Everything Old is New Again

[lance]

Hey all,

So have you been keeping on all the news about domestic spying by the Executive branch on such subversives as PETA, Greenpeace and the Catholic Workers Group? Catholic workers group does charitable work with the poor.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=5063305

When I think subversives I think Catholic Workers Group.

From the FBI:

"...the Catholic Workers Group advocates a communist distribution of resources."

Oh yes, because communism is a threat to the US. Oh wait, communism hasn't been a threat to the US since 1991 when the Soviet Union collapsed.

The Department of Defense meanwhile has been spying on antiwar protestors and keeping files on them as part of their project TALON. This includes keeping files on Quaker anti war protestors.

You know when I think terrorists I think: Quakers.

Also leads to the question: What the -blank- is the DOD doing spying on US citizens?


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=5055412

The sad thing is that this isn't really news to us on the left. My mom's Freedom of Information Act file showed that in the 80s the FBI spied on the Peace group that she was a part of. What is news is the sheer scale of the spying: not just the NSA but also the FBI and the Department of Defense.

Interestingly enough some of the very same people who served Nixon and Ford are part of the new wave of justifications for destroying what remains of the US Bill of Rights, may it rest in peace.

(Que Lee Greenwood's "Proud to be an American"

-LanceMan

[starbug]

Lance,

Yep, I'd heard of this, but like you I was totally unsuprised. My aunt was spied on during the 70s because she was quite an activist. She attended quite a number of protests, organised a local group of 'dissidents', and she and my uncle made repeated trips to Chile to rescue people there from Allende's rule and help them claim entry to the USA. Apparently this, in particular, marks you out as being subversive.

So anyway, a few years ago the FBI admitted they had a file on my aunt and had spied on her. You can read about it here:
http://www.publiceye.org/huntred/Hunt_F ... ce-06.html

What I think is new about the spying allegations is that they are justified using the banner of 'terrorism' which puts them in the same category as Bin Laden. 'Connections' to terrorism? Ho hum.

my *sigh* when I read this stuff gets louder and louder. One day I might just snap and make the journey to the good old USA and become an activist myself. Mind you, there's the Bliar mess over here to sort out too....

[lance]

Lance,

Yep, I'd heard of this, but like you I was totally unsuprised. My aunt was spied on during the 70s because she was quite an activist. She attended quite a number of protests, organised a local group of 'dissidents', and she and my uncle made repeated trips to Chile to rescue people there from Allende's rule and help them claim entry to the USA. Apparently this, in particular, marks you out as being subversive.

So anyway, a few years ago the FBI admitted they had a file on my aunt and had spied on her. You can read about it here:
http://www.publiceye.org/huntred/Hunt_F ... ce-06.html

What I think is new about the spying allegations is that they are justified using the banner of 'terrorism' which puts them in the same category as Bin Laden. 'Connections' to terrorism? Ho hum.

my *sigh* when I read this stuff gets louder and louder. One day I might just snap and make the journey to the good old USA and become an activist myself. Mind you, there's the Bliar mess over here to sort out too....

Good for you aunt. Like I said mom had one too. She went to Nicaragua in 84 to see for herself what was going on. Perhaps working for the Church also marks her "as a possible communist insurgent". Which if you know my mom is hilarious. Should you decide to come over here and help out, my door and spare bed are always open for you.

-LanceMan

[Nothingman]

I feel sorry for the guy spying on me. He's going to need many years of therapy. Many, many, years of therapy.

[emmie]

well, I guess there is always the I-led-such-an-important-life-I-got-spied-on way to look at it. not everyone has that.

[lance]

More on Department of Defense spying:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10965509/site/newsweek/

-LanceMan