these critical times of concentrating power, der Schutzstaffein (SS) made sure that Hitler?s critics and opponents were kept far away and silenced so that it would appear as though he had complete national support and, indeed, a mandate. Thus peacefully began Nazi totalitarianism.

Frederick Sweet is Professor of Reproductive Biology in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. You can email your comments to [email protected]

[media]

Thats total bullshit.. How is it Michael Moore can attend the RNC and two highschool students cannot attend a rally? HAH!

Violation of freedom of speech and right to congregate pretty much...

[PerfectionGirls]

Im with Media on that one for sure.

Interesting read, but a fishy story.

However, if Bush is re-elected and can get his two guys on the the Court, you can count on a "police state"

If Rowe Vs. Wade is over turned.... we wil have a civil war on our hands, if not before.

[KRL]

Don't worry the clock is ticking and the past 4 years will all just be a bad memory in our nation's history.

[Probono]

I cannot attest to any of the situations above but I can say that to go to Bush rally, at least in New Mexico you had to sign a loyalty oath. Not loyalty to the constitution but loyalty to Bush. That was rather restrictive.

[doober]

Originally posted by KRL
Don't worry the clock is ticking and the past 4 years will all just be a bad memory in our nation's history.

Im not big on religion, but I pray to christ that you are correct.
I could deal with bad memories, not sure if I could deal with this asshat in office for another 4 years

[Rochard]

Of course the Secret Service knew who they were - they do background checks on everyone. I'm pretty sure the Secret Service was worried about someone throwing a pie at the President which could lead to an agent shooting one of them, thinking it's a threat to the President - whom they are there to protect.

[american pervert]

a police state is when only the police have guns....

[PerfectionGirls]

I cannot attest to any of the situations above but I can say that to go to Bush rally, at least in New Mexico you had to sign a loyalty oath. Not loyalty to the constitution but loyalty to Bush. That was rather restrictive.

No shit? Thats kinda fucked up if you ask me. Signing up to say your loyal? What if you change you mind and vote for Kerry? they have your info. Do you think they check to see if people dont vote in the direction the agreed to? If so, what happens?

Thats some spooky shit. ( no holloween pun intended )

[american pervert]

Originally posted by PerfectionGirls
No shit? Thats kinda fucked up if you ask me. Signing up to say your loyal? What if you change you mind and vote for Kerry? they have your info. Do you think they check to see if people dont vote in the direction the agreed to? If so, what happens?

Thats some spooky shit. ( no holloween pun intended )

what's gonna happen if you don't.. the loyalty police gonna come finda ya??

[BRISK]

[directfiesta]

Originally posted by RocHard
Of course the Secret Service knew who they were - they do background checks on everyone. I'm pretty sure the Secret Service was worried about someone throwing a pie at the President which could lead to an agent shooting one of them, thinking it's a threat to the President - whom they are there to protect.

In fact, that IS a threat to the PIE

[jawanda]

Originally posted by Probono
I cannot attest to any of the situations above but I can say that to go to Bush rally, at least in New Mexico you had to sign a loyalty oath. Not loyalty to the constitution but loyalty to Bush. That was rather restrictive.

From what I've read, that's how it is with all Bush rallies, not just in NM.

I don't know what the penalty is, but you do have to sign a very 'legal' looking peace of paper declaring your loyalty to GW.

I went to a Kerry rally a few weeks ago, and he commented on it when someone yelled out "Talk about Immigration" ... he said something like "I'll talk about anything you want me to, any subject. You didn't have to sign a loyalty oath to get in here because I WANT to talk to those who disagree with me."

-p

[jas1552]

Originally posted by PerfectionGirls
No shit? Thats kinda fucked up if you ask me. Signing up to say your loyal? What if you change you mind and vote for Kerry? they have your info. Do you think they check to see if people dont vote in the direction the agreed to? If so, what happens?

Thats some spooky shit. ( no holloween pun intended )

Ballots are anonymous. It's impossible to tell who cast what ballot because they don't have the name of the voter on them.

[baddog]

Originally posted by PerfectionGirls
No shit? Thats kinda fucked up if you ask me. Signing up to say your loyal? What if you change you mind and vote for Kerry? they have your info. Do you think they check to see if people dont vote in the direction the agreed to? If so, what happens?

Thats some spooky shit. ( no holloween pun intended )

So, why have you never voted before?

[Argoz]

URL??

[directfiesta]

Originally posted by Pixhell
URL??

Not my post but here is something pretty equivalent in " Police State" in a Bush State.

Deputy tackles, arrests journalist for photographing voters

By Jane Daugherty

Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Monday, November 01, 2004

A widely published investigative journalist was tackled, punched and arrested Sunday afternoon by a Palm Beach County sheriff's deputy who tried to confiscate his camera outside the elections supervisor's headquarters.

About 600 people were standing in line waiting to vote early when James S. Henry was charged with disorderly conduct for taking photos of waiting voters about 3:30 p.m. outside the main elections office on Military Trail near West Palm Beach.



A sheriff's spokesman and a county attorney later said the deputy was enforcing a newly enacted rule from Elections Supervisor Theresa LePore prohibiting reporters from interviewing or photographing voters lined up outside the polls.

But the arrest drew expressions of outrage from a leading Florida civil liberties expert ? and even from one of LePore's fellow county election supervisors.

