Let's Not Get All 'Holier Than Thou' on the Ukraine - Lest We Ignore What Our Own Security State Would Do

To hear and see all the network talking heads bloviating on the violence and unrest in the Ukraine, you'd think they believe that if a similar situation erupted here in the U.S. - say with the same riots, rebellion in Washington, DC, NYC, LA  etc. our security forces would just sit back and watch. What the hell are they drinking.....or smoking?  It's got to be stronger stuff than what's legally available here in Colorado!

Any nincompoop faintly aware of the past two years would KNOW that couldn't happen. The security state would land on them faster than you can say 'NSA'  Fusion centers would send out alerts, SWAT teams would be activated along with National Guard troops and heads would be battered, busted and left with brain damage. Many protestors would be shot- not just using rubber bullets-  and even tanks could be introduced to quell the unrest.....with bodies lying all over the streets and in makeshift clinics, with stretched staff trying to care for thousands of dismembered, bleeding citizens. Those with short memories need only go back to what transpired with the mostly peaceful Occupy Wall Street movement, in 2011, see e.g.  http://www.thiscantbehappening.net/node/1494

As David Lindorff notes,  the documents he obtained show that the FBI and other intelligence and law enforcement agencies “began a campaign of monitoring, spying and disrupting the Occupy Movement at least two months before the first occupation actions began in late September 2011.”

He goes on to write:

“As early as August, while acknowledging that the incipient Occupy Movement was “peaceful” in nature, federal, state and local officials from the FBI, the DHS and the many Fusion Centers and Joint Terrorism Task Force centers around the country were meeting with local financial institutions and their private security organizations to plot out a strategy for countering the Occupy Movement’s campaign.”

But what really ought to terrify the citizen who insists lamely "That Ukraine stuff would never happen here!" is what he or she might experience if the decision is made to join even a peaceful but vigorous protest. It may not be an Occupy protest but something environmental like marching against the Keystone pipeline or fracking in their neighborhood. In such a case it is instructive to see what one of Lindorff’s PCJ -obtained documents revealed. That is,  a perp -instigator (name conveniently blanked out in the released document) who actually proposed to assassinate leaders of the Occupy Movement in Houston with “suppressed” sniper rifles. As the released PCJ document puts it:

“One identified ------ as of October planned to engage in sniper attacks against protesters in Houston, Texas if deemed necessary. An identified ----- had received intelligence that indicated the protesters in New York and Seattle planned similar protests in Houston, Dallas, San Antonio and Austin, Texas. ---- planned to gather intelligence against the leaders of the protest group and obtain photographs, then formulate a plan to kill the leadership by suppressed sniper rifles.”

This isn't bullshit or exaggeration! The basis for such actions inheres in the various mandates of the 'Continuity of Government' program that were insinuated into law after 9/11. Such mandates included later mutations of COG under the Bushites that  equated political dissent with treason.   In regard to the last, the definition of "terrorist" was expanded to "domestic terrorist" by congress in 2001, to include:

"…activities that involve acts dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal laws of the United States or of any State; appear to be intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; to influence the policy of a government by intimidation or coercion; or to affect the conduct of a government by mass destruction, assassination, or kidnapping; and occur primarily within the territorial jurisdiction of the United States"

According to the ACLU, “this definition is broad enough to encompass the activities of…prominent activists, campaigns and organizations.”  That includes Occupy Wall Streeters and anyone who protests the Keystone XL pipeline!

If you think our own national security statists are simply looking at their TVs and wondering how or if they ought to intervene in the Ukraine, then you're not paying attention. In fact, they are shitting in their pants fearful of  a similar future scene erupting here in the US of A. They're also wondering  how fast they'll have to roll out the military, the EM vomit weapons, the heavy tanks, Stealth fighters and detention camps if similar events were to be triggered across the U.S. and start to spin out of control. (Remember the main directive is CONTROL! That's why the security state is so livid at Snowden - having used a cheap web crawler to gather all the NSA files.) . If you think they wouldn't do anything violent in retaliation to Ukraine-type riots,  and just allow civil violence of any type to spread,  you are dreaming.

"Oh, oh but Americans wouldn't resort to violence like that!"

Oh yeah? Imagine the scenario of a nail biting,  close election, similar to 2000, in which the Supreme Court disallows the popular vote  in a critical state (like FLA) and hence its electoral votes,  and enables a fascist thug like Ted Cruz to gain power, say with Sarah Palin as his running mate. Imagine protests spreading across the nation, and the newly "elected" Repuke team announcing martial law under the COG program.  Believe me, a scenario such as visible in the Ukraine is quite possible.

There are also any number of other scenarios one can imagine that could lead to imposition of extreme military, para-military force - or martial law- under the COG program. There are even ways the authorities can know of impending protests before they break out - and haul in all potential protestors under COG.  Don't believe it? Six years ago Christopher Ketcham disclosed the extent to which the  NSA spy state  has already been able to assemble a giant database (called Main Core) of "potential trouble makers". As he observes:

"There exists a database of Americans, who, often for the slightest and most trivial reason, are considered unfriendly, and who, in a time of panic, might be incarcerated. The database can identify and locate perceived ‘enemies of the state’ almost instantaneously.” 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.”

Once more, anyone who densely believes a Ukraine scenario couldn't happen here needs to go back and look at what happened to Occupy Wall Street's peaceful protestors.

Think it can't happen here? Think AGAIN! Why do you think the NSA has been gathering so much vast data, just for the heck of it or because their technology is unable to discriminate? Oh no, not that. It's because they want to stay on top of every and any situation that could possibly erupt as the one in the Ukraine is now.  They are aware of the growing gulf of inequality in this country:  the 15.9 million children who already go to bed hungry each night, the continued loss of earning power as the rich get theirs - coupled with no increase in the minimum wage for most workers, plus cuts in food stamps and unemployment benefits. They know from the history of mass civil uprisings and rebellion  that  there may well be a critical tipping point or threshold, a  'straw that breaks the camel's back'. A point at which generally passive Americans won't sit back and take it any more.

In other words, their warp and woof is to stamp out any manifestation of a potential Ukraine - type violent protest, if and when Americans get too tired of being entertained in their social media world of Twitter and Facebook, or their TV fantasies (like the Kardashians,  'Duck Dynasty' etc.) and actually take to the streets.

God forbid they ever take to the streets in the manner of the Ukrainians.

See also:
http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/chris-floyd/54357/sinister-illusions-masking-tragedy-in-ukraine

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.”

----

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.