well done Ian!

Jim Spencer, a former columnist for the Denver Post who has been critical of the Bush administration, told me today that I could use his name: he is on the watch list. An attorney contacts me to say that she told her colleagues at the Justice Department not to torture a detainee; she says she then faced a criminal investigation, a professional referral, saw her emails deleted — and now she is on the watch list. I was told last night that a leader of Code Pink, the anti-war women’s action group, was refused entry to Canada. I hear from a tech guy who works for the airlines — again, probably a Republican — that once you are on the list you never get off. Someone else says that his friend opened his luggage to find a letter from the TSA saying that they did not appreciate his reading material. Before I go into the security lines, I find myself editing my possessions. In New York’s LaGuardia, I reluctantly found myself putting a hardcover copy of Tara McKelvey’s excellent Monstering, an expose of CIA interrogation practices, in a garbage can before I get in the security line; it is based on classified information. This morning at my hotel, before going to the airport, I threw away a very nice black T-shirt that said `We Will Not be Silenced’ — with an Arabic translation — that someone had given me, along with a copy of poems written by detainees at Guantanamo.

Naomi's full post at Firedoglake.

I just flew out here to Washington State a couple of days ago. The mountains are a sea of yellow and orange. The salmon are running. The first snows have hit the mountains. Maybe I won't hike the 18 mile hike across the Enchantments I do in the Fall. Prussic Peak will be there next year.

But Ian's post reminds me that I too did the same thing Naomi Wolf did. I edited what I carried on the airplane. How many Agonistas have or would do the same thing now?

Ian,
I think you're right--disaffection on its own doesn't matter much. For disaffection to be effective, though, there has to be more than just individual action. The disaffected have to have capable and effective leaders and an organization. We can't expect people to effectively resist on their own, and undertake extreme risks, because both they and we know they will get squashed...and nothing whatever will come of it.

And we are learning that the Democrats will provide neither the leaders nor the organization. Why should they? They're simply the less ruthless and rabid wing of the Party of Money. Besides them, who is left?

So after the disappointing show of the congressional Democratic leaders, I think we, as a country, have made an irrevocable choice.

I am not sure how far to credit this but I have been told by a passport expediter that the State Department no longer wants to renew passports before their expiration date and will do so only reluctantly except for business travelers and except if the passport has been lost or stolen and apparently this exception is available only a limited number of times. They will allow the addition of pages but, again limit the number of pages they will add if you are not a business traveler as well as the number of times this may be done. If true, this may be due to the crunch caused by the new requirements for passports for travel to Canada, the Caribbean etc, or may be the beginning of what you fear.

Whether this is a formal policy or simply an informal bureaucratic response experienced by the expediter was not clear.

I loved the top of Naomi's post. By the time I got to the bottom I was furious.

Germany in the 30s had a population of 66 million, and well over 100,000 Brownshirts (they significantly outnumbered the army, which was limited to 100,000 by the Treaty of Versailles). The population had been suffering from punitive reparations for a generation. Along comes a charismatic, populist leader who actually does something for the working class.

If, instead, he had been a bumbling incoherent idiot with maybe 10,000 Brownshirts (I'm actually being generous there) and a social policy of fucking the working class (which 10 years before had had some hope under a charismatic guy with a zipper problem) and propping up the aristocracy... well, gee, history would probably be different.

Of course things are royally fucked up. Of course we need to do something about it. But this sure as hell is the wrong thing to do.

Wolf's post was brilliant. It brought realism - real life - to what has become far too common and widespread in America. Intimidation has progressed down to the "little people." As I read somewhere recently (grossly rephrased) "If George W. Bush wasn't such a fk up America would already be a fascist state."

I'm not sure who at this point should be considered the "Brownshirts." The people that carry out the threats made by the likes of Malkin, Coulter, Limbaugh et.al. or is it Blackwater, the mercenary murdering thugs that now have full rights to patrol the streets of America.

When Darrell Issa told Henry Waxman that he better not go to Iraq and expect to be protected by Blackwater (as would be the case thanks to privatizing) that alone should have been taken as a blunt fact against Blackwater and the beginning of the end of America's relationship with such thug organizations.

But Issa's statement wasn't much different from the earlier statements by Republican politicians that violence against judges was understandable when they made rulings that weren't in line with the extreme Republican view. Judges actually getting killed were a confirmation of that view rather than a repudiation.

The White House calls NBC to complain about statements made and topics covered by Chris Matthews. You know this is widespread. It amazes me that the left still refers to biased press coverage and practices as "lazy." It's not lazy. They're doing the job they're told to do. If they did otherwise they wouldn't have their jobs much longer.

But Republicans usually delegate hate. It's not just through well funded "Swift Boat" organizations or Malkin-Coulter-Limbaugh high volume voices. The delegating goes all the way down to the key interface points in society and government. Delegating hate and fear has two beneficial aspects to it. Foremost, it insulates the controllers from any backlash that might occur. But it also generates a class of "little" people that benefit from "Brownshirt" behavior. That's how customs agents and border guards can be so powerful, easily threatening and changing people lives. Cory Doctorow recently told of coming into the United States and stating that he would be working teaching a class. The agent he spoke to told him that the visa he got did not qualify him for that sort of work and he could be refused entry and never again allowed in the country. Doctorow explained that he had gotten the documentation he presented under instructions from the American Embassy in England. The agent told him it didn't matter. His improper entry could be used as a basis for permanent rejection. The agent was 'kind' and only gave a warning.

The transmission of fear is official and rewarded rather than punished.

