What does it take?

By Carl 

A couple of semi-related stories to put on your table today. 

First, a tale of past hope and present woe: 

Frustration over 10.4 percent unemployment in surrounding Stark County has caused more political instability than Canton has known in generations. John Boccieri, a conservative Democrat, won the seat in Congress from the local district in 2008, only to lose to Jim Renacci, a Republican, last week. "People are scared," said David B. Cohen, a political scientist at the University of Akron. "When the economy is bad, the party in power gets punished."

In 1933, the fear was visceral. J. L. White, father of seven children, wrote in his thank-you note to B. Virdot that he was considering suicide just before he received the gift.

For other families, Mr. Stone's gift provided the only holiday cheer that bleak winter. Olive Hillman used the $5 check to buy her 8-year-old daughter a doll with a porcelain face and leather arms.

"I was thrilled to get it," said the daughter, Geraldine Hillman Fry, now 85. "It really was the only doll that I ever had in my life, so it meant a lot to me." 

This winter will not be as bad as the winter of 1933, four years into the Great Depression. Endless unemployment created abject poverty and remember, there really wasn't any unemployment insurance to speak of. People lived hand to mouth, stealing what they couldn't buy but needed. It was grim, oh so grim. Next Christmas could be as bad, as Republicans in Congress scale back unemployment, and attempt to dismantle healthcare and Medicare.

It's enough to make you angry. 

Speaking of which... (h/t to Blondesense):

If 3 million Americans all peacefully surrounded the White House and Capitol Hill, holding signs saying "We're Not Leaving Until the Too Big to Fails which Caused the Economic Crisis are Reined In", things would change pretty fast.

3 million might sound like a lot of people. But many millions of people read popular alternative financial and economic news sites. You are probably one of millions of people who will read this essay (by the time it is published by some of the larger sites).

In other words, it's not even a question of convincing other people to go. We -- those who read alternative financial websites -- could do it ourselves.

He's right, of course. And he's wrong. But it's an interesting article.

The author makes the comparison of the current anger, from the left and the right, to the civil rights and antiwar movements of the 1960s. He points out that public demonstrations helped rein in and end both established practices, and there is no doubt that occured. Indeed, it also included violent confrontation (which the author repudiates, but rather naively). That was part of the art, however. If the students demonstrating against the war or the civil rights movement did not include some violence, it would have made for bad television.

And it's television that really made the difference. And here's where the author falls short.

I look back to the recent Bush war on Iraq, and I see a million protestors in the U.S. alone the day before the first bombs dropped, and tens of millions worldwide... and I see the war go right on, and for even longer than Vietnam. It's not that the rallies weren't covered, they were. Maybe not as extensively as the organizers would have liked, but they entered the consciousness of Americans.

I saw two million people gather on the Mall in D.C. to watch President Obama sworn into office. I saw 250,000 show up for a comedy show. It's not that activist people or fans can't be motivated. That's not the target audience, however.

The target audience is the kid in Canton, Ohio seeing his parents struggling to put food on the table, embarrassed to ask for food stamps or charity. The target audience is the commuter stopping in at the local bar for a beer before dinner, watching the news, or the single mom reheating the chicken she bought down the block for her three kids.

It's easy to attract people to an anti-war movement. The message is simple: "No More War." Likewise, civil rights rallies have a simple message: "Justice For All."

A rally with the message "We're Not Leaving Until the Too Big to Fails which Caused the Economic Crisis are Reined In"? Eh, not so much...

See, it wasn't the rallies that stopped Nixon and Johnson, or convinced Congress to do the right thing. Rallies are fueled by anger and anger disappates quickly (we're about to see that with the Teabaggers. Hear much from them since the election?) It's also too easy to characterize the folks who attend those rallies, right or left. "Moonbat" or "Teabagger," pick your poison. Who wants to sympathize with either of those, for fear of being tarred with the same brush?

But make the message of the rally transcend the rally itself, like Jon Stewart and Stephan Colbert came close to doing, and suddenly Middle Americans are paying attention. And they're educating themselves, and talking to their friends.

"Say, did you watch the news?" And it is in that dialogue that protest takes shape.

(Cross-posted to Simply Left Behind.)

The Cove

By Michael J.W. Stickings

I just finished watching The Cove, which recently won the Oscar for Best Documentary Film, as well as some of the special features on the DVD.

Highly, highly recommended -- not, perhaps, as transcendent a documentary as Man on Wire, which won last year, but an extremely important film, and also an extremely engaging one. (And a very well reviewed one, too.)

As you may know, it's about the annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins in a secret cove in Taiji, Japan, and about the efforts of an Oceans 11-like team of activists to document it and educate people about what's really going on both there and more generally -- and yet, it's about so much more, including the international whaling trade (led by Japan, which lies about its involvement and essentially pays off smaller countries in the Carribean and Africa to supports its aims), the hugely profitable dolphin-show industry (i.e., Flipper, SeaWorld), and the mercury-poisoning epidemic (examined more closely in a short special-feature documentary on the DVD -- mercury is present in high levels in large fish and oceanic mammals like dolphins and tuna, and is also used as a preservative in vaccines).

I'm generally enamored of all things Japanese, and I love sushi and seafood generally, but, well, let's just say this film leaves me deeply unsettled.

As it was meant to. The mass slaughter of the dolphins, as of the whales, is utterly horrific. So, too, is human pollution of the oceans and other bodies of water, leading to rising mercury levels in the fish we eat, and more broadly the human exploitation of the environment, including overfishing.

We would do well to think seriously about how we treat the world around us, as well as those who inhabit it with us. And we would do well to do something about it. The Cove, a very fine film that is also a compelling piece of activism, could help lead the way forward.

It's called the free market. And it's turned on Glenn Beck.

By Michael J.W. Stickings

Glenn Beck went too far, even by his wildly extremist standards, when he recently called Obama a "racist" with "a deep-seated hatred for white people." (It was "glennbeckery" at its most blunt.) And, in response, advertisers are pulling their support from his show. As James Rucker reports at HuffPo, eight more advertisers have joined the growing list, including Wal-Mart (hardly a bastion of left-wing radicalism), Best Buy, and CVS. The number, apparently, is up to 20.

Obviously, these companies are not acting in a vacuum. They're responding, in large part, to an impressive anti-Beck campaign organized by Rucker's ColorOfChange.org. But what's wrong with that? I applaud Rucker and his fellow activists for saying that enough is enough and actually doing something about it. The right does this sort of thing all the time, pressuring companies to adopt policies sympathetic to various right-wing causes, notably of the fundamentalist Christian variety. But this isn't about moralism or theocratism, it's about exposing Glenn Beck for what he is, a right-wing blowhard who has made a name for himself spewing vitriol. This campaign, far from making things up, is simply pointing out to these companies that in advertising on Beck's show they are implicitly agreeing with him. And, clearly, the more they come to know about Beck, the less they like him, the more likely they are to pull their support.

