California COINTELPRO?
For some time now, those of us who are against the war in Iraq and similar military adventures have suggested that what's going on is becoming more and more similar to Vietnam. While they aren't mirror images of each other yet, there are quite a few parallels. Now it seems like our gummints, both federal and state, are starting to go back to the future with other things best left in the past.
Here in California, it seems that the state's National Guard is being given carte blanche to investigate people, all under the broad rubric of "fighting terrorism." While I don't have problems with streamlining information sharing and pursuing terrorism, both foreign and domestic (this is a problem I have with a lot of folks; they'll point to anyone in Middle Eastern garb and call them "towelheads" and shriek "terrorists," but these same people will quietly ignore the white supremacists in the Intermountain West, the KKK in the south, and the Timothy McVeighs and Eric Rudolphs among us), I *do* have a problem with broad mandates that allow for inappropriate snooping, compiling files, smearing the reputations, and destroying the livelihoods of innocent people who are merely availing themselves of the rights we supposedly hold under the U.S. Constitution. We already lived through the days of McCarthyism and the federal and state police abuses of the 1960s and 1970s; why go back and relive it all again?
What really irks me is why, when confronted with evidence like this, is the response always that there is some unfounded fear that a "riot" will take place or that those who are availing themselves of their constitutional rights need to be "protected"? In this case, a protest by a few dozen peaceful protesters on a rainy Sunday at the State Capitol hardly prompts visions of hell on earth, much less a riot. Rather it makes me admire the convictions of people who are willing to brave the weather to demonstrate. I certainly don't read a whole lot of articles about "intelligence units" monitoring anti-abortion protesters, pro-war activists, or others who hold so-called "mainstream values" (a phrase that makes me want to puke each time I read or hear it). This is all happening in addition to the Patriot Act, which is probably going to be renewed. *sigh*
What saddens me is that this is happening here in my native state, a state where tolerance has long been more than just lip service. It's the kind of thing I'd expect to read about in Kansas, or South Carolina, or some similar place, not California. It scares me that this topic received scant mention in most papers, and will probably be ignored, until it's too late. Are we really that willing to throw away our rights, the privileges that our forefathers fought for and established within our governing documents? What is America, really, without the Bill of Rights, without the U.S. Constitution? Are we really ready to destroy the village in order to save it?
Here in California, it seems that the state's National Guard is being given carte blanche to investigate people, all under the broad rubric of "fighting terrorism." While I don't have problems with streamlining information sharing and pursuing terrorism, both foreign and domestic (this is a problem I have with a lot of folks; they'll point to anyone in Middle Eastern garb and call them "towelheads" and shriek "terrorists," but these same people will quietly ignore the white supremacists in the Intermountain West, the KKK in the south, and the Timothy McVeighs and Eric Rudolphs among us), I *do* have a problem with broad mandates that allow for inappropriate snooping, compiling files, smearing the reputations, and destroying the livelihoods of innocent people who are merely availing themselves of the rights we supposedly hold under the U.S. Constitution. We already lived through the days of McCarthyism and the federal and state police abuses of the 1960s and 1970s; why go back and relive it all again?
What really irks me is why, when confronted with evidence like this, is the response always that there is some unfounded fear that a "riot" will take place or that those who are availing themselves of their constitutional rights need to be "protected"? In this case, a protest by a few dozen peaceful protesters on a rainy Sunday at the State Capitol hardly prompts visions of hell on earth, much less a riot. Rather it makes me admire the convictions of people who are willing to brave the weather to demonstrate. I certainly don't read a whole lot of articles about "intelligence units" monitoring anti-abortion protesters, pro-war activists, or others who hold so-called "mainstream values" (a phrase that makes me want to puke each time I read or hear it). This is all happening in addition to the Patriot Act, which is probably going to be renewed. *sigh*
What saddens me is that this is happening here in my native state, a state where tolerance has long been more than just lip service. It's the kind of thing I'd expect to read about in Kansas, or South Carolina, or some similar place, not California. It scares me that this topic received scant mention in most papers, and will probably be ignored, until it's too late. Are we really that willing to throw away our rights, the privileges that our forefathers fought for and established within our governing documents? What is America, really, without the Bill of Rights, without the U.S. Constitution? Are we really ready to destroy the village in order to save it?
posted by Mr. Sandman | 8:25 PM
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