Operation TIPS (Citizen Corps): Bush's plan to recruit one million domestic spies

[shance]

All of these situations described below have since occured, even though the Bush Administration claimed the program along with Total Information Awareness was shut down.

Yet one more lie it seems.

Operation TIPS now under the guise of Homeland Security and Citizen Corps?


Operation TIPS: Bush plan to recruit 1 million domestic spies


By Kate Randall
22 July 2002

Your new cable television service was just hooked up.

The local utility worker came by to read your meter.

A package was delivered to your doorstep.

Under a new program proposed by the Bush administration, the workers who visit your home to provide such services may have been recruited by the government to spy on you.

They may have already made a toll-free call to a national hotline to report “suspicious activity.”

Operation TIPS—the Terrorism Information and Prevention System—is one of the latest initiatives of the Bush administration’s “war on terrorism.”

According to a statement posted as recently as last week on the government’s web site, TIPS “will be a nationwide program giving millions of American truckers, letters carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees, and others a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity.”

The program is one component of the administration’s USA Freedom Corps and Citizens Corps, announced by Bush in his State of the Union address last January, when he called for each American to donate two years, or 4,000 hours, in his or her lifetime to “the service of your neighbors and your nation.”

In the case of Operation TIPS, workers are being called upon to serve their neighbors by spying on them for the US Justice Department. Rachel King, legislative counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union, described it as “a program that will turn local cable or gas or electrical technicians into government-sanctioned Peeping Toms.”

So clearly does the proposal smack of police-state measures reminiscent of Nazi Germany or Stalin’s GPU that a draft proposal last week from the House Select Committee on Homeland Security sought to block it, stating: “To ensure that no operation of the Department can be construed to promote citizens spying on one another, this draft will contain language to prohibit programs such as ‘Operation TIPS.’”

Following discussions with Homeland Security officials, the United States Postal Service announced that it would opt out of Operation TIPS, at least for now, eliminating letter carriers from the potential pool of spies.

(Don't think so)

The scope of this new domestic spying program as envisaged by the Bush administration would be truly breathtaking. In its pilot stage, the plan calls for recruiting 1 million workers in ten as yet unnamed cities. The Citizens Corps web site has already begun accepting queries on the program and asks those interested to check back frequently for updates. Recruits are sought “whose routines make them well-positioned to recognize unusual events, to report suspicious activity.” They are to receive special training.

The government does not spell out what would qualify as “suspicious terrorist activity.” But it is obvious that US citizens would be spied on in their homes, their schools, their places of business, at public venues, on public transport or traveling in their private vehicles.

The Fourth Amendment to the US Constitution, part of the Bill of Rights, reads:

“The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Operation TIPS stands in direct violation of this Amendment. No warrant would be required for volunteer agents to spy on citizens in their homes. TIPS spies could be expected to take note of “subversive” titles on residents’ bookshelves. Some—such as cable or Internet service installers—would have access to home computers and could potentially scout out “suspicious” Internet browsing practices.

People of Arab descent or Muslim belief could be singled out. (OH REALLY?)

Any hint of anti-government sentiment—specifically, opposition to Bush’s “war on terror”—found in people’s homes could be grounds for a TIPS agent to make a call to the hotline.

The plan calls for information gathered by these domestic spies to be entered into a government database, to be available not only to the Justice Department, but to a broad array of police agencies. Furthermore, because this information would be gathered surreptitiously, the targeted individuals would have no knowledge of the existence of intelligence files gathered on them, nor their contents.

While in its initial stages the Bush administration’s anti-democratic measures in the wake of September 11 were aimed against immigrants of Middle-Eastern and Central Asian descent, it was only a matter of time, as the World Socialist Web Site warned, for these methods to be used more widely. This program is one of the new elements in the government’s expansion of spying targeted against citizens and non-citizens alike.

In testimony July 11 before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, Attorney General John Ashcroft made it clear that the government aims to break down barriers that hinder surveillance of citizens.

He stated: “In the late 1970s, reforms were enacted in our judicial system reflecting a cultural myth that we could draw an artificial line at the border to differentiate between the threats we faced.

In accordance with this myth, officials charged with detecting and deterring those seeking to harm Americans were divided into separate and isolated camps.... FBI agents were forced to blind themselves to information readily available to the general public, including those who seek to harm us.”