And it's certainly refreshing when the Becks of the world get their comeuppance.

Obama sparks conversation

By Carol Gee

Everybody has an idea about how President Obama is doing now that he is 60+ days into his presidency. "He's doing to much. He's not moving fast enough. He shouldn't be laughing during such times. He says one thing and does another. He is overexposed in the media, etc., etc." Today's post talks about last night's prime time news conference media fallout. It says a bit about the president's upcoming trip abroad, and it concludes with conversation about citizen involvement in the political process and in the community.

The Chattering Class includes White House correspondents -- President Obama held his second formal news conference Tuesday night. When MSNBC's Chuck Todd asked the President why he hadn't asked the American people to make more sacrifices, President Obama (to paraphrase) pointed out that a lot of people are making great sacrifices due the the severity of the current economic crisis.

The Chattering Class regarding Obama's news conference -- All the beltway pundits are weighing in with judgments about how it went in my morning's e-mailed newsletters.

• Snark -- John Harris and Jonathan Martin at Politico.com were particularly edgy and unfavorable in their presumptuous theater critic style piece, "What Obama said and what he meant." The piece fell rather short of its "cute and clever" mark. It came of as "bent out of shape." I'll quote a few examples:
  
  

  Obama fluently answered the questions, sometimes at considerable length. But his responses were typically variations on a single-word theme: Whatever.
  
  . . . Most of all, he’s entirely comfortable with his bet that he and the country can worry about certain inconvenient facts—like a 10-year deficit total of $9.3 trillion under his plan — some time later. . .
  
  [concluding with] ON DEFENSE SPENDING.
  
  What he said: “Kevin Baron, Stars and Stripes. Is Kevin here? There you go.”
  
  What he meant: You have to admit, I am clever. I get to call on a reporter who is not from one of the big news organizations, whose subject is going to be easy to predict, and whose question I can answer by pointing out that I want to improve health care for veterans.
  
  Obama also told Baron he supports reforming military procurement policies, a bipartisan goal, but acknowledged it is hard to do.
  
  He also called on reporters from other niche outlets, such as the Hispanic network Univision, while stiffing reporters from the New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.



• Straight -- Contrast the snarky tone of the Politico article with that of Adriel Bettelheim at Congressional Quarterly/Politics. To quote from the article "Obama's Push for Patience and Faith in his Goals":
  
  

  . . . Obama has embarked on a publicity blitz that included recent appearances on “The Tonight Show” and “60 Minutes” and continued Tuesday night with his hourlong session in the East Room with reporters.
  
  “We will recover from this recession. But it will take time, it will take patience, and it will take an understanding that when we all work together, when each of us looks beyond our own short-term interests to the wider set of obligations we have to each other — that’s when we succeed,” Obama said in his opening remarks.
  
  . . . The appearances also could mobilize public if not business support for expanded regulation of hedge funds and non-bank financial companies that Obama is expected to push at the Group of 20 economic summit in London early next month.

The Advocates regarding the President's upcoming trip to the G-20 --

Leaders of the world's largest economies will get together in London in a few days. Josh Peck of ONE.org wants President Obama to exercise his influence over other world leaders to include the poorest nations in their solutions to the financial crisis. And he wants us to join in the effort. To quote:

Please advocate for the resources, reform, and regulation that developing countries need to weather the financial crisis. Please sign the petition.

The President said at his news conference that he wanted us to keep up with what is going on in our government. We should work to stay informed and to stay involved by letting the government know our opinions about issues. We are encouraged to continue the conversation by raising our citizen voices. One way to do that is through the Pledge Project at Organizing for America, the old Obama campaign organization now housed at the Democratic National Committee. Michelle Obama has already "set an example at the nation's table and beyond," reports Christy Hardin Smith of Firedoglake. At Democracy for America, Howard Dean returns to celebrate the March 25 anniversary of the founding of his community action organization.

Congress is doing its part to encourage community action. They are currently working on legislation that expands community service opportunities. The House passed the "GIVE Act" that rewards young people with education stipends, job training and more. The Senate will soon take up its version, the "Serve America Act." Heather Smith is at Rock the Vote. She encourages us to speak up for passage of the measure: We need the Senate to pass the Serve America Act, the boldest service legislation in 70 years.


Additional Advocacy Resources:

• Women's Voices. Women Vote.
• Action.firedoglake - Transparency
• RepoWErAmerica - Cap carbon pollution
  

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

"Activists and Candidates"

By Carol Gee

It takes both activists and candidates to make our political system work well. Each new era brings in new generations of both citizen categories. Matt Blizek at Democracy for America recently used that phrase in his e-mail to me. It was striking to think that we all could be trained together. That activism was used in the same breath with candidacy, was a pleasing thought. To quote Matt's piece:

When Gov. Howard Dean founded Democracy for America, he insisted that one of our core missions would be training a new generation of activists and candidates in states all across the country.

And that's exactly what we've done.

The DFA Campaign Academy has trained over 10,000 activists and candidates at nearly 100 weekend trainings in 38 different states -- we're not going to stop now.

The election is over, the 111th Congress is working successfully to pass legislation, and Tuesday night our new President spoke to the Congress and to all of us about his plan for next steps. CQ Politics had the story: "Obama pledges an America 'Stronger than Ever." Craig Crawford's blog Trail Mix at CQ Politics adds a nice touch. "Introduction inflation grips Congress." And, like thousands of activist bloggers, a fellow member of the Political Voices of Women Blog Community covered the Presidential Address that night.

President Obama talked about the economic recovery legislation just passed by Congress. And there is much more to come regarding energy, education and health care. President Obama expects a healthy national debate on reforming health care. Democrats.com has a way for citizens to "Tell Congress we want single payer health care" (2/16/09), if that is your preference. Mitch Stewart at Organizing for America, the new iteration of the Obama campaign website, now under the DNC sent an interesting e-mail on Monday that really pertains to those of us who helped get the stimulus bill passed. He said,

"Your representatives need to hear from you when they vote for the change you mandated in November. Doing what's right can be thankless when the culture of Washington tries to make political games out of the issues that matter to everyday Americans.

You're part of a powerful grassroots movement that can change that dynamic.

