Logs and Journals

Expansion of Government Power and the Promotion of “National Security”

Log #1 September 15, 07
Time spent 2.5
Source 1. www.personalinfomediary.com/USAPATRIOTACT
Source 2. www.epic.org/privacy/terroirsm/hr3162.html

Date October 24, 01
Title: USA Patriot Act Hr. 3162
Brief: compared Patriot Act titles I, II, with U.S code, primarily title 18, noted many changes, but more interesting, the wording choices and methods. Clearly going to be large part of future/present policy changes.

Log #2 September 18, 07
Time spent 2
Source 1. www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/nationalsecurity/

Date September 18, 07
Title: Myth/Fact: Key Myths about FISA amendments in the Protect America Act
Brief: On the white house site, it is clear they are giving the pieces of information they want to have proliferated. Just because the equivocators call it ‘myth/fact’ does not mean it is so. I am looking at different views of what it does and why.


Journal # 1 September 19, 07

Reading the Patriot Act, I was un-amused. The methods taken to change our policies are extraordinary. What surprised me was how thoroughly those who created it managed to undo the U.S Code, and most of the written documentation of our “unalienable rights.” Outlined were changes in how we respond to threats, threats being any of many loosely defined ideas or actions deemed dangerous to our ongoing system of “American Freedoms.” Changes covered a huge area of our policies, foreign and domestic, not limited to political freedoms, but instead including economic and personal issues as well. Recognizing that the changes affect almost all of the areas of our lives; it is important to clarify that the changes are not limited, even, to our citizens, “rules and policies extend to our foreign policy and operations”

I will forgo describing my perception thus far of H.R 3162, and instead will focus on the fascinating way in which it is written. I think it is important to mention how difficult it would be to ‘read’ the Patriot Act. The sections are highly abridged and without the documents it alters, no sense can be made of it. Whether this is intentional or not, I could not say, but I have found it to be commonplace in these sorts of litigious activities. The majority of people who should know what the Act includes- everybody- are unlikely to read or understand what it allocates. The full implications of this document, I am not sure can be defined in any terms, and so it is of concern. An increasingly disturbing image of our political present is forming for me, just after reading these a bit more carefully.

Log #3 September 29, 07
Time spent 3
Source: The Power of Nightmares Parts 1-3, BBC

Date January ‘05
Brief: It discusses the relationship between ‘neoconservatives’ and radical Islamists. It shows their perspective on relations between Osama Bin Laden and Islamic Militants. They propose that OBL did not organize the attacks on the World Trade Centers in ’01, and that the Neo-cons are on a witch hunt. They said that so-called sleeper cells and networks are either uninvolved or not existent. They said that our media and politicians exaggerate their role, and debilitate any significant progress that could be made elsewhere. The programme also outlines certain concepts like the Precautionary Principle, which for me exemplifies the failure of such systems.

Log #4 September 30, 07
Time spent 1
Source 1: www.cfr.org/publication/9126/#1
Source 2: www.harrisinteractive.com/news/allnewsbydale.asp

Title: Council on Foreign Relations ‘A Nonpartisan Resource for Information and Analysis’
Brief: ‘Backgrounder’ al-Qaeda (a.k.a. al-Qaida, al Qa’ida) Discusses their thoughts on what al-Qaeda is, the role of Bin Laden, what the ‘members’ have supposedly been responsible for. It outlines who they are connected to, how many there are. As the ‘enemy’ goes, and as Bush said “we are not sure who the they are, but we know they’re there.” The second site focuses on British demographics and how the Iraq war is 'managed'. It includes opinion polls on whether Iraq was linked to al-Qaeda.

