Today is 1984
From: Brennan Browne
Thursday, October 15, 2009 1:02 AM
some terrible things are going on…people need to actively engage in debates about what’s happening before it’s too late. And perhaps it already is. A court ruling today declared non-violent free speech as terrorism in the SHAC 7 case…
Today is 1984
A few days ago on the national nightly news, Homeland Security
Secretary, Janet Napolitano, urged Americans across the land to actively
spy on, and report their neighbors, coworkers and anyone else they
consider the least bit “suspicious” to her agency. I’m assuming close
friends and family members are not exempt.
For a moment, I thought I was caught inside one of those 1940s, Saturday
serials. You know, where Billy solves the mystery of who’s really
plotting to destroy America by using his trusty decoder ring; the one he
got from inside his Cracker Jack’s box. All Billy had to do to catch the
bad guys, was listen carefully to the clues the voice on the radio gave
him and by the next Saturday, all the evil-doer’s were rounded up and
magically “disappeared” to a place known only to the radio waves.
I’m sure that one of the first things they teach in Terrorism 101 is:
“draw attention TO yourselves by acting “suspicious.”
This takes all of us down a slime trail that is certain to place a lot
of innocent people in jeopardy; and bring unwarranted misery and
possibly life-altering trauma, into the lives of individuals just
minding their own business. After all, what constitutes acting
suspicious? And can it be delineated from just plain, old idiosyncratic
behavior by public observers? Is the guy with insomnia who keeps weird
hours, suspicious? How about shy, introverts who keep to themselves? Or
perhaps someone with a hobby, business or personal interests not in line
with American mainstream beliefs?
It is ludicrous to assume that most of us will know a terrorist when we
see one. Are we going to stoop to becoming caricatures of ourselves,
actively seeking out those who are different from us, to demonize? And
who says the soccer mom with the minivan full of kids, serving on the
PTA, can’t be a terrorist? The point is, terrorists will undoubtedly be
the dullest, most normal-appearing individuals we know — if indeed we
ever know any at all. Bird-dogging everyone we meet for the benefit of
the feds’ version of “national security”; while basing our suspicions on
ignorant, biased stereotypes of religion, skin color, ethnic attire, foreign
accents or people’s unique personal habits, is not the type of behavior we
should be encouraging society to embrace.
If we take the path suggested by Homeland Security [a name vividly
invoking images of jackbooted Nazi thugs], that’s exactly where we are
headed. And it won’t stop there. What about all of those individuals
that hold grudges against us or we against them? What’s to prevent any
one of us from having a goon squad at our door, just because we ticked
the wrong person off? How long before Homeland Security offers lucrative
monetary incentives for informing on people? And how many will be
dragged out of their homes and businesses based on false tips given by
greedy opportunists, snitching just for the rewards?
With every day that passes, America is increasingly channeling Nazi
Germany. What might appear innocent and innocuous to some, is setting
off 4-alarm fire bells to those of us who are observing history
repeating itself. The only people we should actively be “watching” and
reporting on, is our civil-liberties stripping government. The U.S.
hierarchy is quickly turning George Orwell’s fictional novel “1984″ into
fact. And I, for one, refuse to be recruited into their nefarious program.
Brennan Browne
