Earlier this week the Justice Department revealed that the FBI had been using false claims of “counter-terror” operations to justify covert spying operations against antiwar groups in Pittsburgh and elsewhere across the country. As officials downplayed the report the matter seemed to be just another in a growing list of Bush era abuses of power, about which little is ever said.
Then this morning FBI agents and SWAT teams started kicking doors in across Minneapolis, across Chicago, across the rest of America. The target: antiwar activists of various stripes, but particularly those likely to be involved in antiwar protests at the next Democratic National Convention.
It seems the era of “covert” FBI spying has come to an end, and not in the good way like you’d hope. Rather it seems to have moved with surprising alacrity from behind the shadows and become an overt program of intimidation and surveillance of what is left of America’s antiwar movement.
Though the Justice Department seemed quite fine with shrugging off photographing protesters and infiltrating organizations, it seems that kicking doors in nationwide is something else entirely, and with the same tired “counter-terror” excuse being used the questions about the increasingly shameless tactics will only grow.
Screw Obama and this fascist country. We have no freedoms and everyone in the FBi should be fired. Vote Ron Paul and all of them will be fired. Then we will see what big heros these guys are when they are standing in line at the unemployment office.
Impeach Obama and prosecute Bush!
Ron Paul is a Republican.
Ron Paul runs hopeless, futile races in a locked down and controlled Republican party that has never tolerated insurgent challenges to power. Every Republican nomination is won by power and money, and its been that way for a long, long time. Which means that Ron Paul is a useless diversion unless and until he has the guts to leave the Republican party.
Exactly the same is true of Kucinich.
Both of these are diversions to take opposition energy and effort and waste them on silly campaigns that can't possibly change anything.
In this winner-take-all system, to get change we need a general election where there are three names on the ballot. The typical corporate, pro-war Republican picked by their rigged primary system. The typical corporate, pro-war Democrat picked by their only very slightly less rigged primary system. And one, count it, one, unified opposition candidate that everyone who opposes this, and that's about 70% of the public, can unify and vote for and get real change when we win over the split votes of the corporate parties.
When I see that, I'll know the opposition in this country is serious. But the dog-and-pony show candidates running their silly little hopeless primary challenges will never change anything.
It's not surprising at all if you read Balko's blog and know that police in this country conduct an average of a hundred no knock SWAT team style raids a day and search warrants have become nothing more than a rubber stamp with police not having to show any probable cause at all:
http://www.theagitator.com/
It's also not surprising to anyone even slightly familiar with the history of Nazi Germany. The noose is tightening and most people know more about Lindsay Lohan's latest run in with the law than they will hear of this story. Thanks to the press, America is now a police state.
FBI would be 'federal bust in'? Considering that ever since 9/11/01 the FBI has become utterly useless well, they've got to "earn" their keep somehow. So the federal goons will terrorize Minnesota hippies and brag about it. "Material support of terrorism" will mean just about whatever the government and FBI wants that to mean.
HIZBULLAH HIZBULLAH HIZBULLAH! HUZZAH! Uh-oh, here come the federal goons. Maybe I could gits Hassan Nasrallah to be my 'facebook' pal…
Why do you call these "Bush-era" abuses of power two years into the Obama administration?
If nothing else, when the clear message was given that no FBI agent would face even as little as a professional reprimand for shredding the Constitution and attacking the very civil liberties that make America America, then that was a clear signal that nothing would change under Obama.
If you have an organization of thousands of people violating rights and running out of control for eight years, it takes a considerable effort to change that. It takes a new director, new administrators, a strong message to the agents that this would no longer be tolerated, and some harsh enforcement on agents violating rights including loss of job and civil penalties enforced by the Justice Dept. Anyone who's seen how a large beauracracy works knows this.
You've seen nothing like this from Obama. So, nothing has changed. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
Don't vote Democrat. Don't vote Republican. Write in Mickey Mouse if you have to, but don't vote for these candidates. A vote for either the Democrats or Republicans is a vote that says you approve of this.
So police can defeat the demcrats and elect Republicans across the country, just by going out and breaking heads and stealing laptops for the next two months. Fascinating.
Allowing the republicans to take over is blind massively stupid nonsense.
Surprised nobody was shot dead by FBI. Remember Ruby Ridge?