The “reforms” the attorney general is referring to are restrictions imposed in 1976 in the aftermath of the Watergate crisis, when a vast domestic spying operation by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, the CIA, army intelligence and other government agencies was exposed. A series of “Attorney General Guidelines” was established which stated that political dissent or unpopular ideas could not serve as the basis for an investigation, and which limited the scope of “acceptable” surveillance and infiltration of political and religious groups. This is the “cultural myth” Ashcroft and the Bush administration now seek to junk.

There are other indications that the Bush administration seeks to broaden its “anti-terror” dragnet. A July 12 Associated Press (AP) story reports the following: “While law enforcement looks broadly for terrorists, some FBI agents are working closely with Treasury agents to conduct a more specialized search for US residents who might be working in an advisory capacity. As part of the effort, federal investigators are conducting extensive checks into the backgrounds of longtime citizens who fall under suspicion.” AP quotes an anonymous law enforcement official who says agents “are looking for people who have an affinity toward or sympathy for those carrying out terrorist attacks and provide any kind of support.”

The proposal for Operation TIPS has provoked no objections from the leadership of unions whose members would be potential informants.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has enthusiastically backed the plan as part of its support for Bush’s “war on terrorism.” On June 21, Teamsters President James P. Hoffa said he would ask union truck operators to take part in a “grass-roots homeland security effort” to look for “suspicious activity” on the road.

“We have 500,000 truck drivers on the road at any one time, and these people can be the eyes and ears of the homeland security office,” Hoffa said. The Teamsters organize 250,000 workers in United Parcel Service, the nation’s largest package carrier.

As with all of the other anti-democratic measures put into effect by the Bush administration following the September 11 terror attacks, there has been no public discussion or debate on Operation TIPS. The government has offered little information on the program, and it is unclear whether it must be approved by Congress or can be implemented by executive fiat.

Whatever the immediate fate of Operation TIPS, the plan serves as a chilling warning of the police-state methods being adopted by the political establishment.

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2002/jul2002/tips-j22_prn.shtml

[rasputin1952]

1. Trying to avoid Godwin's Law here, but this is precisely how the Gestapo

got the power it had. It was impossible for the Gestapo to monitor the population, so they enlisted the population to spy upon itself. They used fear as the prime motivator, "if you don't tell us something, you must have something to hide." At the height of the Gestapo, there were only some 700 actual agents, they operated through a network of "citizen awareness", a "good nazi" could be turn in hundreds of neighbors, w/o the slightest bit of conscience swaying them.

Rheihart Neimuller became an outspoken agent against this form of domestic terror, and for that he was jailed, tortured, but did survive the war. Many others, unsung and quite dead, followed him into the realm of defiance. Brave souls all.

The Frank family, (of Anne Frank) fame, was turned in by Dutch sympathizers of the nazis, as were millions of others. Resistance was there, but it was uncoordinated and quite small...but it was there.

The whole point is that this must be challenged now, not later. This type of thing must be brought down, burned and never allowed to rise again. Everything this nation has stood for is being crushed beneath the heels of a budding totalitarian regime. bush talks about "bringing democracy abroad", WTF...he's killing it here!

[formercia]

6. You want rats? We'll give you rats.

This is right out of the totalitarian state playbook.

It reminds me of a story from WWII.
The OSS came up with a plan to hide explosives in the bodies of taxidermied rats. They could be left most anywhere as no person would likely bother them and an application of hot pepper sauce deterred non human curiosity.
The first plane load of rat bangers was shot down on its way to deliver the cargo to the French resistance. The Germans, finding the explosive stuffed rats in the wreckage, put out an order to the French populace to deliver any rats they found to their local Gestapo headquarters. The French, not lacking a sense of humor despite the War, began to deliver rats by the wheelbarrow full, some still warm and twitching. The net effect was to cause more problems for the Germans than the original operation ever intended. The order was soon cancelled but the Germans never stopped looking for the special rats.

[AntiFascist]

15. Another strategy might be...

join the group and watch the watchers. Somehow I don't think I'm the only one with this idea.

[The Doctor.]

30. First thing I thought of too... BUT...

I somehow doubt that putting yourself firmly on their radar is necessarily worth it.