[regarding calling your legislator] Here are some suggested talking points for your call:

- I'm calling to thank [Congress member's name] for supporting the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
- I'll be watching closely online and in the news how taxpayers' money is spent in the implementation of this Act.
- I encourage [Congress member's name] to continue working with President to lift America out of this economic crisis.

Activists also write in addition to talking to your Senators and Representatives. And we link to each other more than to newspapers, it seems. I recently found this at blogasm: "50% of links on Technorati Top 10 blogs lead to other blogs. Only 4% lead to newspapers" (2/22/09). One of the most successful bloggers, FDL's Christy Smith wrote a piece that I highly recommend, "Bloggers as watchdogs: Liberal blogging in a Democratic administration" (2/21/09).

Activists in my state of Texas usually have our hands full. For example, ACLU of Texas supports the Fifth Circuit suit challenging the Texas legislature's addition of the word "pray" to activities permitted during schools' mandatory moment of silence, because it is already protected in the Constitution. In another case (2/11/09) ACLU of Texas wanted help: Please contact the Office of the Inspector General at the U.S. Department of Justice and request that it conduct a full investigation of RCDC, the Reeves County Detention Center.

Reference -- ProPublica introduced Change Tracker: Tracking Change in Washington (2/19/09). It "watches pages on whitehouse.gov, recovery.gov, and financialstability.gov so you don’t have to. When the White House adds or deletes anything— say a blog post, or executive order—ChangeTracker will let you know, if you sign up for the alerts.

See also Behind the Links, for further info on this subject.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Activists find ways to stay involved

By Carol Gee

People all over the world have protested for one side or the other in the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. AlterNet reported that, "An unprecedented number of Americans question Israel's actions in Gaza.* (1/6/09). Activism, protest, organizing -- there are legitimate activist organizations as well as illegitimate ones. The following story refers to the sometimes very dark and terrible side of protest. On 1/6/09, McClatchy reported on a "Cross burned in yard of man who helped troubled youth."*

"People are getting ready"# to be actively involved in helping to get our nation back on track during these very dark times. Our president-elect has invited this. The official working website of the incoming administration is here: The Obama-Biden Transition Team.

"Grassroots for Obama" was spawned by his campaign in the blogosphere. Communication on the web is also done through e-mail. Activists probably receive a lot of e-mails. I am not even a real "activist," in the classic sense, and still my box is usually full. These are tough times* and there are lots of needs. The e-mails, while absolutely legitimate, are unsolicited. I have no idea how I have gotten on these lists. I find the range of good causes heartening and interesting, however. A few examples follow:

• Blago -- Grainger@GraingerTerry.com: Phil Molfese is the contact. The cause is a "citizen group to hold demonstration" outside of Governor Blagojevich's office, 100 W. Randolph St., Friday at noon. They will ask the governor to resign. I will not be attending but you might want to show up.


• Media Bias -- Sarah Coles wanted me to know about "the top 5 trend predictions for political communications and political media under the Obama presidency," via Skewz (www.skewz.com), the first user-driven political media aggregation site for exposing media bias. I joined Skewz, an interesting twist, and intend to post biased pieces as I find them.

If I were a young person, I would also find all the the communications perfectly normal, but I am a granny. Millenials are activists, very involved with each other and with their communities, their nation and the world. I am by no means a milennial, but I do get a lot of e-mails from Michelle and Barach, and David Plouffe at Barack Obama.com, where I have posted just a few times. The Democratic Strategist explains:

. . . there is probably a good reason why Obama has decided to keep his personal organization and its vast electronic relationship with millions of supporters intact instead of disbanding it or folding it into the national or state Democratic parties. This officially nonpartisan network will work overtime to keep the bipartisan grassroots engaged in the struggle in Washington, and deploy pressure accordingly. This formidable organization is a tangible asset that should not be dismissed or minimized.

The range of kinds of potential involvement in Obama's grassroots bipartisanship is wide. The biggest thing right now, of course, is to be one of the ten people selected to attend the Inauguration as the Obamas' guests. The first guest has just been announced. Quoting Michelle's e-mail:

Cynthia Russell from Newberry, Florida, and her guest will attend the welcome ceremony, Barack's swearing-in, the Inaugural Parade, and our Neighborhood Inaugural Ball.

Cynthia is a builder and has been feeling the impact of the recent economic crunch. She wrote:

"I'm a single woman who has been building homes for over 18 years. I've supported myself and have been able to help out my mother from time to time. Now I find myself wondering how much longer I can hold on and be able to pay my bills and keep the doors open for business. Barack gives me hope. Hope that 2009 will truly bring change to Americans who find themselves in this mess with me."

Earlier a first set of Obama "house meetings" focused on getting people to tell President-elect Obama how to fix health care, is probably the first of many example of many similar efforts to come in the future. Obama coffee mugs were for sale at Christmas time. Michelle's Christmas card suggested donating to your local food bank or to the USO care package program. Filling out a survey (550,000 participated) prompted this recent interesting information:

. . . your ideas about the future of this organization are taking shape. Here are a few things you shared in the survey:

• House meetings were the primary way supporters got involved in the campaign


• People are excited to volunteer around a number of top issues, including education, the environment, health care, poverty, and the economy
• 86 percent of respondents feel it's important to help Barack's administration pass legislation through grassroots support


• 68 percent feel it's important to help elect state and local candidates who share the same vision for our country


• And a staggering 10 percent of respondents indicated that they would be interested in running for elected office

This feedback is essential to our next steps, because this movement is fueled by your ideas and your passion.

I have registered/joined several activist organizations, though I have not contributed money. They include:

1. One.org -- This very active organization looked back at a great 2008. The organization's current effort is a petition drive to ask President-elect Obama to, "In your inaugural address, please make a clear affirmation of your pledge to fight poverty and preventable diseases worldwide, and support that statement with an FY2010 budget request that puts the U.S. on track to meet your historic commitments."


2. WEcansolveit.org -- The We Campaign is a project of The Alliance for Climate Protection -- a nonprofit, nonpartisan effort founded by Nobel laureate and former Vice President Al Gore. The goal of the Alliance is to build a movement that creates the political will to solve the climate crisis.

The New Year is a good time get reconnected to your community.

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Activism's "Little Black Book"

By Carol Gee

Activists usually are the focus of Wednesday posts at my blog South by Southwest. What to look for, actions to take, news from the active blogosphere, organizations to join or support, environmental concerns, etc., all have had a place at one time or another. Today the focus is more basic -- how to adjust to the changing circumstances of governance and citizen participation.

