Why Did the Feds Look the Other Way as OWS Protestors Were Threatened?

“Power grows by what it feeds on. Order is more important than liberty, and at all costs order must be enforced upon the many. The few have little need for law. …The business of the courts is to enforce order upon the great mass who must depend upon the few for the means of life. To enforce order upon them means they can only live in certain ways.” – Clarence Darrow, ‘Resist Not Evil’, 1902, p. 47


It seems almost light years distant in space and an eon in time, but barely two years ago the Occupy movement swept the US of A. By early October, the movement arrived in Houston, Texas, whereupon law enforcement officials and the city’s banking and oil industry executives went ape shit even more so than they did in some other cities. The push-back took the form of violent assaults by police on Occupy activists, federal and local surveillance of people seen as organizers, infiltration by police provocateurs—and, as crazy as it sounds, a plot to assassinate the “leaders” of this non-violent and leaderless movement. Don’t take my word for it. Here’s what the document obtained from the Houston FBI, said as received by David Lindorff (see also: http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/1494 )

"An identified [DELETED] as of October planned to engage in sniper attacks against protestors (sic) in Houston, Texas if deemed necessary. An identified [DELETED] had received intelligence that indicated the protesters in New York and Seattle planned similar protests in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. [DELETED] planned to gather intelligence against the leaders of the protest groups and obtain photographs, then formulate a plan to kill the leadership via suppressed sniper rifles."

Lindorff, writing in a separate blog, observed:

"Paul Kennedy, the National Lawyers Guild attorney in Houston who represented a number of Occupy Houston activists arrested during the protests, had not heard of the sniper plot, but said, “I find it hard to believe that such information would have been known to the FBI and that we would not have been told about it.” He then added darkly, “If it had been some right-wing group plotting such an action, something would have been done. But if it is something law enforcement was planning, then nothing would have been done. It might seem hard to believe that a law enforcement agency would do such a thing, but I wouldn’t put it past them.”

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And this is where the material for this blog post commences. Because make no mistake, though the feds obviously knew of the plans to assassinate OWS leaders etc. they looked the other way. WHY? And why has this story received so little attention from the media? More to the point, if a vast database is being used to pinpoint protestors and circulate their names via huge interconnected archives and "fusion centers" -  even and up to the point of facilitating assassination by 3rd parties-  why are so few taking note?

Incredibly, as the 3rd week of the Snowden media circus ends, half the American people appear to be somnolent Dumbos, prepared to give carte blanche to the security state to take away their rights all the while the corporate media continues its sideshow over the Edward Snowden manhunt. Of course, the hoopla surrounding the manhunt is easier to grasp – for dumbos: WHERE is Snowden? WHO is helping him? WHERE will he go next? WHAT nation will extradite him? WHAT will his girlfriend do now?

Much more difficult, and parlous, is to consider what Snowden has left us with – the appalling reality of mass collection of data of every single American, but for what purpose? It should not take a genius IQ to see the real reason behind the NSA mass surveillance that Snowden exposed for us is our own regulation and control, not any “terrorist” attacks. (Which as one Rand Corp. professional noted have a minimal probability of affecting any given American). Two hints for the sentient can be found below:


1) The security state has already turned its cold eyes and scrutiny on the Occupy Wall Street movement, noting its every move and even ignoring threats to shoot the protestors in Houston (see photo)


2) The security state, under tyrannical mandates (Sec. 201) in the “Patriot Act” (recall Samuel Johnson’s words; ‘Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel’) overthrew the original 1978 FISA law requiring specific warrants to rubber stamp mass warrants that are egregious violations of the 4th amendment.

Read the words of the fourth amendment again:

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.


Note the emphasis on the PEOPLE (and btw, not merely Americans!) to be secure in their persons, papers, effects. Obviously, one million metadata files rubber stamped by a Kangaroo FISA make believe “court” cannot meet the 4th’s standard since personhood is endowed in the individual. This is why the 4th pivots on the right to privacy since it is ludicrous to suggest ten million have “privacy” in mass metadata files! Note also “persons or things to be seized” which fairly screams specificity and individuality. But see, the Bushies were hamstrung by these ponderous and inefficient demands, and hence did mass warrantless wiretaps, and data scooping. We snoozed and let the bastards do it, then snoozed again as traitors in the ruling class congress (our so-called reps) altered the FISA law to make it consistent with the criminal warrantless wiretaps, including the seizures and data collection. We all ought to be ashamed!