Worth consideration though.

[formercia]

37. I've been on their radar for decades

They should go bother someone who gives a shit.

Close the distance and engage.

[formercia]

38. Some points to remember.

Assume all groups are either infiltrated or created by the boys to attract potential troublemakers for identification and neutralization.

People who protest as individuals can't be charged with conspiracy.

Never allow yourself to be provoked. If you're not creative enough to come up with your own mischief, you need to find another way to entertain yourself.

[AntiFascist]

49. Operation FALCON, brainchild of Gonzo...

Here is an interesting article about Operation FALCON, which was supposed to be the brainchild of Alberto Gonzales, it stands for "Federal and Local Cops Organized Nationally" and is intended as a way of "streamlining the information-sharing processes and setting up a chain-of-command structure that radiates from the Justice Department."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article17190.htm

Also, “all forms of public gatherings or citizen's protests which question the legitimacy of the emergency procedures and the installation of a police state” would be banned. The military would be deployed to carry out “police and judicial” functions.

I wonder if the data-mining operations relate to this? In other words, conveying information to local authorities about who is likely to become a protestor of the new police state?

[formercia]

51. The right has been pushing the data-mining angle.

I think it may be a diversion.

[shance]

12. The Gestapo couldn't have succeeded without the compliance of the citizens

It's up to Americans to realize that we are all vulnerable when one person is vulnerable.

The best defense is sunlight, getting to know your neighbors and neighborhoods. Get involved and create your own Neighborhood groups if you don't like or feel your Neighborhood Watch is not doing what is should be.

Get INVOLVED.

PARTICIPATE.

BUILD RELATIONSHIPS with your neighbors and your city council members.

Build trust with those who have EARNED your trust.

[JohnyCanuck]

39. The water is deffinitely getting warmer, but the frog still thinks things are peachy in the pot

America 2007 is Germany 1930
by Norman Livergood

SNIP

How could Americans now possibly be living under a creeping dictatorship and not know it? And how could we not only not see a police state condition but actually think we're living in complete freedom?

Because most of us don't WANT to know what's going on. We've lost the ability to think critically about political, economic, and social dangers confronting us.

If we have a job--as most people did in Nazi Germany--if the political-economic system seems stable--as it does in America--then that's all we want to know.

To the Germans in Mayer's study, each occasion of Nazi violence was worse than the last, but only a little worse. So they waited for the one shocking event, thinking that they would join with others if or when it happened. But as the violence escalated, no one rose up to condemn the concentration camps and general oppression. No one wanted to act alone, and when a mass uprising failed to occur, the common people just let events take their course. They progressively lost the ability to understand the horror of Nazism and the will to oppose it.

Similarly, we don't see the growing fascism in America and the world because we don't want to see it and because it happens somewhat gradually, which makes it almost imperceptible to those who don't think critically. Everything in your society--Nazi Germany or twenty-first century America--seems so ordinary.

http://www.hermes-press.com/germany1930.htm

[rasputin1952]

44. The most successful and lasting changes in a society are those that

are incrementally applied. When it becomes apparent that changes have taken place, people have given away their right to protest said changes.

bush and his cronies have learned the lessons of history well; but since most people simply don't give a damn as long as they are "getting along", they just let the river flow on.

As I've stated before, the neo-cons are attempting to establish a new "royalty", and they are well on their way to doing so...:(

[LiberalFighter]

2. Since they may enlist service workers it may be more important now than ever

to demand those service workers to provide their identification to ensure they are who they are.

And keep a log of them.

[shance]

14. Interesting point. Not sure what you mean as far as identification.

Do you mean to get their licensing number in order to have a record?

Sounds like a good idea.

[LiberalFighter]

22. So you never heard about checking with the head office to make

sure the utility person is who they say they are?

[shance]

27. Actually I haven't. We can only hope the phone number is directed to

the "head quarters".

Apparently from what we are now learning, there is alot of redirecting phone calls to places claiming to be 'head quarters'.

[LiberalFighter]

3. I wouldn't trust anyone from the Hoffa family

[formercia]

9. Agreed. n/t

[Selatius]

4. During WWI, Woodrow Wilson recruited roughly 200,000 "volunteers" to attack anti-war activists

He single-handedly crushed the anti-war movement by jailing the movement's leaders and provoked America's first Red Scare. The laws against speaking out against the war were nothing short of totalitarian. It wasn't under McCarthy that the first Red Scare occurred but under President Wilson. People forget so quickly. Look up the Sedition Act and the Espionage Act.