"Grassroots for Obama." What now? Ed Kilgore at The Democratic Strategist asked, "What To Do With Obama's Army?" in a recent thought-provoking article, from which I quote:

As noted in an LA Times story today by Peter Wallsten and Tom Hamburger, one approach is to fold the Obama organization into the Democratic National Committee and state party affiliates, which is normally what happens after a successful presidential campaign. The other is to keep his organization intact as something of a personal army that will work with, but not under, the national and state parties. . . . This is an issue with more complex strategic implications than might at first appear, and bears watching as the transition turns into governing.

The Campaign Manager at Obama for America, David Plouffe, e-mailing me from Obama's website, BarackObama.com, asked me to to respond to a member/volunteer survey in the same vein, which I did. The questionaire asked for my feedback on how the Obama movement should move forward. Personally, I committed to activism in the form of progressive blogging every day. I also offered to do what I have done in the past, to call Washington. I offered to join organized efforts from the blogosphere, such as Firedoglake and DailyKos. No doubt they will again be asking citizens to call their Congress persons or Senators, to urge passage of President Obama's legislative offerings. For anyone who wants to join me then, here are the U.S. Capital's toll-free phone numbers (operators will transfer to legislators' offices): 1-800-828-0498, 1-800-459-1887, 1-800-614-2803, 1-866-340-9281, 1-866-338-1015, 1-877-851-6437.

President-elect Obama's Internet presence is not confined to merely the old campaign website. There is now a brand new website for the transition, called Change.gov which all of us have been watching closely as it is evolving. ProPublica's (investigative journalism's non-profit) Jennifer LaFleur reported yesterday that the "Change.gov 'Agenda' pages are back." To quote (her links):

The agenda pages that we told you disappeared from Change.gov, President-elect Barack Obama's transition Web site, have returned in newly retooled form. Within the 22-plus agenda categories are items that address how the new administration will increase transparency in
government.

. . . The items listed on the new page are basically the same as before, but they are more tightly written and no longer include derogatory statements about the Bush administration such as:
"The Bush Administration has been one of the most secretive, closed administrations in American history." Apparently, that's now a secret.

To conclude this little black book of useful names -- What follows are lists of general activism resources, along with the more specialized resources at the end that I use to find out what is happening in the world of national security, the rule of law, Constitutional questions, domestic surveillance and the other obscure stuff that still piques my interest.

Other e-mails that make my online activism easier include:

• Democracy for America - says, "We can still hit 60!" You can contribute to the cause they say: "The road to a filibuster-proof majority is in your hands. Let's get Barack another ally in the Senate."
• American Civil Liberties Union - Director Anthony Romero's newsletter says: "I’ve never done this before. In my entire seven years as the ACLU’s executive director, I have never asked you to sign a presidential petition written in appreciation and support, rather than in outrage and protest."

References on general "activism":

1. Activism.net
2. Activism -- Wikipedia
3. Posts on "activism" at South by Southwest

References regarding civil liberties activism, intelligence or investigative journalism:

1. South by Southwest: "Little Black Book" post on FISA (regarding civil liberties activism)
2. Salon.com: Glenn Greenwald -- my civil liberties guru
3. TPM Muckracker -- in the honored tradition of old newspapers
4. Wired Blog Network -- Threat Level
5. Secrecy News: Stephen Aftergood at the FAS project on secrecy
6. Emptywheel at Firedoglake -- one of the best at investigative blogging
7. Jeff Stein's SpyTalk Blog at CQ Politics

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Help veterans through Survivor Corps

By Carol Gee

November 11, 2008: The headline read, "Bush marks Veterans' Day on carrier," according to The Washington Post. But much remains to be done.

Our troops still need our help. As a follow-up to Veterans' Day, you can help through an organization called Survivor Corps, an outgrowth of the landmine survivor movement. (Operation Survivor is Survivor Corps' program for U.S. veterans and service members.) It was founded in 1997 by Jerry White, who lost his leg to a landmine in the Middle East conflict in 1984, and Ken Rutherford, a political scientist at Missouri State who lost both legs in a landmine accident in Somalia in 1993. Princess Diana was connected to the organization, and Queen Noor of Jordan is currently on its board. Funding comes from private grants, international donors, individuals, and "U.S. public funding." Of the total budget, its "program" outlays are 81%, with development at 10% and administration at 9% -- an acceptable ratio, according to my social work training.

What strikes me about this is the fact that the organization has taken on the cause of reintegrating U.S. soldiers back into the community through peer support work. That is so very needed. But what in the heck is our own government doing? It makes us look like a third-world cause. Which I guess we are, when it comes to REALLY taking care of our wounded warriors. Sorry for the rant.

This is what the organization says about the effort:

Within the United States there are over one and a half million service members that have served in military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Over thirty thousand have been physically wounded, but many more have experienced less visible, psychological wounds. Traumatic Brain Injury and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder have emerged as signature injuries of these conflicts, with recent reports suggesting an increase in rates of suicide, alcohol and drug abuse, homelessness, and domestic violence among returning service members and veterans.

These traumatic affects of conflict, left unaddressed, could have far-reaching negative consequences for the individuals affected, their families, and our country. Survivor Corps’ work in some of the most conflict affected countries in the world has shown community reintegration to be the key factor in those that overcome their traumatic experiences, and those that are consumed by them.

YOU CAN HELP!

Click Here to read more about Operation Survivor

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

A bit about activism

By Carol Gee

Note: This was originally cross-posted at S/SW on 10/29. The buzz of the moment kept me from posting it here back then. Most of the ideas still apply.

There is no time like the present -- to be an active citizen for the good of the country. Here are some of the more obvious things you might consider doing:

• Vote if early voting is available in your state. Offer to take someone from your neighborhood or workplace with you to do the same.


• Go to your candidates' websites and make your presence known there. Write a note of encouragement, make a donation, or fill out a poll form on issues of importance to you.


• Visit your party's headquarters. Pick up some election souvenirs, or make a purchase.


• Write a letter to the editor of your local paper. Express your opinion in good form and it might get published.


• Switch channels on TV to avoid getting too exorcised by idiots. Guard your peace of mind during these tough times.


• Leave an encouraging comment at a blogsite whose author is feeling very "down and discouraged." Think about doing that for some thoughtful Republican writer, with an eye to unity, bipartisanship and reconciliation. These are very difficult times for Republicans, after all. Be magnanimous if you can.

Continuing with this week's tidbits on activism -- First, thanks to the Internet, the truth gets out.# Count your blessings as an American for your Internet freedoms.* And count the days# (82) until Bush moves out of the White House. Remember that we will soon be free of campaign advertising. It is likely, however, that we will not be free of endless news about the sad state of Republican affairs. That will continue. Please note that most Americans are good and principled people,* and that we still have our senses of humor.# It is heartwarming also that all rich men are not greedy, including T. Boone Pickins and Warren Buffett. Anyone have any good ideas for more things activists can do this week?