Journal # 2 September 30, 07

The BBC program seemed to summarize a bit of the history of Radical Islamists and the U.S. Discussing Kotb’s disillusionment with the materialism in the U.S. It points to Neo-Cons for misleading the people about what is happening currently, creating evidence from nothing, to show that our “war on terror” is justified, and that it is meant to protect our interests. Further that because of that defensive nature and that it is not an aggression by the U.S, those fighting the war on terror should be empowered. Richard Perle claimed in an interview that we are fighting against terrorists who want to impose an ‘intolerant tyranny on all mankind” he continued that they wanted an “Islamic Universe in which we are all compelled to accept their beliefs.” This to me seemed strongly dependent on ethnocentrism; that our way is the only way, and seems to also be dependent on the rampant xenophobia and the need to demonize what we do not understand. I don’t think his view, that the terrorists are all pious individuals who are threatened by our hedonistic culture, I think they would be more likely to despise our interventionist policies. The programme suggests that the neo-conservatives exaggerate the powers of the threat and pushed this cultural recoil to serve to their benefit. Though the programme was not flawlessly produced, it did make it clear that what the ‘war on terror’ is aimed at is largely non-existent. Searching for these ‘sleeper-cells’ brings me back to when we learned about McCarthyism, and their witch-hunt for communist and ‘communist sympathizers.’ The practice of using suspicion alone as evidence, and the Precautionary Principle, justified without evidence in the paradigm of prevention. The suspects can be jailed based on what they were maybe going to do. The site outline of events was very different from those in the programme, but in this case, I lean more in the favor of the programme’s version of events, because of confirmation bias, knowing our past actions toward S. America, and that these incidents are not isolated. The program was more of a specified collection of my own concerns. I thought it was funny that the polls showed that people felt confident in their answers, but were not sure the evidence that lead to their conclusions was clear.

Log #5 October 4, 07
Time spent 1
Source: Situation Room, CNN.com
Title: Did Justice Department OK Torture Behind the Backs of Congress?
Brief: Fran Townsend when interviewed about torture said “fewer than a hundred CIA detainees”... “Less than a third produced 8500 intelligence reports on threat information.”


Log # 6 October 10, 07
Source: http://usinfo.state.gov/is/Archive_Index/Executive_Summary_Report.html

Brief: Discusses securing the ‘National Homeland” and says that the “persistence of international terrorism will end the relative invulnerability of the U.S homeland to catastrophic attack. A direct attack against American citizens on American soil is likely over the next quarter-century.” it continues, explaining things which we will need, organizations... it includes prospective applications for things like nano-technology... A gentle reminder from big brother.


Journal # 3 October 7, 07
I am an advocator for human rights, and I tend to follow the belief that through violence and coercion, no good can be gained. It is not true that “sometimes to do good you must first do evil.” To do evil toward some supposed justified end will only create more violence and suffering. That said, the U.S government had claimed that investigations into terrorist threats did not involve torture. They would often bring up John McCain, and say how sensitive the U.S government is about torture. What Fran Townsend said confirmed for me that we are torturing people. I do not know enough to say this with supreme confidence, but I had been convinced before this that it is the situation and now believe that to be true. The statistical information she provided, though initially vague, gave a more important piece to focus on, and that is the reports she claimed were attained through interrogations on less than one third of those people detained. She said that those few dozen people created 8500 pieces of intelligence on threats. This type of thing is just disgusting. How can somebody be so naïve, believing that the techniques of coercion would produce anything worthwhile. What quality of information could so few people give when forced to answer so much. It is clear that they were trying to say whatever the interrogators wanted to hear, so that they would stop the interrogation (most likely torture).


Log #7 October 12, 07
Time spent 3, 1.5
Source 1: C-SPAN program on Minority Ownership of Media
Source 2: C-SPAN 2 Campaign 2008 Bully Pulpit in Charleston
Source 3: CNN Situation room focused mostly on Nobel Peace Prize
Source 4: www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2007/db0920/DOC-276763A1.pdf

Brief: The Minority ownership of media, RAINBOW-PUSH coalition was discussing who determines what gets broadcast, who owns the broadcasting systems, etc. They mentioned the consolidation of media, and Karen Bond from the National Black Coalition said that one company owned all five of the radio stations popular among blacks (in Chicago, IL). FCC commissioner Michael Copps spoke to the gathering.

