Posted on 09/24/2001 4:24:58 PM PDT by Rebeckie
Unfree Republic
by Jeff Elkins
Let the stench of Middle East flesh reach Paradise reassuring them that these filth have gone to hell permanently."
The quote above is representative of many posted on the FreeRepublic.com site in the wake of the WTC attack, and unfortunately its like is not uncommon elsewhere. Americans are angry, predictably and rightly so, but just as predictable are the side effects. As always, that righteous anger will be accepted as a beloved gift by the state and molded into tools of oppression.
It’s funny how that works. Every single state-sponsored war the US has become embroiled in has resulted in an inexorable increase in the power of the state.
It’s also funny that it’s always assumed that human behavior in the past has no relation to how we behave today. Why those people were old-fashioned, we’re modern, educated, etc.
The beginning of this repeating pattern has already become public with the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security. It has an ominous sound, that name, almost Germanic. (I can’t wait to see the uniforms.)
On April 13, 1917, days after our entry into World War One, President Wilson created the Committee on Public Information to promote the war domestically while publicizing American war aims abroad. Bush has replicated that step, with this new cabinet-level department.
Under the leadership of journalistic muckraker George Creel, the CPI was a propaganda apparatus unparalleled at that point in world history. The CPI functioned as a de facto public censor, vetting nearly all published material about the war and helping to draft legislation such as the Espionage Act of 1917 and the Sedition Act of 1918. In the months prior to our entry into the war and especially after our entry when they were nearly criminal, antiwar viewpoints were rarely heard.
The same pattern emerges now: Penn. Gov. Tom Ridge will be President Bush’s George Creel, and just as in those dim days of yesteryear, he’ll have plenty of willing civilian accomplices. And after all, there’s so much more to censor -- Ridge will need all the help he can get. In seeking warriors for the front line of Internet censorship, Ridge needs look no farther than FreeRepublic.com. The atmosphere there is now poisonous.
Again, look back to Wilson's CPI. It encouraged businesses to spy on their employees, parents to spy on their children, children to spy on their parents, neighbors to spy on neighbors, and above all to report "disloyal," pro-German sentiments. State authorities banned the teaching of German in schools and changed German street names. As the madness mounted, those regarded as pro-German were hounded from their jobs, pressured to change their German names, beaten, and in a few cases lynched. Almost all cases of violence, while incited by the state, were carried out by "civilians" in the grip of war hysteria.
Along with this anti-German hysteria, Congress passed several measures designed to rigidly suppress criticism of the war. In particular, the Espionage Act, passed in June 1917, specified a fine of $10,000 or twenty years in prison for "whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully obstruct the recruiting or enlistment service of the United States, and whoever, when the United States is at war, shall willfully utter, print, write, or publish any disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language about the form of government of the United States, or the military or naval forces of the United States, or the flag."
The Espionage Act was very popular in its day. It was cheered on by mindless lemmings under the influence of state propaganda. Their great grandchildren now inhabit FreeRepublic.com, viciously attacking anyone who questions the wisdom of the state.
Our Congress is considering similar measures under the rubric of "anti-terrorism," and as it was at the beginning of the 20th Century, the FreeRepublic lemmings of the 21st are cheering the morally corrupt politicians along.
It’s not just message posters on the site. The management of FreeRepublic has instituted a "loose lips sink ships" campaign, with new moderators patrolling the forum to delete posts that in their opinion are detrimental to the "war effort."
The FreeRepublic mission statement claims "We're working to roll back decades of governmental largesse, to root out political fraud and corruption, and to champion causes which further conservatism in America."
Sanctimonious hogwash. Everything old is new again – the keyboard warriors of FreeRepublic would be right at home in 1917 shilling for Wilson.
September 24, 2001
What I'd REALLY like , is for all of the nay sayers and worriers about imagined miseries, is for them to go down to " ground zero ", in Manhattan and help dig for and bag body parts.
