Martin Blank
7th January 2006, 03:17
Lead article from the January 2006 edition of Working People's Advocate (http://www.communistleague.org/wpa/wpa200601.pdf), monthly newspaper and voice of the Communist League.
When the George W. Bush regime took power in 2001, it opened a new period in history — a period when the old norms that people identified as “American democracy” were systematically stripped from society as a whole.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, provided the opportunity for the Bush regime to begin implementing the totalitarian policies associated with this new period in earnest.
Beginning with the passage of the USA-PATRIOT Act in October 2001, the rights most U.S. citizens took for granted began to slowly and silently disappear.
In the more than four years since, the erosion of democratic rights has continued in the name of “homeland security” and conducting the “war on terror.”
Until recently, it was thought that many of the police-state policies were being implemented piecemeal, as circumstances permitted.
But a recent exposé by reporters from the New York Times has now brought to light the fact that, in reality, these measures began almost immediately after “9/11” in full force.
The Dec. 16 article in the Times disclosed that Bush personally authorized and repeatedly reauthorized the implementation of a massive surveillance of e-mail messages and telephone calls originating in the U.S.
The story goes like this: In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, and with the recent incidents of anthrax being mailed to prominent Democratic lawmakers still in the headlines, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing “any measures necessary” to launch the “war on terror.”
For most people, this was seen as little more than a “blank check” for invading Afghanistan and conducting military operations related to tracking down the leaders of the al-Qa’ida organization, most notably Osama bin Laden.
For the Bush regime, however, this piece of legislation was equivalent to an “enabling act,” authorizing the Executive Branch of the government to assume full police powers, including the ability to unleash the resources of the National Security Agency on the people of the U.S.
The documents outlining the extent of the domestic surveillance initiated by the Bush regime were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought in response to reports of FBI surveillance of about 150 social activist groups.
Organizations deemed worthy of surveillance included the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Greenpeace and the Catholic Worker organization (the FBI defined the Catholic Worker as having a “semi-communistic ideology” [sic!]).
In addition to the NSA and FBI surveillance, the Pentagon also conducted surveillance on activists and organizations suspected of participating in counter-recruiting, conscientious objector counseling and other military-related activism.
All of these incidents of surveillance of individuals and organizations that see themselves as being in opposition to the policies and actions of the Bush regime were authorized and conducted without the approval of a body called the “FISA court.”
“FISA” stands for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a piece of legislation adopted in 1978 after the exposure of the FBI’s COINTELPRO (Counter-Intelligence Program) and similar programs run by the NSA and CIA.
The court was set up as a means of providing a legal fig-leaf for covert surveillance against domestic dissent.
In the nearly 30 years that the “FISA court” has been active, it has authorized nearly all petitions put to it by the FBI and other intelligence services for approval of domestic surveillance.
The fact that the Bush regime felt that even this secret court was too much of a challenge to his authority is a testament to the level of absolutism and dictatorship being demanded by the Bush regime today.
Clearly, this new network of domestic surveillance being orchestrated by the White House is nothing more than the COINTELPRO of the 21st century — the Son of COINTELPRO.
In spite of all the statements from the Bush regime and intelligence services to the contrary, there can be little doubt that these secret wiretaps and other surveillance go well beyond supposed “terrorists.”
Or, more to the point, given that the USA-PATRIOT Act so broadly defines what is “terrorism” and who is a “terrorist,” virtually all forms of dissent practiced in this country are being regarded as a threat to the current regime.
In addition, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Bush regime has no intention of allowing either of the two other Constitutional branches of the U.S. government to stand in the way. This has been seen recently in two concrete examples.
On Dec. 30, as most people were getting ready to celebrate the coming of the New Year, Bush signed the latest appropriations bill for the Dept. of Defense.
Contained in that bill was a provision, authored by Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, outlawing the use of torture and other kinds of “brutal, inhumane and cruel punishment.”
However, when Bush signed the bill into law, he also issued an imperial decree, known as a “Signing Statement,” declaring that he would, in fact, discard the McCain provision when he saw fit.
Three days later, Bush signed another bill, this one related to appropriations for the federal courts.
Contained in that bill was a provision co-sponsored by Florida Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham and Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin stripping the federal courts of the right to hear petitions of habeas corpus.
Immediately after that bill was signed into law, the Dept. of Justice sent notice to all federal judges declaring that it intended to seek the dismissal of all pending habeas corpus petitions from prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
We are all now faced with a new development in the consolidation of the corporatist regime.
No longer is it a question of pragmatic, piecemeal attacks. As of now, all the pieces are in place for the full imposition of a brutal police state in the U.S.
This development places new tasks in front of working people in general and communists in particular.
We are no longer dealing with a regime that has the potential to establish a dictatorship and police state. It has now “lived up to its potential” and has finalized its preparations.
All that needs to be done is to “pull the trigger” on the implementation of this plan. The metaphorical ball is in the Bush regime’s court ... so to speak.
The question now centers on defense.
There is now little doubt that if working people begin to fight for their rights and their livelihoods, they will find themselves face-to-face with the armed enforcers of this new capitalist “order.”
And if history is any guide, these hired guns of the ruling class and its state will not hesitate to use force against us.
The Communist League appeals to all working people to begin to address this question of defense now, and not wait until blood begins to flow.
We must be prepared to defend our rights, our livelihoods, our organizations, our communities and ourselves (as individuals and as a class) by any means necessary.