The campaign 2008 C-SPAN 2 broadcast John McCain speaking to Charleston University students. He outlined his thoughts on patriotism, foreign policy etc. Probably the good part was the Q&A.

CNN There is a growing link between our justification of our immigration policies and the interests of national security.

Log #8 October 14, 07
Source: CNN late edition (Wolf Blitzer,)
Source 2: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/11/AR2007011101572.html
Source 3: www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article
/2007/03/23/AR2007032301613

Brief: Wolf Blitzer attempting an interview with Senator Graham about statements made by retired lt. General Ricardo Sanchez. Senator Graham puts blame on Sanchez for Abu Ghraib, and other misconducts he believed were the result of too few troops. Graham asserted that he and John McCain had asked Sanchez repeatedly if the troop levels were sufficient. Graham had a lot of talking points he was weaving in which at points made what he was saying almost unintelligible. (Just a note to make clearer the nature of the interview) He went on to say that if current plans (especially in Iraqi leadership) fail, that they should “Look for a new horse to ride,” and replace those people. The next person interviewed was Zbigniew Brzezinski, who was the U.S national security adviser to Jimmy carter, and was pivotal in the arming of the Mujahideen. He answered similar questions as those asked of Graham.

Late edition continued, with a brief discussion of illegal immigration. They quoted Vincente Fox, “the xenophobics, the racists, those who feel they are a superior race... they are deciding the future of this nation.” He said “what I perceive here is fear in this nation, and fear is not a good advisor.”

Journal # 4
In the information on FCC commissioner Michael Copps I found that he is a neat character, after finding his use of terms like “whitewash” in his speech, I decided to look him up, and things he’d been involved in. I found his remarks from a hearing in Chicago on September 20th. He said, “I want to emphasize what is at stake here. Our media is precious. It is how, outside of our strictly personal spheres, we speak to each other, learn from each other. Almost half a century ago, Arthur Miller said that “a good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” and today that idea applies to our entire media system. I also believe that media is the most powerful enterprise in the land, bar none. If we are smart about it, our media will reflect the genius, the creativity and the diversity of our great nation.” The minority ownership of media played heavily into our recent class discussions and touched on the ‘fourth estate’ concept, that media increasingly effects “how we govern ourselves”

The immigration information I found was disturbing because I hadn’t thought that they would justify their immigration policies using the National Security explanation. CNN mentioned the website “OutragedPatriots.com” which, expecting assery, I went to, and these expectations were met. There may at one time have been legitimate discussion there. I wouldn’t say that now. It is poorly organized inconsistent in its message, and seems to be fueled largely by ignorance and card stacking. I am not impressed, and am confused as to why CNN mentioned it.

In Senator Grahams’ interview he said the people involved in the Iraq war need a new political strategy, and that he is “worried about a third world war against terrorist extremists with Iraq as a main battleground.” (Note: when retyping, funny that he said Iraq and not our new ‘terrorist breeding ground’ in Iran) When asked about an Israeli air strike on an under construction nuclear facility in Syria, Graham says that we as a nation (globally) should “act responsibly against rogue states like Syria and Iran.” If he were president at that moment, I would classify that under ‘declarations of war’ (again retyping very funny, because the President actually Did say that since then.) When asked similar questions, Brzezinski said “what we’re doing is conveying the intention to maintain an essentially colonial presence,” he continues saying that this system cannot sustain stability, and that doing so would require joint efforts with Iraqi leaders within and outside of the ‘green zone.’ He called the previous statements (by Graham) and those like him “obsessive delusional narrative of this being WWIII…” He replied to one of Blitzer’s questions [similar to those he asked Graham] “Nobody in the world really supports our occupations in Iraq.” I was pleased with how Brzezinski pointed out the concept of colonialism within the U.S Occupation of Iraq, and the surrounding conflicts. Increasingly I am deferred by CNN’s programming, their programmes are inconsistent, and many of their shows are downright disgusting. I decided to look further into Brzezinski, and found a series of articles written by him for the Washington Post, which were a far cry from other characterizations of him... a play maybe on non-transparency, when the uninformed public has people paraded out for them to listen to. I could not tell which of the people interviewed were more obscure in their standpoints.

