- In George Orwell's classic novel 1984, Oceania is in
a state of perpetual war with Eurasia. Even though the "Big
Brother"
state of Oceania insists that such has always been the case, the
protagonist,
Winston Smith, remembers that the states were in fact at one time aligned.
The same is true of the United States and Osama bin Laden/Afghanistan.
The CIA provided funding and arms to bin Laden during the decade-long proxy
war with the Soviet Union. Now bin Laden, "The Evil One," has
become the Goldstein character, who is held up as the "Enemy of the
People." And our rulers readily admit that the War on Terrorism will
last indefinitely.
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- To keep the masses in line and to suppress opposition,
Oceania developed a language called Newspeak, which actually reduced the
number and variety of words in use to render dissenting thought obsolete.
Closely related to Newspeak is doublethink, in which someone is conditioned
to either say the opposite of what he thinks or think the opposite of what
is true.
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- The U.S. government has engaged in such obfuscations
with the passage of the Uniting and Strengthening America Act by Providing
Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism. Yes, it's
the USA PATRIOT Act. Clearly the name of the bill was concocted to fit
the acronym. The purpose of this acronym is two-fold. One, it makes it
politically dangerous for politicians to vote against it ("He voted
against the Patriot Act? Who can we nominate to run opposite this traitor
in the next election?"). Two, it stifles opposition among the American
people. "You're either with us, or you're with the
terrorists."
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- Since we are all in favor of stopping acts of terrorism,
we should all be in favor of this legislation, right? But this legislation
- which was not available for members of Congress to read before they had
to vote on it - will do nothing to prevent future terrorism and much to
increase the power of government over its subjects. The legislation, among
other things:
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- *Allows law enforcement agencies to search homes and
offices without notifying the owner for days or weeks after, not only in
terrorism cases, but in all cases - the so-called "sneak and
peek"
authority *
-
- *Allows government agents to collect undefined new
information
about Web browsing and e-mail *
-
- *Overrides existing state and federal privacy laws,
allowing
the FBI to compel disclosure of any kind of records upon the mere claim
that they are connected with an intelligence investigation
-
- If you believe that the government could never use these
unconstitutional powers against you because you're not a Middle Eastern
"raghead," you are unfamiliar with history. J. Edgar Hoover's
FBI became a de facto domestic political police force. Franklin Delano
Roosevelt used the FBI to spy on his political enemies, especially antiwar
groups.
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- The PATRIOT Act does not restrict its provisions to
terrorism
investigations. In fact, they may be used against anyone, whether or not
he is a suspect related to terrorism. On the other hand, the act broadens
the definition of terrorism to "an offense that is calculated to
influence
or affect the conduct of government by intimidation or coercion; or to
retaliate against government conduct." While the PATRIOT Act
ostensibly
protects Americans against terrorism, in reality it protects the government
against its own people.
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- With this new expanded, nebulous definition of terrorism
now the law of the land, will I be considered a terrorist because I do
not blindly follow everything George W. Bush and John Ashcroft decree;
because I dare to write columns that question the actions of government?
Do I "intimidate" government functionaries by exposing their
duplicitous dealings? Will the editors of Strike-the-Root now be deemed
terrorists for publishing my columns?
-
- Earlier this month, John Ashcroft testified before
Congress
regarding President Bush's Executive Order that allows the president to
try "terrorists" before military tribunals rather than in open
court. Ashcroft's appearance was largely a dog-and-pony show, a political
exercise designed to allow some Democrats on Capitol Hill to criticize
the administration without disparaging President Bush directly, something
they clearly cannot do in light of Dubya's 90% approval rating.
-
- During the appearance, Ashcroft, who has recently engaged
in an authoritarian power grab that would make Torquemada blush, uttered
the following: "To those who pit Americans against immigrants,
citizens
against non-citizens, to those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms
of lost liberty, my message is this: your tactics only aid terrorists for
they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. Our efforts have
been crafted carefully to avoid infringing on constitutional rights, while
saving American lives."
-
- By now, the theme should be clear: you are either with
us, or you are with the terrorists. Ashcroft attempts to manipulate
"peace-loving
people" into doublethink with some crafty doublespeak. It is Ashcroft
and his minions who attempt to scare us with their alerts of impending
terrorism, always based on "credible information," of course.
And unfortunately, the loss of liberty is all too real.
-
- As for his claim that constitutional rights will not
be infringed upon and that American lives will be saved, this goes well
beyond mere obfuscation; it is an outright lie. We already know that the
government failed to save thousands of American lives on September 11,
and the Constitution has taken a severe thrashing ever since.
-
- Ashcroft concluded, "Charges of kangaroo courts
and shredding the Constitution give new meaning to the term fog of
war."
-
- No, Mr. Ashcroft-it is not those who oppose your
encroaching
police state and global hegemony that perpetrate a "fog of war."
It is you and your cohorts in government who wage the war - both the
bombing
campaigns abroad and the war on liberty at home - who are responsible for
the "fog of war." And it is up to the lovers of freedom
everywhere
to lift the veil of euphemism in which we are assured, as were the people
of Oceania, that "War is Peace. Freedom is Slavery. Ignorance is
Strength."
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- ___
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- A version of this column originally appeared in the
December
2001 issue of The Valley News.
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- December 28, 2001
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- Rick Gee resides in paradise, also known as Santa Fe,
New Mexico. He writes about liberty, sports, film and other topics for
The Valley News. In addition to being a Root Striker, he is a columnist
at anti-state.com and a commentator at LewRockwell.com.
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- http://www.strike-the-root.com
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