Bush's Direct Attack on Freedom

[Ian David]

Bush's Direct Attack on Freedom
Remember the phrase "Land of the Free"? Many would mention Freedom of Speech as the foundation of that freedom. It's in the First Amendment.

Bush is attempting to outlaw it.

Here's how:

http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?5608S
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Bush Outlaws All War Protest In United States

Posted by Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscr on Thursday, July 19th at 5:00 PM
July 19, 2007

In one of his most chilling moves to date against his own citizens, the American War Leader has issued a sweeping order this week outlawing all forms of protest against the Iraq war.

President Bush enacted into US law an 'Executive Order' http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_order_%28United_States%29 on July 17th titled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq", http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html and which says:
"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, as amended (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.)(IEEPA), the National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.)(NEA), and section 301 of title 3, United States Code,

I, GEORGE W. BUSH, President of the United States of America, find that, due to the unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States posed by acts of violence threatening the peace and stability of Iraq and undermining efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq and to provide humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people, it is in the interests of the United States to take additional steps with respect to the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 of May 22, 2003, and expanded in Executive Order 13315 of August 28, 2003, and relied upon for additional steps taken in Executive Order 13350 of July 29, 2004, and Executive Order 13364 of November 29,
2004."

According to Russian legal experts, the greatest concern to the American people are the underlying provisions of this new law, and which, they state, are written 'so broadly' as to outlaw all forms of protest against the war. These provisions state:

"(ii) to have materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, logistical, or technical support for, or goods or services in support of, such an act or acts of violence or any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order; or

(b) The prohibitions in subsection (a) of this section include, but are not limited to, (i) the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any person whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order, and (ii) the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person.

(c) the term "United States person" means any United States citizen, permanent resident alien, entity organized under the laws of the United States or any jurisdiction within the United States (including foreign branches), or any person in the United States.

All agencies of the United States Government are hereby directed to take all appropriate measures within their authority to carry out the provisions of this order and, where appropriate, to advise the Secretary of the Treasury in a timely manner of the measures taken."

To the subsection of this new US law, according to these legal experts, that says "...the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit...", the insertion of the word 'services ' has broad, and catastrophic, consequences for the American people in that any act deemed by their government to be against the Iraqi war is, in fact, supporting the 'enemy' and therefore threatens the 'stabilization of Iraq'.

In an even greater affront to the American people are the provisions of a law called The Patriot Act, http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17343res20031114.html and that should they run afoul of this new law they are forbidden to allow anyone to know about it, and as we can read as reported by the Seattle Times News Service: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/editorialsopinion/2002527215_patrioted29.html

"The act also expands the use of National Security Letters, which are a kind of warrant that the Justice Department writes for itself, authorizing its agents to seize such things as records of money movements, telephone calls and Internet visits. Recipients of a National Security Letter are not allowed to tell anyone about them, and so cannot contest them."

It is interesting to note, too, that this is not the first time that the United States has unleashed the brutal power of their government against its citizens to further their war aims and stifle domestic dissent, as during the European conflict of World War I they enacted a law called The Sedition Act of 1918 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition_Act_of_1918 and which "...forbade Americans to use "disloyal, profane, scurrilous, or abusive language" about the United States government, flag, or armed forces during war."

It is curious to note that after the enactment of this new law there has been no protest by any of the other political leaders in the United States, with the exception of the only Muslim member of the United States Congress, Minnesota Democrat Keith Ellison, http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Top_News/2007/07/17/critics_muslim_rep_likened_bush_hitler/6980/ and who compared President Bush to the Nazi War Leader Adolph Hitler by stating the attacks upon the World Trade Center could be likened to the burning of the Reichstag.

Today, as the United States faces an imminent economic collapse, http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1019.htm while at the same time its war bill has reached the staggering amount of $648 billion, http://www.kansascity.com/news/nation/story/194233.html one of the last freedoms the American people have had to protest their leaders actions against them, and other peoples in the World, has now been taken away from them, the freedom to speak and write in opposition to what is being done to them.

"If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear", http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_orwell.html said the great British writer George Orwell, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Orwell but, and sadly, liberty has been lost to the once free people of the United States who are no longer allowed to tell their leaders, or each other, what they don't want to hear.

With this being so, the American people should, likewise, contemplate their 'new' future, and as, also, stated best by George Orwell, "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face - forever." http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/george_orwell.html

http://www.whatdoesitmean.com/index1023.htm
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http://winnipeg.indymedia.org/item.php?5608S

Complacency could be Fatal

How'm I doing? You really wanna know?

I'm pissed. That's how I'm doing.