Bonus reads:

1. Newsweek's Fareed Zakaria's great article, "Obama For President"#
2. Bill Moyers Journal, "Media Consolidation: A primer on making your opinion heard"
3. "10 Tips for Conserving Energy This Winter," from EcoLocalizer.
4. "The 'Noosphere' - Teilhard de Chardin's vision for the Internet," by John R. Mabry
5. From Decloned, "Sunday Salon: Creativity in reading"
   

Hat Tip Key: Regular contributors of links to leads are "betmo"* and Jon#.

(Cross-posted from South by Southwest.)

Top 10 changers of the Internet-Politics World

By Libby Spencer

Here's a moment's amusement for a Monday afternoon. Vote to determine the Top 10 Who Are Changing the World of Internet and Politics in the ninth annual PoliticsOnline and the World eDemocracy Forum awards.

Even if you don't want to vote, the list of nominees is fascinating.

(Cross-posted at The Impolitic.)

Activism, investigative journalism, or conspiracy theory?

By Carol Gee

CONSPIRACY THEORY -- A Cuil search on "conspiracy theory" returned 2,076,650 results, so the very idea is a big deal in the blogosphere. The theories vary widely all the way from 1) the government's unwillingness to tell us about earth having been visited by extra-terrestrials; to 2) the neocons have been planning and executing this take-over since the days of Nixon; to 3) the attacks of 9/11 having been an inside job. I do not believe any of the above. So I do not qualify for a tinfoil hat.

INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM, is evidentally a much smaller deal, returning only 149,202 Cuil results. "Book says White House ordered forgery" (8/4/08) by Mike Allen at Politico.com. To quote:

A new book by the author Ron Suskind claims that the White House ordered the CIA to forge a back-dated, handwritten letter from the head of Iraqi intelligence to Saddam Hussein.

Suskind writes in “The Way of the World,” to be published Tuesday, that the alleged forgery – adamantly denied by the White House – was designed to portray a false link between Hussein’s regime and al Qaeda as a justification for the Iraq war.

ACTIVISM, however is the biggest deal of all, according to Cuil. That single word search returned 11,394,749 results. And it also yielded some very interesting drop-down lists, including these category names, Political Advocacy Groups in the United States, Veterans Organizations Opposed to the Iraq War, Canadian Anarchists, Community Organizing, Civil Disobedience, Anti-pornography Activists, COINTELPRO targets, Anti-globalization, Social Movements, and Politics and Technology. This is the category in which I found those of us in the blogosphere (thank goodness, not under "COINTELPRO TARGETS.) The subcategories here are Internet activism, Move On, Howard Dean and Joe Trippi.

Drilling down even more, in the Google Directory, the tree looks like this: "Society> Activism> Internet> Hacktivism, and all the way to an article called, "Activism, Hacktivism and Cyberterrorism: The Internet as a tool for influencing foreign policy." Written in 2001 by Dorothy E. Denning, then teaching in the computer department at Georgetown University, its summary paragraph says,

Activism

The Internet offers a powerful tool for communicating and coordinating action. It is inexpensive to use and increasingly pervasive, with an estimated 201 million on-line as of September 1999.3 Groups of any size, from two to millions, can reach each other and use the Net to promote an agenda. Their members and followers can come from any geographical region on the Net, and they can attempt to influence foreign policy anywhere in the world. This section describes five modes of using the Internet: collection, publication, dialogue, coordination of action, and direct lobbying of decision makers. While treated separately, the modes are frequently used together and many of the examples described here illustrate multiple modes.

Denning left Georgetown the next year for the west coast. She is currently at the Naval Post Graduate School in in the Department of Defense Analysis at Monterrey, California. Her latest two publications , which I would also love to read, are titled:

• Denning, D. E., “A View of Cyberterrorism Five Years Later,” Readings in Internet Security: Hacking, Counterhacking, and Society (K. Himma ed.), Jones and Bartlett Publishers, Boston, 2006.
• Denning, D. E., “The Ethics of Cyber Conflict,” in Information and Computer Ethics (K. E. Himma and H. T. Tavani eds.), Wiley, 2007.

Why does any of this minutia matter? For one thing, it has made me realize so much more how important it is to use correct terminology. The government thinks about citizens expressing alternate views of reality very differently than I do. We are sometimes lumped together as "dangerous," for the purposes of domestic intelligence. I have blog friends who are dedicated activists who actually protest. My so-called little bits of "activism" are confined to sitting at this keyboard searching, researching, reading and writing. I feel puny by comparison.

I conclude with these four links sent to me recently by my blog friend, "betmo," who writes Life's Journey. I leave it up to you to decide into which category they belong.

1. Rising Hegemon: "Always the same pathetic story" (8/5/08). To quote the blog author's comment regarding Mike Allen's Politico story (above):
   
   

   Of course, this article is written by Mike Allen so it contains 80% White House push-back - uncritically.
   
   And that will undoubtedly be the end of that as far as the media is concerned.



2. OurFuture.org: "The question of right-wing terrorism: anthrax," by Rick Perlstein (8/1/08). To quote:
   
   

   Glenn Greenwald has put together a must-read account of how panic over the post-9/11 anthrax attacks, and disinformation claiming Saddam Hussein was probably behind them, convinced various members of the media and political elite to get behind the idea of attacking Iraq. His research follows reports that government scientist Bruce E. Ivins committed suicide Tuesday night because he was about to be charged with staging the attacks. Greenwald writes with scrupulous care, and asserts nothing beyond the known facts—but one of those known facts, and Greenwald's bottom line, is that ABC News has it within its power to help clear up the mystery, and refuses to do so. . .
   
   This guy was no down-the-line conservative ("The Roman Catholic Church should learn from other equally worthy Christian denominations and eagerly welcome female clergy as well as married clergy," he writes in March of 2002), but I hope I don't exaggerate in claiming a decidedly wingnutty tilt to his thinking. If this is the same guy who composed the note framing jihadists for the anthrax attacks ("This is next/Take Penacilin Now/Death To America/Death To Israel/Allah is great"); and, as Greenwald seems to suspect, and if he was the same guy who misled ABC into reporting the presence in the anthrax of a substance that only Iraq had used to create biological weapons, what we may have on our hands here is an American ginning up a causis belli for a Christian jihad against Islam, and killing fellow Americans to do it.

