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DHS Monitoring Drudge, NYT
Posted: Jan 11, 2012
Here is yet another example of the tyranny we are descending into.
For me, this is not news. I have been vigilant, keeping an eye on the mountain of draconious legislation being cranked out by Congress (including, but not limited to, the NDAA) and signed by Obama. This is Weimar Republic II (yes, I know my history unlike most of you here).
I post this here not because of the story but because of the comments. Go to any forum frequented by Democrats (Daily Kos, HuffPo, etc.) or Republicans (Free Republic, American Thinker, etc.), and read the comments. They are simlar to the comments under this story at The Atlantic Wire. Average Americans REALIZE what is going on, no matter what their party affiliation. And they are alarmed by it.
Not MTs though! Every time someone (including myself) posts a similar story, the only thing the MTs here (with a few rare, notable exceptions) can do is hurl ad hominem attacks, calling the poster "paranoid," etc.
MTs, obviously you need to READ and/or GET OUT MORE because the rest of America is passing you by. They not only see but understand what is happening, and you do not. (Again, with a few rare exceptions -- and to those individuals I apologize.)
;
Reader99 - Conservative
[ In Reply To ..]I, too, know what the Weimar Republic is and, unfortunately, many on here have no idea what you are referring to. I would venture to guess, those same people would not hesitate to write you a nasty message, or give a "dislke", and have no idea why other than the fact you mentioned Obama signed the law you mentioned and you talked about liberal rags in your post. There is so much information out there for these people to read. They really need to get up to speed and stop acting like party affiliation should come before common sense. Thankfully, I am not wedded to any party and read almost all posts here (except for the ridiculous name callers and flame throwers). I appreciate your comment. There are a select few on here, even if we do not agree, are very respectful and actuall LISTEN without going crazy. The ones most needing to read your post are the ones most likely to pass it by. Then, there are the ones that actually support and embrace the destructive behavior you referred to. Very sad indeed.
Here here - good post - I too know.... - what if
[ In Reply To ..]about the Weimar Republic. Also, having lived in Germany for many many years, and living with and talking to people who had family members live through that time. It is history everyone should learn and understand.
I wish people would understand more and not be so quick to attack anyone who doesn't blindly follow the pied piper by yelling unsubstantiated claims of hater, racist, etc.
I don't understand what is wrong with some people. I have family members I disagree with on politics and we can sit and have a civil conversation. Why can't people just have a decent conversation anymore backed up by facts. It's hard to believe there are people out there who are okay with socialism, but they don't understand what that actually would mean for them. I heard a very interesting interview just the other day my cousin told me about. Here is a link to it. Just very interesting about the demoralization in America.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlpODYhnPEo
What if - Conservative
[ In Reply To ..]I agree. George Bernard Shaw (a staunch communist) once said that they used the term "socialist" because people were too offended by the term communist. That tells you all you need to know. A lot of people would be well served to research the "Fabian socialists" from which current socialism (progressivism, communism) springs from, as did Hitler's beliefs. In 2008 in a campaign speech, Hilary clearly stated she was a progressive and "admired" Soros for his vision. Some people on this board need to find out what that vision actually is, and it does not benefit them. Would serve them well to know what they are talking about. NO COUNTRY IN HISTORY has ever done well or thrived under socialist, progressive, communist rule, especially the average masses. Literally, millions were killed, rule out slowly starved by their "progressive" leaders. Sorry state that so few know any history, let alone the history of this country. It always tells you more about someone's character when THEY jump to hate speech, racist accusations, rude behavior than standing on facts. Thanks for the link...I am going to try to watch this later this morning.
monitoring public web sites - flossy
[ In Reply To ..]Homeland Security reading public political websites. I see no problem with that. There are a lot of people in this country who wished the government had read more (Bin Laden determined to strike ...) They are in the biz of knowing what is going on in order to protect us. Y'all were all for the Patriot Act when bush was in.
If you are okay with department stores tracing your individual paths in the mall, then you should be okay with DHS monitoring the mood of the politically active.
Flossy - Conservative
[ In Reply To ..]You attributed wide, sweeping generalizations to me. I have NEVER had a posting with you or anyone else regarding what I did or did not support with Bush, DHS, Patriot Act or malls. This is exactly what others were referring to on these posts. You do not know me and cannot speak on my behalf. Would serve you well to speak only for yourself and leave "y'all" out of your posts. YOU DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME.
true that - flossy
[ In Reply To ..]I dont speak for you. I speak to conservatives who cared not a whit when the Patriot Act was introduced to legally listen into private citizens phone conversations. Lovers of the U.S. Constitution indeed.
true that flossy - Conservative
[ In Reply To ..]You directed your comment directly to me. There were conservatives AND liberals on both sides of the Patriot Act. That is the problem with a sweeping generalization. You addressed your comment to me specifically and you also specifically stated "conservatives" as the only group in support of the Patriot Act. Simply not a true statement, and no fact to support your generalization.
Totally opposed the Patriot Act - still do. - Zville MT
[ In Reply To ..]The one thing Obama could have done to gain credit with me would have been to repeal the Patriot Act, but instead he strengthened it. Bad, bad decisions all the way around. Obama should have vetoed this bill - why did he sign it with misgivings?