Snowden has given us a second chance at citizen rehabilitation and preserving our frayed civil liberties but too many ‘Muricans would rather attack him as a "traitor" or watch ‘Big Brother’ or ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ or post non-stop bollocks on their Facebook Walls. No wonder Curtis White in his book, ‘The Middle Mind: Why Americans Don’t Think for Themselves’ – essentially exposed (even as he deplored)  how and why most of us flee like screaming ninnies from facing the hard questions or examining the subtext of the propaganda we get fed 24/7.

White's contention, well supported in his book, is that an entire government -corporate PR structure exists to manage the public mind. This is to ensure its collective thoughts don't veer too far off the beaten path, or into realms that seriously question or challenge the powers-that -be. As he puts it (p.12):

"We have the lovely pretense of serious inquiry: no one gets hurt and no one has to worry that something undesirable might come of it. Like a demand for real thought. We are free to say anything we like so long as what we say does not suggest...that the ruling order has no right to rule"


Ah...."so long as it does not suggest the ruling order has no right to rule". See, that was the error of the Occupy protestors and what brought them literally into the cross hairs of the order mongers. Sadly, It was this somnolence, indolence, lack of awareness and perhaps fear that allowed our “masters” to broaden definition of the word “terrorist” as well as implement what is known as a “Continuity of Government” (COG) program including a database (Main Core) which can “identify and locate perceived ‘enemies of the state’ almost instantaneously,” according to investigative reporter Christopher Ketcham.

He and other sources note the database is sometimes referred to by the code name Main Core. One knowledgeable source claims that 8 million Americans are now listed in Main Core as potentially suspect. In the event of a national emergency, these people could be subject to everything from heightened surveillance and tracking to direct questioning and possibly even detention.” See also: http://brane-space.blogspot.com/2013/06/between-skeleton-key-and-cog-how-close.html

Now, as you scroll through that post again, be reminded of the words of Clarence Darrow (op. cit., ‘The Purpose of Armies’, p. 35)


"In reality the prime reason for all the armies of the world is that soldiers and militia may turn their guns upon their unfortunate countrymen when the owners of the Earth shall speak the word"

Hmmmmmm....."turn their guns on the unfortunate countrymen when the rulers shall speak the word."  Sounds an awful like the Occupy assassination scenario in Houston to me! Think I’m fooling? Then keep watching the scenes from Tahrir Square as that crisis unfolds with millions taking to the streets in protest against Morsi. Before the masses are allowed to prevail, tens of thousands will lie dead in the streets of Cairo when the Egyptian military – funded by the U.S. Über surveillance-state, reclaims command.  And as you watch those scenes be aware that they terrify the American surveillance state more than anything would- be terrorists might do with a few pressure cookers, nails or whatnot. The last thing the security state wants is millions of Americans taking to the streets in the same way, to protest their lack of decent jobs, student loan debt, or lack of medical care. Or – protesting for the right of Snowden to seek a safe harbor and potential asylum without all interested nations being initimidated by the world's biggest bully. Now a super bully.


Make no mistake that the fear of an American “Tahrir” is what keeps the spooks and their lackeys up all night, and tracking every American – just in case he or she might want to put away their TVs, Facebook pages or Xboxes and seek action in the real world. Like the Egyptians.

Mass protests like Tahrir highlight the real reason the U.S. security state found its necessary to implement COG and why they will put any American who diverges from the ‘Middle Mind’ (to take to the streets, like in Cairo), on their Main Core data base - listed as “enemies of the state”. They already did it to the OWS protestors,and they will damned sure do it to anyone else. "Freedom"? Sure, you have total freedom as to whether to go onto Facebook and post photos of your pet poodle slurping the toilet bowl, or watch 'Big Brother' on TV or go to the Mall. But don't you dare even think of making a protest poster!

As for the guy who started it all, Edward Snowden, we need to acknowledge a REAL citizen who placed adherence to the Constitution and Bill of Rights (especially the 4th amendment) over allegiance to pseudo –oaths and unjust laws erected by those who would undermine the Bill of Rights for us all. The Constitution enumerates the RIGHTS GIVEN ONLY to THE PEOPLE. By default, then, the American PEOPLE have ALL rights, whereas the government has NONE. The government has prerogatives, not rights. Only a human PERSON can possess rights.  The people give the government its prerogatives by dint of their representative votes. But as the Declaration notes, when that government has ceased to function in the people’s interest, the people are free to change it.