   This is very, very heavy stuff. If any of this turns out to be the case, I will, again, take no pleasure in the vindication.
   

3. "betmo says this about this link, "why would this be surprising? they outsource and contract everything else." From The Raw Story comes this perfect illustration of how hard it is to figure out in which theoretical camp you live. "Deleted photo sparks fears DEA hiring mercenaries" by Muriel Kane (8/4/08):
   

   However, one particular photograph from the Times story has drawn more attention than anything else. That picture, which has now been widely reproduced at blogs, shows a long-haired man, wearing a Blackwater tshirt and with a pistol at his belt, passing a box marked "DEA Evidence" to other agents participating in the raid.
   
   . . . The photo has since been taken down by the Times, but it has continued to circulate online. Although there has been no previous suggestion of a Blackwater role in domestic drug enforcement, the single picture was sufficient enough to set off furious discussion at both left-wing and libertarian message boards and blogs.



4. AfterDowningStreet: "Cheney, Neocons Considered Killing Americans in Pretext to Attack Iran." This article is the best summary I have found of some of the most predomimant conspiracy theories that have been around since the post 9/11/01 period. There are people that bwlieve that the 9/11 attacks were planned and carried out by the U.S. government. Even earlier another theory posits that the U.S., under Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, planned "Operation Northwoods," a false flag attack on Fidel Castro in Cuba. British author, Phillipe Sands revealed a discussion in January 2003 between Tony Blair and George Bush involving "painting planes in United Nations colors “in order to provoke an attack which could then be used to justify material breach” and thus set in motion an invasion." A tape revealed in May 2008 by Paul Joseph Watson regarding "efforts of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and top military analysts to cook up another terrorist attack on America in order to gain support for their ambitious plans to decimate Muslim culture." To quote further:
   
   

   Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Seymour Hersh reveals how the neocons convened around Dick Cheney and brainstormed ways to kick off World War IV, as they fondly call their pet project to take out the Muslims and foment a contrived “clash of civilizations.”
   
   . . . In an exclusive Think Progress story, we learn the meeting took place in Cheney’s office and the subject on the table was “how to create a casus belli between Tehran and Washington,” part of an ongoing effort to provide an excuse to attack Iran. “There was a dozen ideas proffered about how to trigger a war,” Hersh explains. “The one that interested me the most was why don’t we build — we in our shipyard — build four or five boats that look like Iranian PT boats. Put Navy seals on them with a lot of arms. And next time one of our boats goes to the Straits of Hormuz, start a shoot-up.”
   
   . . . Obviously, the neocons will stop at nothing — including the murder of more Americans in a false flag terror attack — to realize their agenda.

Activism, Investigative Journalism or Conspiracy Theory? In the minds of some they all run together. In my mind it is important for me to make distinctions. That helps me continue to behave in good faith and act courageously and with authenticity. It is also about trying to tell the truth, and about trying to make a difference. These are the things all of of us have permission to do without becoming targets of domestic surveillance, as a result of our words being scooped up in mass funneling of Internet material into the NSA.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

While Congress is away . . .

By Carol Gee

The cats will play. In their annual August recess, Senators and House Members are back in their districts, on vacation, campaigning or doing constituent work. Most of them, that is. Catch this stuff; it's "good, bad and ugly."

Bad and Ugly -- The Washington Post's, "At Recess, a Little One-sided Dodgeball," captures what I would have failed to witness if I had looked for it on C-SPAN. Dana Milbank's column today is high quality fun. I quote the intro and a few typical gems:

• Eighteen times over the past 90 days, the minority tried, unsuccessfully, to force the House to adjourn. Now the House has finally adjourned -- for a five-week recess, no less -- and Republicans are demanding that the chamber be called back into session.

  On Friday and again yesterday, they opened the doors to the darkened House chamber and invited tourists wearing shorts and sandals to sit in the members' chairs. The microphones, lights and cameras were off. The speaker's chair was empty. But, hour after hour, the Republican lawmakers stood in the well and cursed the darkness.

• . . . While Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.) was speaking, somebody found a light switch and brightened the chamber a bit. "My God, there's been a surge in power," the lawmaker exclaimed.

  But even under the lights, dimness prevailed.

• Price and 17 colleagues kicked off yesterday's event with a news conference outside the House chamber, underneath a statue of Will Rogers. It was a fitting spot, for they seemed determined to prove one of the late Oklahoma humorist's best lines: "I don't make jokes. I just watch the government and report the facts."

• The Republican beef: that Congress left town without authorizing offshore oil drilling. Problem is, while Congress did nothing about fuel prices, the average price of a gallon of gas fell 23 cents over the past month -- evidence, critics might say, that Congress should do nothing more often.

Not all House-passed legislation is bad. And Congressional oversight by dedicated committees of jurisdiction has exposed a great deal of wrong-doing. Here is another bit of good news just out on Congress, thanks to my CQ Behind the lines newsletter. To quote:

Since January 2007, DHSers have testified at 359 hearings and given 4,300 briefings to congressional committees, Government Executive’s Katherine McIntire Peters surveys — as Washington Technology’s Wyatt Kash has the House passing eight homeland security measures Friday designed to strengthen cybersecurity, among a myriad of other goals.

The Good -- "Eight homeland security bills make it through House." by Wyatt Kash (8/01/08) at Washington Technology. I am cautiously optimistic and looking for any little bit of light to shed after Congress' recent FISA debacle. The story includes a helpful summary of each bill. To quote:

The House passed eight homeland security measures today that, among other measures, are designed to strengthen cyber security, promote greater sharing of unclassified information and prevent the over-classification of information. Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-MS), Chairman of the Committee on Homeland Security praised measures.

While Congress is away there are a few things you can do to make things better. Here is a petition you can sign from The Nation urging Senator Obama to hold to our Progressive values. HT to Steve Clemons at The Washington Note for this opportunity. Here is a fun quiz from We Can Solve It: "America's Future: How Well Do You Understand America's Energy"

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

The 1988 Massacre in Iran

By non sequitur

Here's an important article about a horrendous massacre of Iranian dissidents in 1988. As the author points out, it meets all the requirements to be formally classified as a crime against humanity, but is still almost entirely unknown outside of Iranian dissident circles. The author, Kaveh Sharooz, has done a lot of the important and original research into this massacre, and published some of his findings in the Harvard Human Rights Journal. The article contains a link to that piece.

Here's a brief account of the massacre, from the article (because of the length of the quote, I'm not going to use the usual quoting mechanism here).