[defendandprotect]

59. I think there were 75,000 of them on the streets in NYC because .....

as I recall it, the Irish immigrants were very anti-war . . . just for one group.

[VP505]

5. Really scary

to think where we are headed with this type of crap. I hope our Reps have the good sense to make damned sure that Joe or Jane six packs can sue the asses off of someone who abuses one of those programs or at least have some guaranteed recourse if falsely accused. It would be far better to stop any kind of program like that before they have a chance to become law..

[formercia]

7. People will abuse it.

to satisfy some personal vendetta against a neighbor. History has shown it doesn't work.

[shance]

13. Doesn't work if neighbors know each other well enough and are essentially fair.

Sunlight is the best disinfectant.

Put the spotlight in those areas that need it.

[defendandprotect]

60. When they start threatening people to produce information . .. .

then fairness and and personal feelings may sour --

Or, maybe someone needs a favor . . ..

[Jensen]

8. He wants to emulate Fidel Castro!

[formercia]

41. The comparison to Castro is valid.

There were many who participated in the Cuban Revolution against 'Caudillo' Batista who genuinely believed that Castro would bring needed reforms to Cuba. Castro was smart by recruiting a massive network of informers and expanding the Cuban G-2( Now called the DGI). When the Bay of Pigs invasion took place, Castro lost all need for pretense and activated his network and rolled up tens of thousands. A couple of thousand went to the firing squad.

What had been a shaky political coalition became a dictatorship overnight.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caudillo

[Double T]

10. Looks like the fuhrer is assembling his Gestapo SS-Gruppenfuehrer............

while halliburton continues to build the internment camps.

[shance]

11. What are you going to do about it? Just accept it?

Are you not going to try and protect what's been given to you?

My suggestion to you and others is to start opening up the lines of communication and talking with others about what is going on and what is being done in our name.

[Double T]

17. I accept NOTHING. The masses have finally awakened to the fact that .........

their nation and their future has been sold out. As Grandpa Franklin so wisely stated: "We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately."

[shance]

36. Hanging? We had enough of innocent victims hanging in this country.

Don't think we should "hang" together.

Let's all thrive together.

I believe we should all come together in love, acceptance, understanding and celebration of each other.

That will make our lives 'fucking' awesome.

Will it take mutual sacrifice?

Absolutely .

And we can ALL do that and love it at the same time.

Does it take more effort?

Sure.

Its easier to hate and sexually degrade. Gives everyone an easy orgasm.

Then we don't have to invest our hearts.

We can just objectify everyone.

That's the way cowards work.

They are afraid of true love and investment. No one who lives authentically leaves this planet without feeling the richness and beauty of pain.

But that is where 'life is all about'.

That is where the true rush is.

That is what makes us pure and real.

That is the "click".

As such those who avoid pain, like those in this Administration, live empty lives worthy of nothing but using others and expending the resources of this planet that makes it beautiful.

Why?

Because when we all love we all learn how to give and how to receive.

It's that simple.

Although capitalism and a brainwashing/CIA directed media and communications conglomerate tells us differently

[datasuspect]

24. die Volkskorps! ein Blut, ein Volk, ein Reich!

Amerika ueber alles!

[shance]

16. Also, keep track of the similarities happening around the neighborhood.

Cars, vans hanging around. Cars hanging around with for sale signs on them.

People hanging out around the neighborhoods on computers.

I and other neighborhood friends have noticed numbers in the back windows of cars. Things like that.

Have noticed a growing number of kids, of middle/high school, some rather disheveled whom I've never seen before.

They hang out in their cars, tinted windows and usually have their lights on bright during the day.

See what you notice that seems off.

Around my neighborhood around the same time at night there is a car that honks one time on the corner of my block.

Why?

Just pay attention and build relationships/friendships with those you trust and have known for a while.

Trust your instincts and observe.

