Jocasta : What is it galls the exile?
Polynices : One thing most of all; he cannot speak his mind.
Jocasta : This is a slave's lot thou describest, to refrain from uttering what one thinks.
Polynices : The follies of his rulers must he bear.
Phoenissae
(The Phoenician Maidens), Euripides, 1.390
quoted in
The Trial of Socrates
by I. F. Stone, page 222
"U.S. security agents have a master list of five million people worldwide thought to be potential terrorists or criminals, officials say. "The U.S. lookout index contains some five million names of known terrorists and other persons representing a potential problem," Brian Davis, a senior Canadian immigration official in Paris, said in a confidential document obtained by the Sun. ...
Anyone whose name is on the list is questioned or banned from entering the U.S. -- as passengers were on two British Airways flights to Los Angeles two weeks ago."
"One of the spoils of war is that the victorious country can punish those who opposed its actions, even its own citizens. With a sort of Orwellian logic, the message to Americans by Bush supporters is clear: 'You have the constitutional right to protest. So, you should be grateful for that right and show your gratefulness by not protesting, no matter how questionable your government’s actions might be'. If you do speak out, question, or criticize you will be labeled “unpatriotic,” or worse. You might be ostracized. You could lose your job. If you’re a celebrity, there’s a good chance you will be publicly bashed or threatened. ...
More than half of Americans and the majority of the world had realistic and serious questions about a nearly unilateral, pre-emptive war on Iraq without international backing and were not convinced by the administration’s attempt to link Iraq with recent acts of terrorism against the U.S. Counter to the “fringe group” stereotype the media seems bent on portraying protesters as, Americans who protested the war consisted of religious leaders, labor unions, former veterans, military leaders, progressives, as well as conservatives."
"Police open fired Monday morning with non-lethal bullets at an anti-war protest at the Port of Oakland, injuring several longshoremen standing nearby. ...
Six longshoremen were treated by paramedics and at least one was expected to be taken to a hospital. It was unclear if any of the protesters was injured. "
"Tim Edgar, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, said the report confirms fears that Justice and the FBI would abuse some of their new powers. ...
The previously obscure material-witness statute, which allows prosecutors to hold potential grand jury witnesses, has emerged as a centerpiece of the federal government's anti-terrorism strategy. The Washington Post reported in November that at least 44 witnesses had been detained under the statute, but nearly half had not been called to testify before grand juries."
" (Carl) Rising-Moore's supporters say the full-time political activist, who has been trained in non-violence protest, was tackled by a police officer and never would have tried to strike anyone.-- "In light of this happening in the presence of the president of the United States, it goes up even another notch." -- You know, speaking personally, a little less "President-Imperator" and a little more "President, primus inter pares" would be very refreshing.
(Fellow protester Joe) Zelenka, a vocational rehabilitation counselor, said he thought of going to Rising-Moore's aid but was afraid that he would be tackled, too. "My thought was if they did that to him, I'm going to be the next one," he said. (A little "shock and awe" on the domestic front, I suppose.)
Indianapolis police officer Thomas M. Wilson said he was riding his police motorcycle as security in the president's motorcade when he saw a protester, Rising-Moore, "violently" waving a large flag attached to a 12-foot pole. ... Wilson got off his motorcycle, gave chase and grabbed the protester by his left arm. According to Wilson, Rising-Moore dropped the flag and struck the officer in the face while also trying to pull away from him. ...
In refusing to lower Rising-Moore's bond, Marion Superior Court Judge Linda Brown noted the seriousness of any battery charge and particularly a battery upon a policeman. 'In light of this happening in the presence of the president of the United States, it goes up even another notch', Brown said."
"Country station KKCS has suspended two disc jockeys for playing the Dixie Chicks, violating a ban imposed after the group criticized U.S. President George W. Bush.
... DJs Dave Moore and Jeff Singer became impatient and played some of the trio’s songs Monday.
'They made it very clear that they support wholeheartedly the president of the United States. They support wholeheartedly the troops, the military', (station manager Jerry) Grant said. 'But they also support the right of free speech'.
Grant said the disc jockeys will be out a couple of days.