**********

In late 1987 and early 1988, prison officials began the unusual process of interrogating political prisoners again and separating them according to their party affiliations, religiosity, and length of sentence. In Tehran, this meant that some prisoners were moved between Evin and Gohar-Dasht prisons. This preliminary segregation of prisoners strongly indicates that there were pre-existing plans for mass killings. Furthermore, the filtering process belies the notion that the 1988 executions were in response to armed attacks on Iranian territory.

At the end of July 1988, shortly after Iran had accepted a cease-fire in the war with Iraq, and days after its military had soundly repelled an attack by the Mojahedin-e Khalq on Iran's western border, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini gave two unprecedented secret orders(2) to begin the re-trial of all political prisoners across the country and to execute those who remained steadfast in their opposition to the Islamic regime. To give effect to Khomeini’s order, a commission was assembled -- called the "Death Commission" by the prisoners -- consisting of a representative from the Judiciary, the office of the Prosecutor, and the Ministry of Intelligence. In Tehran's Death Commission, those government agencies were represented by Jaafar Nayyeri, Morteza Eshraghi and Mostafa Pourmohammadi respectively, although others also played a role. The task of the Death Commission was to determine whether a prisoner was a Mohareb ("Combatant against God") or Mortad ("Apostate") -- and to execute both groups. In the case of most Mojahedin prisoners, that determination was often made after only a single question about their party affiliation. Those who said "Mojahedin" rather than the derogatory "Monafeqin" ("Hypocrite") were sent to be hanged. In the case of various leftist prisoners, the Death Commission asked about religious belief and willingness to cooperate with the authorities. Sample questions included: "are you a Muslim?", "do you pray?", and "are you willing to clear minefields for the military of the Islamic Republic?" If a plurality of judges felt that the prisoner was a Mohareb or Mortad, the prisoner was sent to hang immediately.

Several thousand political prisoners were killed in a matter of two months. Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri estimates that the number killed was somewhere between 2,800 and 3,800. Others believe the number is higher. Even those who survived the questioning of the Death Commission did not always fare well. Some could not bear the emotional pain of what they had witnessed, or the physical pain of the regular floggings they received, and simply committed suicide. The prison guards are said to have encouraged that decision.

To add insult to injury, the Iranian government did not inform the victims' families about the re-trials until the executions had been carried out and the bodies had been buried in mass graves. Once informed, the families were not told of their loved ones' burial spots and were ordered not to erect any monument or hold any ceremony. When asked about the killings by the Western press, representatives of the Iranian government -- Abdollah Nouri, Ali Khamene'i, and Hashemi Rafsanjani -- flatly denied them. The Iranian government continues to deny the 1988 elimination of opposition prisoners.

***

As mentioned at the outset, the murder campaign of that summer is a crime without parallel in Iran's tumultuous modern history. In fact, the executions have all the elements required by international law to be labeled as crimes against humanity: The murders were widespread and systematic, they were directed at a civilian population, and, as made clear by Ayatollah Montazeri in his memoirs, they were a policy preconceived at the highest ranks of the Iranian government. The sheer magnitude of the 1988 massacre makes it too large to ignore, even after twenty years.

**********

(Please read the whole thing, including the proposals for action.)

Examining an obsession about civil liberties

By Carol Gee

"Privacy advocates," "civil libertarians," "Fourth Amendment Constitutional activists," "Left Wingers," "Right-leaning members of the Libertarian Party," "Online activists," I am one of you. We are, indeed strange bedfellows.

What is the reality? I am trying to figure out why I have this obsession about protecting U.S. civil liberties. I wonder whether I am being too paranoid about the U.S. government spying on Americans. I am very curious about the actual facts of the current administration's (what I believe to be illegal) domestic surveillance program. I think about what it is about all this that is so bothersome to me, and to the others of us who regularly blog about the issue. I often look to those whose expertise has been so pivotal in this fight. Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com, whose links I have liberally used in this post, often states the reality in which I believe. Today's includes good insights on the administration's apparent motives for its massive spy effort. To quote from his current post:

. . . the reality is that the Government and the telecoms broke the law not for weeks or months, but for years -- well into 2007. They continued to do so even after the NYT exposed what they were doing. They could have brought their spying activities into a legal framework at any time, but chose instead to spy on Americans in exactly the way our laws criminalize. Manifestly, then, national
security had nothing to do with why they did it. The Bush administration chose to do so because they wanted to eavesdrop without oversight and to establish that neither Congress nor the courts can limit what the President does, and telecoms did not want to jeopardize the massive
government surveillance contracts they have by refusing.

Congress is not the least bit obsessed about this constitutional assault. Are they right and are we the ones who are losing our minds? We strange bedfellows feel that we are losing our constitutionally protected Fourth Amendment civil liberties of freedom from unreasonable search and seizure. I wonder why our elected representatives in Congress are not as obsessed about this as I am. After all, they are the ones who took the oath to uphold and protect the Constitution. I never took such an oath. Why does it seem to matter more to me; I am just one little blogger regularly pecking away about FISA at my little notebook's keyboard. But big blogs are also obsessed. "The FISA cavein is Congress' shame," says "Scarecrow" at Firedoglake. In one succinct and searing post this writer says it all, and so much better than I have been able to manage, given my current obsessive funk. To quote rather extensively from this fine writer's main points:

For six years, the Bush Administration and the nation’s communication companies have been illegally spying on Americans’ phone calls and e-mails. They did this in direct violation of the Constitution’s 4th Amendment and a federal statute – FISA. Both laws emphatically forbid such surveillance unless the government first obtains a warrant from an independent (eg, FISA) court.

. . . the US Senate is planning today to grant immunity to the lawbreakers, while sanctioning more warrantless surveillance, weakened oversight and a sham investigation.

. . . it wasn’t just a few, scattered incidents of warrantless surveillance, nor was the spying directed solely at suspected “terrorists.” The spying was massive, sweeping, and undifferentiated. Everyone’s privacy was vulnerable. . . the Bush Administration diverted, stored and searched through millions of our communications looking for . . . what? . . . we won't know how our private information becomes misinterpreted and misused – that is, used against us, without us knowing why or being able to do anything about it.

. . . Can you imagine the leaders of our present Congress signing the Declaration of Independence? Would any of them have insisted that the Constitution not be ratified unless it included a Bill of Rights?

. . . The nation’s founders were not such frightened people. Those who signed the Declaration of Independence pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor in open defiance of the world’s most powerful empire, a regime that would certainly have hanged them if they failed in their efforts to become free men. Now our Congress cowers because they fear a President with 25 percent approval ratings and a Republican Party that the electorate can’t wait to throw out of office.