[pitohui]

45. you clearly have open drug dealing going on in your neighborhood

those are drug dealers, not gov't agents, take it from one who knows

in one neighborhood i once lived in, hopeless to report it, because the police were getting pay-offs from the business, in my current neighborhood, a quick phone call to the cops about suspicious folk "hanging out" will result in quick action

young people hanging out all day, especially in cars, in miserably hot weather in summer, are not just hanging out to be cool or they'd do it in the mall, this is drug traffic (occasionally underaged alcohol traffic) and needs to be nipped in the bud before the neighborhood is destroyed

"observe" is not enough, sometimes you need to pick up the phone

i assure you from your description this is what is happening, but if you are still unsure, simply call the police and tell them that parked cars, with people in them, are outside such and such address for such and such number of hours, you don't have to offer your own interpretation of what is probably going on, the cops are pretty smart, they can figure it out

[AntiFascist]

50. Exactly...

drug-dealing and gangs are exactly what is driving the need for neighborhood watch programs. What does the CIA have to do with drug dealing, I wonder? I'm not implying that there are CIA agents in the neighborhood, but we haven't exactly defeated the drug problem lately, now have we?

[pitohui]

54. ok point taken

i wouldn't be surprised if the cia was involved in it, in my drug dealing neighborhood there were kids who had never seen the mississippi river or the french quarter of new orleans, only ten miles away, for fuck's sure they never went to bolivia to pick up the marching powder they were selling

at the time i put all the blame on the local police (i personally observed "envelopes" being picked up) but it is probable that someone else actually went and fetched the product, amd i have to admit it crossed my mind to wonder who exactly

i have never heard of anyone growing coca in the usa, pot sure, but coca...it does make you wonder

[AntiFascist]

56. Even pot can come from elsewhere...

I know of a middle class neighborhood that recently experienced a situation due to competition with a gang originating in Central America that was moving up into Southern California. There are reasons to assume that the dispute had to do with pot dealing.

[pitohui]

66. true

the open cocaine processing and selling, in flat wet southeast louisiana where no coca can grow, makes it pretty obvious that the product is coming from somewhere far beyond where these kids, young men, and housewives that i saw working in the business could ever travel

it's just so blatant

at least w. pot, the gov't could somewhat pretend that it was grown in a mountain in arkansas or in somebody's hydroponic's closet or some such

but sure there are big businesses -- and who knows, maybe too big gov't agencies or officials -- involved in importing the pot too, almost has to be

[shance]

62. That may be what some want to portray, but that is not the reality.

Why are you so adamant to declare you know for a fact its drug dealing?

Do you live in my neighborhood?

If you did, you would know that atleast on my block there is no drug dealing going on.

[Forkboy]

64. Your description was exactly like my neighborhood.

And you don't know there's no drug dealing going on unless you're doing the purchasing. :)

Seriously,whether you live in a fancy neighborhood or a run down neighborhood there's a good chance someone nearby is dealing something.

Not all drug dealers and users are shady looking.Some wear suits and ties,and twenty years ago I knew one who wore a badge (dealer,not user). :shrug:

[pitohui]

65. what you describe is drugs being dealt, it's a completely classic set-up

sorry, friend, if i had realized that you really didn't know, i probably wouldn't have said anything

in my old neighborhood where this behavior was going on, i was stupid enough to point out the activity to another neighbor, who had lived there a decade and somehow managed not to see it, i still feel bad, because once he really started to look and to observe and then to try to act to get the drug dealers removed, it got quite dangerous for him, at one point he was physically beaten up by some of the dealers, at another point when he was visiting my home they actually shot into our house trying to take him out

sometimes ignorance is bliss, my friend

you are obviously afraid of something, i say go with occam's razor, it is far more likely that the authorities who are corrupt are local police etc. than the cia, and that the corruption involves the buying and selling of drugs and weapons, rather than "information services"

i never heard of any spies ruining a neighborhood or its property values, nor do their houses tend to catch on fire the way meth labs and crack houses do, so i hope for your sake that you are correct about what it is happening...but the odds are greater than 1,000 to 1 that what you have is good old fashioned drug selling

sorry

i don't have to live on your block to guarantee that there IS drug dealing going on

talk to a law enforcement officer you trust, tell him what you have posted here, and see what he says

[shance]

67. Pitohui, you have shown your true colors in other posts, telling others

who have written prolific words, that you felt they needed "therapy".