The New York City police now spy on groups that might consider having demonstrations in the city. Temporary jails with improper arrests and extended incarceration without judicial review became standard. One demonstrator was charged with resisting arrest based on an edited video tape and testimony of a police officer. Fortunately the complete tape was discovered which completely exonerated the accused. But the perjury by the officer and the improper editing by the prosecutor were not punished. The U.S. military has been doing domestic spying for years. Our government spys on us and wants more power to do so. That in the name of protecting us, but who is the real point of protection? The people or the controllers?

It was infuriating when Nancy Pelosi recently lashed out at those within the democratic movement of the Democrat party actually when some people dared to demonstrate near her home. She said it was not "responsible" to attempt to quickly end the Iraq war. "Responsible" has all the connotations of the "Village's" "serious." If you want to end the war, you're not "serious" or "responsible." The bloody murderous trillion dollar cost plus meat grinder must go on. That's the "responsible" view. Thank you Nancy Pelosi. I'm surprised she's not running for Diane Feinstein's Senate seat. She'd be a clone replacement.

A while back Dick Cheney was to give a school commencement speech in Utah. Some of the students objected and planned to have an alternate commencement. The local telecom company released a statement that anyone involved with the alternate proceedings would not be considered for employment at an upcoming campus recruiting drive. That alone should have initiated proceedings to remove the monopoly status of that company.

Using the term "chilling effects" doesn't state the fear generated by these widespread and likely pervasive actions. We now look around searchingly before we dare speak, ever watchful for the "minders" of one status or another, whether they're Dick Cheney, Darrell Issa, Monica Goodling or a cop taking your bike or a customs agent sending you off to be tortured for a year or more.

This, of course, is the natural progression you take in the formulation of a fascist state. You start with getting thrown out of public events because of a bumper sticker you have on your car, a tee shirt you're wearing or a button stuck on your lapel. You're accosted and verbally abused in public places because you're handing out campaign literature for a candidate who is not a part of the apparatus. You begin to get funny looks in public because of a book you are carrying to read.

It is coming, folks. It is coming. The glass is being filled one drop at a time. So inconspicuously that you don't even notice. At some point we as a country will be faced with the choice of what we want to be.

What will you choose? Fear or liberty?

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIO-tCPSfHA

Ralph Nader says: "Things are worse than we thought" short video and illuminating.

from the WaPo

Vanessa Alarcon saw them while working at an antiwar rally in Lafayette Square last month.

"I heard someone say, 'Oh my god, look at those,' " the college senior from New York recalled. "I look up and I'm like, 'What the hell is that?' They looked kind of like dragonflies or little helicopters. But I mean, those are not insects."

Out in the crowd, Bernard Crane saw them, too.

"I'd never seen anything like it in my life," the Washington lawyer said. "They were large for dragonflies. I thought, 'Is that mechanical, or is that alive?' "

Iron Heel by Jack London. 1984 by George Orwell. Fahrenheit 451 by Rab Bradbury. Network the Movie (1976). V for Vendetta.

ZEITGEISTmovie.com.

WAKE UP!!! AmeriKa is ALREADY Nazi.

Now what???

"They got the Guns, We got The Numbers." - The Doors 5 to 1.

Get ready. Get organized. Get off your ass. Stop watching the BRAINWASH BOX. It's time for you lazy, stupid, fat asses to actually do something more then EAT FA(S)T FOOD. THIS IS SLAVERY. WE HAVE NO FUTURE. DO YOU EVEN REALIZE THAT THE PEOPLE MAKING MAJOR DECISIONS THAT AFFECT YOUR LIVES DO NOT CARE IF YOU LIVE OR DIE.

Tell you the Truth, for the Average Brainwashed Stupid Amerikan that played video games while ROME BURNED.... Neither do I. DIE OFF. WE DON'T NEED YOU.

Holy crap.

That is one of the most chilling things I have heard in the past six years.

Thank you for posting this Ian.

Truth does not do as much good in the world as the semblance of truth does evil.

Kudos and what we do now is resist any way we can.
Lisa Williams, Edgar Cayce, Nostradamus are the more well know prophets but I too have had these life altering paranormal type visions. I'm not that good at it though so in general I keep my mouth shut.
My impressions? It is going to happen this winter. What, I don't know, when, no idea. What do I know. Well it will be large and the numbers of people affected will be large also.

God told me not to tack up the Apocalyptic horse but suggested I need not by pool chemicals for next summer.

According to the FBI FAQ on the terrorist screening database:

Who gets included in the TSDB?

Per HSPD-6, only individuals who are known or appropriately suspected to be or have been engaged in conduct constituting, in preparation for, in aid of, or related to terrorism are included in the TSDB.

Reassured?

when an appointment depended highly upon a cell phone my wife's phone was non-functioning. Well when they key in the open up this mike feature it naturally drains the battery, what transmitting all the time. It also leaves the phone in a sort of "reboot" mode and even if the battery is not dead you must remove it to return the phone to working condition. This has happened twice now so now I keep the RF signal meter handy in a effort to conclusively prove it.

When the number of people on the list is large enough that it does not make sense to keep track of it or encompasses the whole... It's most dangerous now, when its size is neither 0 nor 10 pc of the population..

What we need is a way to connect to the intrinsic sense of freedom in the ordinary American/human (red,white,blue,black, brothers of any color) and maybe start up a "Put me on that LIST, please!"
And appeal to the natural security in numbers of living things -
Another reason why, I think size and diversity matters in democracies like India.. where bytheway, one actually saw the voters (mostly un-"educated" by western standards, anyways) take back their hard-won freedoms, democracy, from an "imposed" emergency in 1977 by a long-running leader who had gone overboard complete, with even a private force of her own.

Always a puzzle to me why in the west we are satisfied with two-party system, and need a-dozen options for curing headache in our walgreen aisle... but, seriously, we shall overcome, shall we ?!