Fourth Estate and candidate failures to uphold the Constitution obsess me. I ask why has the mainstream media, except for The New York Times, been mostly silent on this extremely important issue. And, most disappointingly, why does protecting civil liberties not matter as much to my chosen presidential candidate as it should. Sarah Wheaton at the 7/3/08 New York Times blog, "The Caucus," explored Senator Obama's dialogue with his supporters who disagreed with his stance on the current FISA bill up for debate today. To quote: “This was not an easy call for me,” Mr. Obama said in a statement posted to the diary of Joe Rospars, a top Internet adviser to the campaign. “I know that the FISA bill that passed the House is far from perfect.”

This examination of our obsession about civil liberties tells me that neither I nor my fellow protesters are crazy. We are focused, honed in, tuned in to a reality that is a big problem for the nation. It is good to remember that I am not the only one who feels this way. It is upsetting to remember that there are far too few of us to matter at this point. But that does not mean we will give up our obsession. We must not; too much depends on it.

Update: This is a sad day in FISA's history. The Senate approved HR 6304 by a vote of 69 ayes and 28 nays. Glenn has the full story, including the defeat of three "improving" ammendments prior to the final vote. Obama voted for the bill; Clinton against it. He also reports that Congress has now dropped to single-digit approval ratings. Is anyone surprised?

This day in history: July 9, 1787 - Constitution Convention. Convention discusses committee's report on ratio of representation in House.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Activism -- when citizens exercise leadership

By Carol Gee

What are the qualification of a Citizen Activist? It is not very easy to find a good definition. But here is an example. When Senator Barack Obama got out of law school he worked as a community organizer in Chicago, teaching people how to become citizen activists. Robert Kennedy's words below probably say it best. The Gleitsman Foundation gives awards for it, so it might be worth a try:

Citizen Activist Award

Statement of Purpose

"Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation." --Robert F. Kennedy

The Gleitsman Foundation Citizen Activist Award is designed to encourage individual commitment and leadership by recognizing the exceptional achievement of people who have initiated social change. The award recognizes activist efforts in the United States to confront, challenge and correct social injustice. These individuals, because of their courage and persistence, have become leaders in efforts to change the way we live. . .

Who qualifies? Are you one already? If you are trying to change things, you probably qualify. This grieving mom became one by establishing a foundation to help stop bullying after her child committed suicide. Am I one? What you are reading here is my version of activism. "Is Scott McClellan one," I asked at Forum: Lucidity. Could you use a Citizen Activist Toolkit to become one?

Here are some examples of organized campaigns: Anti-arms trade; On Citizen Science; Overcoming Consumerism; The Daily Gotham - grassroots news for activist New Yorkers. I recommend the following article because it is so very inspiring and uplifting. It is from After Downing Street,* "A Radiant Message, Two Beautiful Forms, And The Backbone Campaign," submitted by davidswanson on Sun, 2008-05-25, by Diane Wittner, May 24 2008. Summary:

transcript from talk at
Building A New World Conference, Radford, Virginia
-----------

Progressives belong to a propositional movement
with the leaders and ideas to run the country.

. . . Some of the Conversations on developing an effective progressive movement have clarity, poignancy and a poetic quality. And a young radio producer once described some of our policy Conversations as "wonky." As an artist and writer, I was new to this kind of work, and I considered that description to be a compliment. We were indeed achieving our objective: to discover our country's diverse leaders and gather from them, in audio form, their nation-healing policy ideas.

This citizen activist uses the sheer power of the written word. I recommend this recent post from a fine writer, Deanie Mills: Military Mom: The Loneliness of Speaking the Truth on Iraq," at The Huffington Post.

Another form of activism is the use of public exposure. Read this example from Multinational Monitor* "Neither Honest Nor Trustworthy: The 10 Worst Corporations of 2007" (Nov-Dec, 2007) by Russell Mokhiber and Robert Weissman.

When citizens exercise leadership, when they act on behalf of those in their community or their nation, things can actually change. Today is the first day of Barack Obama's national "change" campaign to become the first African-American President of the United States. In a strange way Obama is a kind of personification of citizen activism.

*Hat tip to betmo at life's journey for several of the links.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)

Understanding Your FBI

By Carol Gee

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is 100 years old this year. To commemorate the occasion the website features the story of the violent death of Bonnie and Clyde, folks who came from my current neck of the woods.

Prowling around the FBI website turned up some interesting finds. First was the page for the National Security Branch. National Security Letters made the news last March. Breaking news yesterday regarded the formation of a Northern Virginia Public Corruption/Government Fraud Task Force. Let's hope that they can give us some genuine protection before the big elections in the fall.

Around the Internet -- The search term "fbi" returned 57,600,000 entries, including - of course - Wikipedia's. I feel sure that the FBI has someone assigned to monitor the Wiki site to assure accuracy, given that they had 28,576 employees in 2004. The FBI seems almost ubiquitous. And we are told that every single one of them is out there to protect us in some way.

Just so you can't say you didn't know -- The 2008 Republican National Convention is September 1-4, in Minneapolis-Saint Paul. -- Depending whether you inside or outside of the fence at the Republican Convention, this news will hit you from opposite psychological directions.

If you are a Democrat you need to know from Discourse.net,* (5/26/08) that the "FBI [is] Recruiting Infiltrators for GOP Convention Protesters." To quote:

This gets complicated. According to - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul), Moles Wanted, the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force is recruiting people to infiltrate anti-GOP protest groups in the run-up to the upcoming Republican convention.

The law is clear that police may attend public meetings undercover to see what people are up to. And of course undercover operations in private settings are also legal, although there should be guidelines as to when they are appropriate. And of course it’s good citizenship for private citizens to report crimes when they witness them.

Republicans have been informed,via the Top Ten questions section of the convention website, to quote Number 5, emphasis mine:

How will people who live and work in the Minneapolis – Saint Paul area be affected during the week of the convention? Detailed planning for a major event like this is obviously very important - and I want to assure you that we will have comprehensive transportation and security plans in place. . . Most convention guests will be transported to and from official events using mass transit, mainly in the form of buses, which will minimize the number of vehicles using the roadways during the event.

Security plans formulated after September 11, 2001 did not, in my opinion, include nearly enough protections for civil liberties. And that is where the United States lost its way. This story from (5/27) Dissident Voice* on torture makes it clear that torture was known about and eventually condoned at all levels of government, including the FBI, from early on in the Bush administration. The FBI did speak up or a time, but they were no match for the rest of the group.

*Hat tip to"betmo" for the *items. I always appreciate that she knows so well what I like.

(Cross-posted at South by Southwest.)