'I gave them an alternative: Stop it now and they’ll be on suspension, or they can continue playing them and when they come out of the studio they won’t have a job'. "
Um, maybe this is just an artifact of the quoting in the article, but as far as I can see the plain sense of Grant's comments is that he and/or KKCS do not approve of the exercise of free speech; "President and military good, free speech bad."
"Mark Schlosberg, director of police policy practices for the ACLU-Northern California: ... 'to equate protesting against a war with terrorist activity, if in fact that's what's being done, is contrary to American values. And I would hope there are guidelines in place to prevent that being done'.
Ruckus Society director John Sellers: 'Anyone internal (domestic USA) with a dissenting view is lumped in with the people who drove the planes into the towers...'
'It is safe to say there is an enormous temptation to expand surveillance and information gathering. And unless there is an effective system of checks and balances sooner or later this kind of surveillance is going to get out of control', said Steven Aftergood, head of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists. 'This particular example is quite disturbing because it erodes the obvious distinction between terrorism and dissent', he said."
"An Oregon anti-terrorism bill would jail street-blocking protesters for at least 25 years in a thinly veiled effort to discourage anti-war demonstrations, critics say.
... it identifies a terrorist as a person who "plans or participates in an act that is intended, by at least one of its participants, to disrupt" business, transportation, schools, government, or free assembly.
-- So, this would appear to mean that if I and John Doe and 498 other people "participate" in a demonstration, and it is later established that John Doe (alone) "intended" to disrupt civil activity, that all 500 of us are headed for 25 years in prison.
The bill's few public supporters say police need stronger laws to break up protests that have created havoc in cities like Portland, where thousands of people have marched and demonstrated against war in Iraq since last fall. ...
Legislators say the bill stands little chance of passage."
"... we are headed down the path where expressing a view contrary to the party in power might land you in prison. And there seems to be no outrage!"
"'You Marc Schultz?' asks the tall one. He shows me his badge, introduces himself as Special Agent Clay Trippi.Oh no! You're reading right now! And subversive literature to boot!
... 'Someone in the shop that day saw you reading something, and thought it looked suspicious enough to call us about. So that's why we're here, just checking it out. Like I said, there's no problem. We'd just like to get to the bottom of this. Now if we can't, then you may have a problem. And you don't want that.'
You don't want that? Have I just been threatened by the FBI? ...
We retrace some steps together, figure out the article was Hal Crowther's "Weapons of Mass Stupidity" from the Weekly Planet, a free independent out of Tampa. It comes back to me then, this scathing screed focusing on the way corporate interests have poisoned the country's media, focusing mostly on Fox News and Rupert Murdoch -- really infuriating, deadly accurate stuff about American journalism post- 9-11. ...
To tell the truth, I'm kind of anxious to hear back from the FBI, if only for the chance to ask why anyone would find media criticism suspicious, or if maybe the sight of a dark, bearded man reading in public is itself enough to strike fear in the heart of a patriotic citizen.
My co-worker, Craig, says that we should probably be thankful the FBI takes these things seriously. I say it seems like a dark day when an American citizen regards reading as a threat ..."
"What if our basic rights were taken away and no one noticed? What if our system of checks and balances was destroyed and everyone remained convinced it was happening to someone else?
Under current legislation, if you are "suspected" of terrorist activity, you can be picked up and held indefinitely, without charges and without access to a lawyer. If your loved ones call to find out where you are or if you are okay, they will be told nothing. ...
And, if currently proposed legislation -– PATRIOT Act II -– passes, you may no longer even be a citizen. Under PATRIOT II, if you attend a legal protest sponsored by an organization the government has listed as "terrorist," you may be deported and your citizenship revoked. This is true even if you are only suspected of terrorist activity and nothing has been proven. ...
I wish this were an exaggeration. ...
If you're not engaged in any activity that could even be suspected of terrorism, no need to worry, right? Wrong. According to a Washington Post report, the Government Accounting Office has found that the majority of people prosecuted under new antiterrorism security measures were being pursued for reasons unrelated to terrorism, including credit card fraud and drug violations. 'Many of [the] terrorism powers were actually being asked for as a way of increasing the government's authority in other areas', Tim Edgar of the ACLU said in the report."