ZVille - Conservative
[ In Reply To ..]Break out the Twinkies, HoHos and set the table..."What if" and I will be over around 5:00. Will give us a break and the sugar high so desparetely needed after some of these posts! :) I'll bring the Weimar Republic wine, circa 1930.... a mere $ 1,000,627 per bottle!
Quick history - Zville MT
[ In Reply To ..]For those who would like a Cliffs' Notes version, the Weimar Republic was a parliamentary republic set up in Germany in 1919. In its 14 years, they had some problems, such as hyperinflation and attacks from both the right and the left, and some successes, such as railroads. However, when the Nazi party took over in 1933, they enacted what was known as Gleichschaltung ("coordination"), which meant that the government could legislate contrary to the constitution. They passed the Enabling Act of 1933, which empowered the Nazi cabinet to legislate without the approval of Reichstag (parliament). Hitler then restricted the rights of habeas corpus, "freedom of the press, freedom to organize and assemble, privacy of the postal, telegraphic and telephone communications," and legalised search warrants and confiscation "beyond legal limits otherwise prescribed." I'm guessing that if the internet had been around in 1933, it would have been included. This, obviously, was the end of the Weimar Republic, as the Enabling Act preempted any possible opposition to the dictatorship of Hitler. The rest, as they say, is history.
If anyone is more interested in how Hitler came into power, there's a terrific book titled "Wilson's War" by Jim Powell. It gives a history of Germany and Italy after WWI that sets the stage for WWII.
I found quite a bit on the DHS monitoring the internet through a program called the Publicly Available Social Media Monitoring and Situational Awareness Initiative, which runs through the National Operations Center (NOC). The program is set up to have government agents set up fake social media profiles to gather information about people's activities on every site on the internet. Last week, the Privacy Impact Assessment for the program was released (available on the DHS website) and this report clearly admits: "The NOC will use internet-based platforms that provide a variety of ways to follow the activity related to monitoring publicly available online forums, blogs, public websites, and message boards. NOC will gather, store, analyze, and disseminate relevant and appropriate de-identified information to federal, state, local, and foreign governments and private sector partners authorized to receive situatoinal awareness and a common operating picture. NOC is permitted to establish user names and passwords to form profiles and follow relevant government, media, and subject matter experts on social media sites listed in Appendix B for monitoring that supports providing situational awareness and establishing a common operating procedure."
Form your own opinion, but this sounds to me like a surveillance state that is really only meant to serve the interests of those in power, not to protect citizens.
The government claims it is not seeking out personal identifying information (referred to as PII), but the report is clear that such PII will be collected and stored. The report goes on to state, "However, some personal information may be captured. Most information is stored as free text and any word, phrase, or number is searchable." Then the report states that for certain groups of individuals, PII will be explicitly sought out and this list is vague enough to pretty much include everyone. This list includes "1)US and foreign individuals in extremist situations; 2) senior US and foreign government officials who make public statements or provide public updates; 3)US and foreign government spokespersons who make public statements or provide public updates; 4)US and foreign private sector officials and spokespersons who make public statements or provide public updates; 5)names of anchors, newscasters, or on-scene reporters who are known or identified as reporters in their post or arcicle or who use traditional and/or social media in real time to keep their audience situationally aware and informed" and so forth for four or five more examples.
The list of sites being monitored is basically useless because the program also covers any sites that are linked to the those on the list and could theoretically include the entire internet. Appendix B has several pages of terms that the program will monitor, such as San Diego," "telecommunications," "ice," "help," and other non-terrorism related words. The report also makes clear, "As natural or manmade disasters occur, new search terms may be added."
Now, apparently this has not been used in conjunction with the powers of indefinite detention of the NDAA - not yet. But this program's capabilty coupled with the NDAA and its fear-inducing "indefinate detention" provisions for unclear violations of the law will have people becoming hesitant to express themselves, which should be seen as a direct violation of the 1st amendment.
The NDAA has not gone unnoticed by Americans - in several states citizens have started movements to recall any member of congress that voted for the NDAA, such as Max Bacchus, Lindsey Graham, and Paul Ryan. Visit www.change.org for more info - this is a bipartison group - or get involved to send a clear message right back - this is not the America we want for ourselves or our children.
Sorry so wordy - I wanted to get as much information in this post as I could instead of post numerous links that just might bore people. I know there are so many things that are going on right now, but we all need to stay involved and be informed - don't just sit idly by only to wake up when it's too late! Do some reading, ask the hard questions, and get to truth. Then demand the same from those in the government. This isn't right or left, dems or pubs, this is all of us. If we learn to communicate instead of insult, we can put together the pieces of the puzzle and work together to make things right. Just some food for thought; or, following the theme of past posts, just some Twinkies for thought :)
Quck history - ZVille MT - Conservative
[ In Reply To ..]Great post. If that does not set some to thinking long and hard, nothing will. AMERICANS need to realize, as you said, these things have an impact on all of us; forget party affiliation if you have one. When others harass/insult, shout down someone to get them to shut up just because they have an opposing opinion, they are part of the problem. No govt should have this kind of power.
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