Bush's executive order on August 17th, 2007 authorizes the seizure of assets of people who speak out against the war in Iraq. First of all: It's not a war. Congress has not declared war. It is not a war. It is a crime. Bush's executive order is a violation of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. The fact that Bush has signed this executive order is in itself a high crime in that it is a betrayal of the public trust, which was vested in him (by his own sworn oath and .. this is a stretch.. by electoral vote..) to protect the Constitution, including the First Amendment.

How proud will you be when Americans are either Lords or Peasants, locked into those destinies by heredity? Isn't America supposed to be the exception to that?

How many homeless people did you see today?
How many things in your house were made in China by slaves?

How many idiots did you encounter today who think that everything is going along just fine?

When someone asks you how you are doing today, do me a favor. From now on, tell the Truth. Tell them, "I'm pissed". If you're unable to elaborate on why, due to immediate circumstances, have a short statement ready, like the one I use: "I can't talk about why here, but you can find out all about it on my website, "Peaceful Victory against Fascism dot com".

Fascism?

Yes. FASCISM.
A GOVERNMENT BOUGHT AND PAID FOR by CORPORATE INTERESTS who DON'T GIVE A DAMN about YOU or about AMERICA.

FASCISM.

It's what we fought World War II (under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt) to prevent. It's here in America Today. Have no doubt. It is a disease that has spread across the world and it depends on YOUR COMPLACENCY in order to thrive.

Yet there are smug morons all over the place saying things like "gitr dun", waving the flag, cussing congress and the courts and responsibility, while the essence of what it means to be an American, (the BILL of RIGHTS and the CONSTITUTION) are being ripped to shreds by corporate whores and a criminal, royalist, tory executive administration.

How am I doing..

I'm pissed. That's how I'm doing. I carried an M-16 for years because I thought I was defending the freedom outlined in that Bill of Rights. How can grown men in good concscience trick younger ones into that, over and over again?

What are you guys carrying arms for now? To subdue the freedoms you are sworn to protect? To Sell them off to the highest multinational bidder? To inflict the will of a CORPORATE KING on innocent people in other countries?

Do any of you even think about that oath of office you take any more?

And how about you in the News Media who warp reality, deny global warming, sell death and destruction in illegal wars, and don't even cover anything that could honestly give ordinary people a chance at truly improving things for themselves, their families or their communities? How does it feel to be a corporate whore? How does it feel to be an accomplice in the increased pain and suffering in the world that is resulting from your own personal corruption?

A civilized system of government would protect good people from the likes of you.

I would advise anyone with a conscience.. It's time to get off the bench. It's time to act for freedom. Your future depends on it.

And turn off that stupid TV. It's part of how we got into this mess.

WHAT CAN WE DO?

One thing we can do is get the word out.

http://stpeteforpeace.org/fascism.html#seizingassets
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ACTION
Ask Democracy Now! to do story on Bush's "Seizing Assets" Executive Order

* Please take a moment to send Democracy Now! an email asking them to do a feature story on Bush's "Seizing Assets" Executive Orders. (Or call 212-431-9090). The email can be as extensive as you'd like, or something simple like:

TO: [e-mail] SUBJECT: "Seizing Assets" Executive Orders Dear Democracy Now! I would appreciate it if you'd do a story on Bush's "Seizing Assets" Executive Orders. Possible guests include Matthew Rothschild, Walter Pincus, and Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU. Thank you.
LATEST NEWS ON THE SEIZING ASSETS EXECUTIVE ORDER

* Former Reagan Lawyer: New Executive Order So Broad Even Senator Clinton's Property Could Be Seized Over Iraq Policy Questions (8/3, listen).

Bush's Executive Order on Lebanon Even Worse than the One on Iraq . Anyone who engages in any act—violent or nonviolent—against the government of Lebanon can now have his or her property frozen. And it also gives the U.S. Treasury Secretary the authority to freeze the assets of "a spouse or dependent child" of any person whose property is frozen. (8/3, read)

* Jameel Jaffer of the ACLU said "This Executive Order reaches far beyond criminal activity to activity that may be entirely innocent. A person may find herself inadvertently in violation of this order and there is no provision for judicial review." (7/27, read).
* 7/25, listen to Libertarian Jacob Hornberger discusses the order (about the 40 minute mark)
* Washington Post article by Walter Pincus: "Be careful what you say and whom you help -- especially when it comes to the Iraq war and the Iraqi government" (7/23, read).
* Center for Research on Globalization: Bush Executive Order: Criminalizing the Antiwar Movement (7/20, read)
* 7/19, listen to Thom Hartmann's interview with Paul Craig Roberts, an old-line conservative and former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury under Reagan].


Bush Executive Order: Assets of Iraq War Opponents May be Seized
An Executive Order signed by Bush on July 17, 2007 titled "Blocking Property of Certain Persons Who Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq" may provide the President with the authority to confiscate the assets of whoever opposes the US led war.
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http://stpeteforpeace.org/fascism.html#seizingassets

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