What a callous, shallow, and at the same time laughable response to tell someone else, albeit a gifted writer and observer, that they need "therapy".

Perhaps it is in fact you who needs the further examination into your own life, instead of so quickly casting unwarranted judgement on someone elses.

[triguy46]

18. The Cultural Revolution 41 years later....

I am especially excited about kids turning in their parents.

[Blackhatjack]

19. this will eventually be imposed as the 'patriotic duty' of our children to spy and report on ...

...neighbors, friends, strangers, extended family, mommy & daddy and sis and brother.

What a wonderful world that will be!

[shance]

20. Why all the defeatist talk? Do Americans just resign to everything?

Not me and not many others.

Being a patriotic American involves alot more than singing the Star Spangled Banner.

Im surprised at some of the answers here.

Its as if we have no capabilities at our disposal.

Of course we do.

Not to mention this involves all of us.

The fact that everyone should be concerned about this is a 'no-brainer'.

Because everyones civil liberties are at stake, so everyone and their livlihoods are potentially threatened.

[annabanana]

21. As a child in the 50's, I was scared with stories of children "turning in"

their parents, and jack-booted thugs breaking down doors in the middle of the night to take people away. This was the evil empire, the RUSSIANS... the worst of the bad guys who wanted to hit us with nuclear bombs...

[IChing]

23. Attention Colorado: (Stasi)State Police wants you to spy on your neighbors

This was an old post of mine.......from over a year ago.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=364x2187363

Which I included a description of the Stasi


Stasi

The Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS / Ministry for State Security), commonly known as the Stasi (from Staatssicherheit), was the main security (secret police) and intelligence organization of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany).

The Stasi's influence over almost every aspect of life in the German Democratic Republic cannot be overestimated. Until the mid-1980s, a civilian network of informants called Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter (IMs, Unofficial Collaborators) grew within both Germanies, East and West. By the East German collapse in 1989, it is estimated that the Stasi had 91,000 full time employees and 300,000 informants. This means approximately one in fifty East Germans collaborated with the Stasi, one of the highest penetrations of any society by an intelligence gathering organization


During the regime's final days in 1989-90, panicking Stasi officials attempted to shred the files of their documents, both using paper shredders and tearing them by hand when the shredders collapsed under the load. The hastily stored bags of paper pieces were found soon after and confiscated by the new government. In 1995, the German government hired a Zirndorf team to reassemble the documents; 6 years later the three dozen archivists commissioned on the projects were through only 300 bags; they then switched to computer-assisted data recovery to process the remaining 16,000 bags - estimated to contain 33 million pages. <4>

[alfredo]

25. They wanted the post office to take part but they resisted. It would

have put the carriers at risk.

[shance]

32. I would disagree. I think the Post Office has agreed to such invasions. The Librarians however

have taken an incredible stand and as such they have sacrificed.

There are certainly those in the Post office who have resisted.

However there are those who haven't with in the Post office.

However those with in the US Library system have earned incredible accolades and appreciation for their fierce commitment to the Constitution and to doing what is right.

XO

[alfredo]

47. I was a postman, and still a union member. There was no support for

such activities. We carriers depend on the good will of our customers. If we were seen as snitches, our lives would be in danger. We do work in dangerous neighborhoods, and it is important that we are not seen as the enemy.

[Tom Joad]

26. There was a woman who posted at DU, mostly in the Israel/Palestine forum

who threatened to report anyone who opposed Israeli/US policy.
thankfully, she is no longer with us.

[IChing]

28. At any given time this site has between

2%-6% of all viewers using government servers.

there are programs you can use . http://www.sitepronews.com/

[shance]

35. Saddens me beyond that those of Arabian/Arab descent are being demonized

when they are not the ones who are fueling the fires.

My hope is everyone will wake up to the truth of all that is happening.

It is not about race, it is about greed and ironically scapegoating those who happen to look "non-european" and/or non-white.

Am I wrong?

Please show me where I am wrong.

I myself am a white Protestant/Catholic English/Irish woman who resides from those who are often scapegoating those who deserve nothing more than the most equal amount of respect and dignity we all deserve.

[autorank]

29. K*R Spare me, OMG!!!

Hi Schance, just terrific! Now malcontents all over the country can even the score by turning
in those whom they've only been able to challenge in paranoid fantasies. I'll never forgive this,
never understand any participants, never.