###
When the George W. Bush regime took power in 2001, it opened a new period in history — a period when the old norms that people identified as “American democracy” were systematically stripped from society as a whole.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, provided the opportunity for the Bush regime to begin implementing the totalitarian policies associated with this new period in earnest.
Beginning with the passage of the USA-PATRIOT Act in October 2001, the rights most U.S. citizens took for granted began to slowly and silently disappear.
In the more than four years since, the erosion of democratic rights has continued in the name of “homeland security” and conducting the “war on terror.”
Until recently, it was thought that many of the police-state policies were being implemented piecemeal, as circumstances permitted.
But a recent exposé by reporters from the New York Times has now brought to light the fact that, in reality, these measures began almost immediately after “9/11” in full force.
The Dec. 16 article in the Times disclosed that Bush personally authorized and repeatedly reauthorized the implementation of a massive surveillance of e-mail messages and telephone calls originating in the U.S.
The story goes like this: In the immediate aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks, and with the recent incidents of anthrax being mailed to prominent Democratic lawmakers still in the headlines, Congress passed a joint resolution authorizing “any measures necessary” to launch the “war on terror.”
For most people, this was seen as little more than a “blank check” for invading Afghanistan and conducting military operations related to tracking down the leaders of the al-Qa’ida organization, most notably Osama bin Laden.
For the Bush regime, however, this piece of legislation was equivalent to an “enabling act,” authorizing the Executive Branch of the government to assume full police powers, including the ability to unleash the resources of the National Security Agency on the people of the U.S.
The documents outlining the extent of the domestic surveillance initiated by the Bush regime were obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought in response to reports of FBI surveillance of about 150 social activist groups.
Organizations deemed worthy of surveillance included the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Greenpeace and the Catholic Worker organization (the FBI defined the Catholic Worker as having a “semi-communistic ideology” [sic!]).
In addition to the NSA and FBI surveillance, the Pentagon also conducted surveillance on activists and organizations suspected of participating in counter-recruiting, conscientious objector counseling and other military-related activism.
All of these incidents of surveillance of individuals and organizations that see themselves as being in opposition to the policies and actions of the Bush regime were authorized and conducted without the approval of a body called the “FISA court.”
“FISA” stands for Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a piece of legislation adopted in 1978 after the exposure of the FBI’s COINTELPRO (Counter-Intelligence Program) and similar programs run by the NSA and CIA.
The court was set up as a means of providing a legal fig-leaf for covert surveillance against domestic dissent.
In the nearly 30 years that the “FISA court” has been active, it has authorized nearly all petitions put to it by the FBI and other intelligence services for approval of domestic surveillance.
The fact that the Bush regime felt that even this secret court was too much of a challenge to his authority is a testament to the level of absolutism and dictatorship being demanded by the Bush regime today.
Clearly, this new network of domestic surveillance being orchestrated by the White House is nothing more than the COINTELPRO of the 21st century — the Son of COINTELPRO.
In spite of all the statements from the Bush regime and intelligence services to the contrary, there can be little doubt that these secret wiretaps and other surveillance go well beyond supposed “terrorists.”
Or, more to the point, given that the USA-PATRIOT Act so broadly defines what is “terrorism” and who is a “terrorist,” virtually all forms of dissent practiced in this country are being regarded as a threat to the current regime.
In addition, it is becoming increasingly clear that the Bush regime has no intention of allowing either of the two other Constitutional branches of the U.S. government to stand in the way. This has been seen recently in two concrete examples.
On Dec. 30, as most people were getting ready to celebrate the coming of the New Year, Bush signed the latest appropriations bill for the Dept. of Defense.
Contained in that bill was a provision, authored by Arizona Republican Senator John McCain, outlawing the use of torture and other kinds of “brutal, inhumane and cruel punishment.”
However, when Bush signed the bill into law, he also issued an imperial decree, known as a “Signing Statement,” declaring that he would, in fact, discard the McCain provision when he saw fit.
Three days later, Bush signed another bill, this one related to appropriations for the federal courts.
Contained in that bill was a provision co-sponsored by Florida Republican Sen. Lindsay Graham and Michigan Democratic Sen. Carl Levin stripping the federal courts of the right to hear petitions of habeas corpus.
Immediately after that bill was signed into law, the Dept. of Justice sent notice to all federal judges declaring that it intended to seek the dismissal of all pending habeas corpus petitions from prisoners held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
We are all now faced with a new development in the consolidation of the corporatist regime.
No longer is it a question of pragmatic, piecemeal attacks. As of now, all the pieces are in place for the full imposition of a brutal police state in the U.S.
This development places new tasks in front of working people in general and communists in particular.
We are no longer dealing with a regime that has the potential to establish a dictatorship and police state. It has now “lived up to its potential” and has finalized its preparations.
All that needs to be done is to “pull the trigger” on the implementation of this plan. The metaphorical ball is in the Bush regime’s court ... so to speak.
The question now centers on defense.
There is now little doubt that if working people begin to fight for their rights and their livelihoods, they will find themselves face-to-face with the armed enforcers of this new capitalist “order.”
And if history is any guide, these hired guns of the ruling class and its state will not hesitate to use force against us.
The Communist League appeals to all working people to begin to address this question of defense now, and not wait until blood begins to flow.
We must be prepared to defend our rights, our livelihoods, our organizations, our communities and ourselves (as individuals and as a class) by any means necessary.
###