Boy, that socialist FDR really did a great job in convincing the American public that fighting a just war abroad somehow necessitates "sacrifices" at home. Of course, to that creeping socialist, "sacrifices" of Americans' rights was just what he wanted anyway. What should we tolerate here in the U.S.? National I.D. cards? A department of homeland defense? We already have a department of homeland defense. It's called the INS and it doesn't work!! They continue to drop the ball (or refuse to even pick it up).
I'm all for taking this fight to Afganistan and violating some rights on their @sses, but I am an American citizen. I will continue complaining about the loss of inalienable rights at home.
He is also rabidly anti-RKBA. I'm sure you've seen "horrendous" posts that point that out as well.....
This column is an unfair slap at Free Republic.AMEN to that.
IT IS, however, more representative of how LewRockwell.com views trhe rest of the world - and those that live in it ...
IT IS also, of course, representative of the types of people they employ or solicit to write aricles for them, the type of people who might solicit a rivero-type to write a scandalous piece designed to whip-up certain, desired sentiment ...
Pssssst! New York, Pennsylvania and DC aren't in Afganistan.
Your point?
Nice dodge. Nunya never mentioned email. Maybe he was talking about the threats you made on FR. The ones that got pulled.... Ya think?
Nunya: "And by the way did you threaten Demidog in an email when you asked him his home address?"
Funny, somehow I equated the word email to mean email...must be a government conspiracy huh?
It's causing me to question my affiliation with the Libertarian Party. I'll have no truck with people that put their personal freedom above the rights of the general populace to stay alive. This is war. They seem not to understand that. We did not start this war.
What's funny, is that they seem to want changes in our foreign policy as a result of these attacks, which is, in essence, exactly what bin Laden wants. I'll be damned if I let them talk me into that now, as a result of this.
Well I'm sorry and they can call me a "traitor" or "terrorist sympathizer" all they want but it's not their butts that are at stake here. I want to know exactly what kind of plans and acts of retribution are being concocted in my name. If I see George Bush, or Al Gore, or even Mickey Mouse planning on making some really stupid move I'm going to speak out. Not only will I speak out, but every single Chicagoan I've spoken to feels the same way.
I'm not saying that all the freepers that live in rural areas of America are subscribing to this sheep-like "you're either with us or against us" mentality, but as I look at the locations of the people that flame me for having a few questions, I notice that invariably they are from some location that is as likely to be attacked as Bin Laden's barbershop.
Welcome to the battle lines.
Think with your head, not your heart.
As I said, our immigration policy has failed us. We must get hold of it now.
I disagree. To introduce a chemical agent would involve a large quantity and with the heightened security at airports it's unlikely that anyone wouldn't be stopped trying to transport any unknown material in to a secure area. In addition the same goes for a biological but the distribution system could be concealed. However, it is again unlikely that anyone, no matter what their nationality, could penetrate our airports and attempt a release without an immediate quarantine and lockdown. Remember the mayor of New York stopped all subway cars as soon as the second plane hit the WTC.
Granted, we are learning a lot and very quickly concerning the recent airliner attacks. But considering how bin Laden isolates one cell from the next, it is very reasonable to suspect that other avenues of attack would be completely independent of those we currently know of. We have no idea how long and what is already in this country.
Isn't that the job of our intelligence and law enforcement community? You do realize that we had intel that proceeded this incident? The latest attempt to legislate away terrorists appears to be closing the barn door after the cow got out.
However, we do know that they use electronic media for communications and the government is asking for the authority to be able to effectively intercept and monitor such communications.
They have it. It's called the NSA. Carnivore is active. They've always had it. Between CAIR and the other sympathetic Islamic NGO's in DC the Feds have had ample opportunities to tie these guys down. And yet we need more legislation? Something doesn't ring true.
The national ID and other legislation has been hanging for years waiting for a chance to be tabled and now here we are.
I won't feel safer with an implant or a smart card or biometrics. Ever.
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