[shance]

31. Precious Auto*, who knew that money and greed would create such corruption?

But inevitably it has.

Now there are those in our own neighborhoods who have either been hired or have been recruited to scapegoat and demonize those whom they can somehow blame for the actions of those of great wealth who are looting our country, our future and our childrens future.

Ain't it special?

[autorank]

57. There was a TV show in the 50's

about some guy who spied for the FBI, maybe the title was "I spied for the FBI." I was about 6 and watched it for some reason. The guy was undercover in a Communist cell. His wife, who didn't like it first, joined the Communist Party because the guy could not reveal his big spy job even to her. This produced my first politically aware moment. I announced to my parents that he was a very bad man because he was hurting his wife (who had a kid, I believe). That was the last time that show was on in our house;). Imagine my sense of justification some years later when I found out that the head of the FBI at that time was an idiot who denied the existence of organized crime, dressed in drag in private while promoting a totally macho (anti gay) image, and lacked any effectiveness against the big crime problems. This snitch program is an act of desperation. It won't fly but it will tell America how
desperate * is.

:hi:

[OneBlueSky]

33. try as we might to not equate BushCo with Nazism . . .

they keep giving us reasons to do just that . . . this TIPS thing is directly out of the Nazi playbook . . . had a pretty good run in the communist Soviet Union, too, as I recall . . .

[shance]

34. Power abuse seems to be all the same does it not? The remedy is our unity and understanding.

Its that simple.

If we don't play, they don't win at our expense.

We are talking from a wealthy middle/upper class to accentuate the point.

[NuttyFluffers]

40. YAY! we all get to harass the evil GOP fu**ers in each of our lives!

and we get to tie up security services with wild goose chases! this is wonderful news! everyone register republican, visit a republican group, and then start using all those names to "out them" to the authorities! yay! i get to ruin people's lives for entertainment value! this is wonderful news! }(
... though it is technically bad for the state of our republic. :shrug:

[TheCentepedeShoes]

42. I have thoughtfully arranged

all my anti-** books together on the bookshelf. Don't even need to come into the house, just peep through the dining room window.

[Hubert Flottz]

43. The Million Barney Fife Secret Police...

There goes the GOPer's claim to less government intrusion into our lives. Another GOP pillar crashes and burns in the name of fighting the terraists...the terrorists win yet another round in their effort to spook America into being less than American and the GOP helps the terraists do us in.

surge heil

[Lars39]

46. Or Mrs Kravitz.

Abnah, look what that woman's doing now! Abnah!

[shance]

48. Or both!

;)

[Cha]

52. But, the bushits are not budding nazis,

right?

This is worth a Recommend to The Greatest Page.

Nobody like that comes to my place and but if they did I would certainly think twice about what they were looking around for.

Is that shite gonna fly?

[cui bono]

53. kick and tried to rec... too late. :( n/t

[BlooInBloo]

55. ROFLMAO! Yah - lemme know how that goes.

[Nevernose]

58. You shouldda higlighted THIS part:

In testimony July 11 before the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, Attorney General John Ashcroft made it clear that the government aims to break down barriers that hinder surveillance of citizens.

He stated: “In the late 1970s, reforms were enacted in our judicial system reflecting a cultural myth that we could draw an artificial line at the border to differentiate between the threats we faced.
...
The “reforms” the attorney general is referring to are restrictions imposed in 1976 in the aftermath of the Watergate crisis, when a vast domestic spying operation by J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI, the CIA, army intelligence and other government agencies was exposed. A series of “Attorney General Guidelines” was established which stated that political dissent or unpopular ideas could not serve as the basis for an investigation, and which limited the scope of “acceptable” surveillance and infiltration of political and religious groups. This is the “cultural myth” Ashcroft and the Bush administration now seek to junk.

I hadn't ever read that quote before. Although most of us have long suspected it, the fact that they're so willing to openly talk about spying on their political enemies is scarier than usual.

[shance]

63. Thanks Nevernose* It is interesting if we pay attention to what they are saying

they often commit their crimes in broad daylight.

[nini]

61. Once again FUCK THE TEAMSTERS!!!

Their's is the only picket line I'll cross :grr: