July 18, 2005

I can't believe the news today, It wasn't that long ago, when the patriot act was passed, I said we'd be returning to the bad old days when the FBI kept files on their political opponents. Yes, the FBI has political opposition. Think ACLU, any civil rights or peace organization, etc. Everyone on right wing radio (which was all I could get where I lived at the time) said "Oh no, we are only going to use this against terrorists." Yeah right. The ACLU gave a press release today that indeed, since 2001 when the patriot act was passed, the FBI has bravely infiltrated and kept files on the dangerous people at the ACLU, Greenpeace, United for Peace and Justice, Code Pink, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Muslim Public Affairs Council.

PETA? maybe. I have heard allegations that PETA was associated with some extremist animal rights dimwits. I have personally had to deal with PETA's weirdness so I can understand that a police organization might want to have a file on them. Fine, if you really have evidence that they did something wrong, but really, you shouldn't. They are mostly just people who read "The Jungle" and decided eating meat was evil so don't waste a lot of time on them, ok?
Code Pink? WHO IS CODE PINK? Sounds like some kind of gay thing, but no, its actually "Women for Peace" according to http://www.codepink4peace.org. A group of women who participate in peace marches? I can think one or two things I'd rather have the FBI spending time on. Greenpeace? There's a real threat to national security! I have to admit, I haven't heard much about the rest of them, but a quick check on Google finds that none of them seem terribly dangerous, except for having the word "Arab" or "Muslim " in the title.
Most egregious though, to my mind at least, is the ACLU. No police organization likes the ACLU. The ACLU tries every day to limit police power, sometimes they win, sometimes they don't, its all part of the marvelous mess we call democratic government. Everybody gets to have their say, sometimes we decide they're right, sometimes not. But the ACLU is not a terrorist organization! To imply otherwise is plain lunacy. We as a nation do not need an FBI file on the ACLU. We can disagree with the ACLU, we can even hate the ACLU, but we can not, must not use police power to intimidate and spy on those we disagree with!
Does the EPA have a surveillance file on its political opponents? I doubt it. Does the defense department? Maybe, but I honestly doubt it. And I haven't heard of it (which in the end might just mean they are better at it.) The point I am rambling on about is, the government MUST NOT use its police powers, its executive powers, to interfere with political discourse. If that happens, we slide toward dictatorship. Yes, the FBI thinks the ACLU is wrong. Of course they do! Nobody at the FBI thinks the FBI would ever abuse any power it has, but here they are, abusing it!

In other news, today, we find out that Eric Rudolph got 4 consecutive life sentences for his bombing efforts. Here's a real danger to the public, here is a real jerk who actually KILLED people because he is an unchristian pseudo-religious nut, and he gets life in prison. I am not usually one to call for someone's execution, in fact, I would be pleased if we did away with state execution altogether. But since we have it as an option, why is this unrepentant murderer not twisting in the wind? He admits to his bombings, he says he was justified. He practically incites others to do as he did. If I was prosecuting this case, I would not allow any plea bargain. I would make sure this guy gets the chair. I would prefer he got blown to bits by a pipe bomb, like his victims, but that would be barbaric. Keep in mind, I oppose the death penalty, I do believe that there are people who really deserve it, but I also think that with the death penalty, there are bound to be innocent people sentenced to death. So I am against it as a law. But it is the law; I can be against abortion, that doesn't mean I can stop you from getting one, I can try to talk you out of it, but for now, it's the law. If Eric Rudolph was an unrepentant Muslim bomber, who killed people because he hated abortion and gays, we'd kill him twice. Why not Rudolph?

Karl Rove? Sorry, I can't comment on that because of the -you guessed it- ongoing investigation. sheesh.

JC