John McCain’s speech covered a lot of topics, he touched on healthcare, and the basic (usually unimportant focused on issues) but when asked about mercenaries he gave the most honest answer within his ability, and later put blame on Rummy and the President. When asked about the possibility of war with Iran, he said he didn’t support the idea but that the student asking the question “represents the skepticism in the American citizens with respect to [our actions to ensure] National Security.” He said that he believes Iran is a threat. He talked about not expanding the government’s economic power (which of a Republican is to be expected) but his reasoning was well packaged enough to be palatable for most people. That worries me.

Earlier today, I was thinking of my topic, and why I chose it. I considered how my research would’ve changed if I’d done “expansion of Government Powers to promote Democracy." The conclusion I came to was that there would have only been a difference in my methods. I don’t think it is arguable that the government powers expand in times of perceived crisis. In war, famine, aftermath of social revolution (sometimes) the government gains power. The growing consciousness of “national security” is disturbing, as it has been outlined in many different ways. Fear, is huge.., Fear of economic hardship, fear of invasion by people who look seem unlike ourselves, fear of nuclear war, and escalating violence. What I am looking at is not unlike ecology, drawing from interconnected topics heavily. It is hard to see where this behavior originated, or where it will end.

The things that have been done and may be done in the interests of National Security are frightening to me. As Vincente Fox said, “Fear is not a good advisor.” Looking at the combined lack of information and propagation of fear, I worry about what the people would, if given the opportunity, give the government consent to do. I see the “moderation/modification” of opinions in a Republican candidate (though it is all a façade) and the bastardization of individual rights, and the corruption of most of the players in government, as a sign of bad things on the horizon. I see a nation of sheep being guided by wolves, and an already totalitarian-dominated style of government being given the milieu needed to create global suffering, and destruction. Hopefully some economic crisis will stop us.


Log # 9 October 20, 07
Source: C-SPAN
Time: 2hr
Brief: A discussion with Senator Kit Bond., John Tkacik. China as a hostile power was the main concern of the discussion. China had supplied our defense department with its tech materials, and programs. The same companies provided Saddam Hussein with optic fiber cables for his missiles. Brings in issues of foreign policy, what companies to work with. Also, our data, the same provided by these Chinese companies, have been repeatedly hacked by professionals, especially our information on surprise-surprise, N. Korea, and China. The individuals in the discussion said China was a “suspect.”


Log #10 October 23, 07
Source: C-SPAN 2
Time 1

Title: “Live with White house press secretary Dana Perino
Brief: Discussing U.S Policy toward Iran, especially Missile Shield for 2015. Talks with Russia regarding Iran’s ability to seek approved nuclear programs, “assisted” (controlled) by Russia. Dana mentioned our relationship with our buddy Castro, Cuba, and the president’s speech to that effect.

Journal # 5
The trend I saw with the two most recent observations was a step-up in fear mongering. In each of the logs, people involved warned of an impending attack. The first said China was trying to Sabotage the U.S gov. and economy. This I thought was funny, because they have no need, given this past administration. There was a great discrepancy in who is the largest threat, these so-called “rogues” China, N. Korea, Iran, and Cuba. This isn’t foreign policy, saying if we feel threatened; we’re putting missiles in a third country. I think what our government is doing is both dishonest and reckless (read: western arrogance) I was not anticipating the news that El Presidente George Bush would be speaking about bringing Democracy to Cuba when Castro is out of power. Bringing Democracy is something that scares me. Especially when the white house press secretary couldn’t keep from saying “freedom= Commerce.” That isn’t what I espouse, and looking at what little I know about Cuba, his proposal is probably not what they have in mind. Stop the Capitalist mix up with democracy. In ours that might be interchangeable, but that should be separates. Also, “Castro out of power” is a misnomer. The minute we see a weakness, e.g. Castro’s people scrambling for leadership, we go in with our corporations and military coercion and loot what we can. Castro says he anticipates Bush planning “a new conquest of Cuba by force” to which Perino said “Dictators say a lot of things.”