When Deputy Al Cinque tried to grab Henry's camera, Henry ran about 100 feet across the pavement on the side of the elections office before he was tackled by the deputy.

Cinque yelled at Henry, "Hold still, stop moving," after he pinned Henry on the pavement, punched him in the back and grabbed Henry's left arm to put a handcuff on his wrist.

Cinque then jerked Henry, 54, to his feet by his left arm and slammed his body against a parked car, where the deputy punched him again as Henry tried to hand him identification cards that were later found on the pavement.

A widely published free-lance journalist, as well as a Harvard-educated lawyer and economist, Henry has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post, U.S. News and World Report and The New Republic.

According to his Web site, www.submergingmarkets.com, he is working on "an election-year book, due out this fall, that explores how the U.S. is falling behind the rest of the democratic world, including countries like Brazil and South Africa, with respect to the practice of electoral democracy."

Asked why Henry was being arrested, Cinque said, "You're not allowed to take pictures of voters."

Henry repeatedly told the deputy: "I'm a journalist. I'm a journalist doing my job."

A Palm Beach Post reporter and British journalist Marcus Warren, of the London Daily Telegraph, witnessed Henry's arrest. So did dozens of waiting voters.

Sheriff's spokesman Paul Miller said that before being transported to the Palm Beach County Jail, Henry was examined by paramedics when he complained of shoulder pain. Henry has been charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest without violence, Miller said.

"We're not going to let anyone interfere with the orderly conduct of the elections process here," Miller said.

LePore refused to come to the main desk of elections headquarters to comment on the arrest. She did not return later calls for comment.

One of LePore's peers, Leon County Elections Supervisor Ion Sancho, called restricting reporters and photographers on public sidewalks outside polling places "an outrage. I'm shocked. The First Amendment right to be there is absolute.

"Outside our early voting place we had Japanese journalists, the BBC, all kinds of reporters and photographers," added Sancho, who is based in Tallahassee. "It's a public place, a public sidewalk. There is no statute, no law that can take away your right to talk to someone who is willing on a public sidewalk as long as no one is obstructing or interfering."

Howard Simon, executive director of the Florida chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, also called Henry's arrest an outrage. "Where did Theresa LePore get the authority to criminalize activities protected by the First Amendment?"

Henry was one of the original "Nader's raiders" who worked decades ago with consumer advocate Ralph Nader, and was vice president for strategy for IBM/Lotus before he founded the Long Island-based Sag Harbor Group, a consulting firm that focuses on technology strategy. He has continued his investigative reporting career at the same time, in 2004 publishing The Blood Bankers, a book reporting on "dirty banking" in developing countries. The book includes an introduction from former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley.

The Rev. George Wilson, a Presbyterian minister from Long Island, N.Y., who accompanied Henry to West Palm Beach Sunday morning, said Henry was interested in touch-screen voting in Palm Beach County and had arrived to observe the process.

"We flew down this morning," Wilson said. "I can't believe they're treating him this way. He was just standing there taking pictures.

"When did taking photographs outside in a public place become a crime?"

Wilson retrieved Henry's Minolta camera with a large lens from the top of the trunk of the parked car after Henry was put in a sheriff's car.

Assistant Palm Beach County Attorney Leon St. John, who represents the elections supervisor, said Henry had been charged with disorderly conduct, a misdemeanor, based on LePore's instructions to deputies.

He said the charge against Henry was based on new rules LePore implemented Friday, prohibiting reporters from talking to or photographing voters while they are in line outside the polls. He said she made the rule as the result of "numerous complaints by voters about being photographed and interviewed."

However, The Post and other newspapers and television stations had previously interviewed and photographed voters in line without incident since early voting began Oct. 18. LePore did not mention any new restrictions on interviews and photographs during a meeting with news media representatives Friday.

As for Henry, St. John said: "From what I understand, this man (Henry) was taking photos of people in line close up. He was ordered by the deputy to stop and to move to the media tent...

"He said something inappropriate to the deputy, like 'screw you,' then took a picture of the deputy. He then took off running and tripped and fell in the parking lot."

In fact, Cinque tackled Henry in the parking lot a few feet from a Post reporter and Warren, the British journalist.

"That's not what the deputy told me," St. John said.

LePore spokesman Marty Rogol described Henry as "a so-called investigative reporter who gave people phony credentials."

Told that Henry had been published in The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications, Rogol said Henry had presented "Xeroxed credentials that looked phony and were not accepted" by the deputy who arrested him.

Late Sunday, Miller said Henry "will probably spend the night in jail." He was still there late Sunday night on $500 bail.

Nice going USA

Should maybe stop " spreading Freedom " to the world and keep a bit for your broken country

Link for the unbeleivers

[pornguy]

Originally posted by jas1552
Ballots are anonymous. It's impossible to tell who cast what ballot because they don't have the name of the voter on them.

Have you heard of Fingerprints?
if they make you sign a loyalty oath to go to a rally, what makes you think that they will not match ballots to fingerprints?

They will do any possible thing to win, and the sad thing is that they may actually be in power for another 4 years, or even more... He may try to change the constitution, or he may put John Ashhahahahaha in power, and with the declaration of war, he is Commander in Chief of the USA, so legally he does not have to give up the seat, until the end of war.