Log #11 October 28, 07
Source 1: www.salon.com/opinoin/greenwaldindex
Source 2: www.newsweek.com/id/61969
Authors: Greenwald, Michael Isikoff, Mark Hosenball

Brief: The opinion article outlines efforts to stop retrospective Telecom Amnesty. This is in regard to companies which supported the President with warrant-less information Post 9/11 and would govern how the U.S collects electronic national security intelligence. “The principle thrust of the bill is to update and extend the protect America act, which had granted new authority to the U.S Intelligence Community. It allowed U.S Intelligence to intercept phone calls and emails of suspected terrorists overseas which pass through switches or telecom equipment in the U.S”


Log #12 October 38, 07
Source1: www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/08/207
Source2: www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/24/AR2007102400155.html

Brief: revisiting FISA, looking into Protect America act, talks about the speech the president made regarding the confrontational U.S policy toward Havana, and the long-term approach. The president offered Cuba computers and internet access, and scholarships if Havana relaxes restrictions on those things. He says “now is the time for the world to put aside its differences and prepare for Cuba’s transitions into a future of freedom and progress... The operation word in our future dealings with Cuba is not stability... the operative word is freedom.” Freedom=capitalism=democracy

Journal # 6 October 29, 07
What Glen Greenwald’s article and the Newsweek article pointed out are cases in which the government is trying to support people who acted against the law at the time. To obey requests which were supposedly in the best interest of U.S Security. That is not how the legal system is supposed to work. If at the time you did something it was illegal, then there is supposed to be some repercussion, no? Our policies regarding privacy as pertains to National Security have been gaining some attention, but so far as I can see, too many Americans are asking whether moral people should have anything to worry about, when they should be asking whether they are okay with what the government is doing without their knowledge or approval. Whether you have anything to hide is beside the point. It ought to be a public questioning of whether the government has total control over your privacy. When we watched “Those Debatable Debates,” and students first heard about Axiom voter identification and targeting, they were startled and concerned. Some asked who has control over how deep they can search, and who they can give the information to. There need to be more of these things to help people wake up. With the United States relationship with Cuba, I really hope my expectations are false. I don’t want us to be the authority in “Spreading Democracy” especially because we don’t have one here. The operative word for our future dealings with Cuba is not stability... the operative word is “freedom,” Freedom as defined by the current administration is a very scary thing. Our freedom is equivalent to money, among other things, but among the last of those would probably be liberty, choice, and privacy.

Log #13 November 2, 07
Source: “Blowback, the Costs and Consequences of the American Empire,” Chalmers Johnson.

Brief: Outlined in this book are highly relevant historical reverences related to the motivations and likewise result of our interventions globally, as our foreign policy.

Log #14 November 4, 07
Source: Democratic Debates on C-SPAN (replayed) also, Arthur Silber

Brief: Watching the Democratic Debates and seeing the Candidate’s plans regarding Iran and other current policies, I was deeply disturbed. Talk of Preemptive strikes, installing stronger military presence. (Revisiting my thoughts on the Missile shield) The seeds of doubt long have been in place, are beginning, in masse to germinate.


Journal # 7
Throughout our history, there has been what the CIA has more recently termed “blowback.” This is the unanticipated negative results of our interventionist policy. The focus is post WWII but is unlimited. From what I’ve read, my past (and comparably amateur) interpretations, and light analysis of what we perceive to be aggression against our ‘liberties’ have been more or less correct. I once drew a picture called “summary of weapon flow,” for a group of my friends. It outlined what Johnson is pointing to, which our irresponsible proliferation of arms and violence is resulting in hostility from other nations. Most of our enemies were at one point used to our benefit, that is, we exploit so much, that few people are without our influence and in a world where we rule based on our own selfish terms, there are likely many more a broken relationship than those we make notice of, and soon more to come.

The debates did not help the way I view our actions, and my optimism. In my day-to-day evaluation of articles and direct discussion regarding our Imperialist standing and reckless and aggressive behavior, most of the candidates (especially Hillary Clinton, as Silber pointed out) left “all options on the table” when asked about future acts against Iran. Only the seldom heard Kucinich said anything against pre-emptive policies. The shame in that is that Kucinich is the man in the street holding a sign dictating that ‘the end is near’ so he will likely be ignored by a vast majority of the population.

Inter Arma Silent Leges. “in war, laws fall mute. “
What I’ve found is a compounded version of what I'd already anticipated. My
interpretation of the correlation/ causation of our issues was largely correct, but not dark
enough. For the most part, where I had explained atrocities had been committed in part
because of economic interests. It is more often the most evident motivation. In our
policies toward Honduras, Hawaii, Guatemala, Cuba, all based in arrogance, greed and
violence. We are responsible for what our country does. There were in Blowback,
connections I hadn’t seen before. Like how our actions in Nicaragua (allowing contras to
do as they please) leads to a drug blowback in the U.S. There are of course, many
examples to be cited. To my delight, there are discussions all over the place where the
U.S foreign policy is described in terms of empires, genocide, and false-democracy.


Log # 15 November 5, 07
Source: Politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com

Brief: Dennis Kucinich has been trying to get the House of Representatives to debate Impeaching Vice President Cheney. He points that “Vice President Richard B. Cheney by such conduct is guilty of an impeachable offense warranting removal from office” This is important because 1) Cheney is complicit in actions to expand government power. 2) Indicates the inactivity of the House of Representatives, and may show a deep threat to change. The house is full of people who promote the annihilation of our individual freedoms and allow violence and other reckless behavior on the part of the government.


Log #16 November 6, 07
Source: thinkprogress.org

Brief: President Bush believes in order for diplomacy to be effective, all options have to be on the table. Regarding Iran, he told the House Leaders he was in high spirit and expected overwhelming support from the house. Meanwhile Cheney has “been mulling the idea of pushing for limited Israeli missile strikes against the Iranian nuclear site at Natanz and perhaps other sites, to provoke Tehran into lashing out.


Journal # 8
Dick Cheney among other agents of the current administration, is antagonizing Iran. He suggested missile strikes aimed toward nuclear targets, in order to instigate retaliation by the Iranian Government. Our House of Representatives refused to debate whether he should be impeached. What I see is a failure in checks and balances. The house isn’t controlling anything. There, among these people, ought to be someone who stands up and says “no more”. Kucinich is the most vocal publicly as I have seen, and that is a real shame because he like Silber, Floyd and anybody else I like, they are not heralded as they should be. They like to portray Kucinich as somebody who is unreasonable; ask him pointed questions to make him seem insane, when really the people who are off course include anyone who participates in the system. This expanding evil. This is not surprising though, as this is typical behavior of our government. We may have (according to some historians) antagonized Japan such that Pearl Harbor would occur, and the U.S citizenry would rally again for war. The president knew there was going to be an attack; he counted on it to make war.




Log #17 November 18, 07
Source: Frontline Cheney’s Law (class + PBS.org)

Brief: The video includes interviews of individuals from the government and elsewhere who also have varying levels of personal participation in what is being discussed. Cheney has an intense belief in the powers of the Executive Branch, and has acted to promote those in his tenure as a force in government. Even among conservatives, however, they question the ethical implications of this, and ask whether there is any semblance of constitutionality in it. Dick Cheney and his constituents try to make the President’s power as unlimited as possible, and beyond.


Log # 18 November 18, 07
Source: www.usdoj.gov/olc/warpowers925.html (Yoo memo)

Brief: John Yoo was part of the same group as Cheney and Addington in his beliefs about presidential powers, that is, he was willing to make an argument that Executive Powers ought to be unlimited because of the Constitution and Statements between the Founding Fathers. He used the essays and letters we call the Federalist Papers in order to justify his argument. Within the document, Yoo wrote were extraordinary examples of Presidential Power, war without declaration, for example. It was with these retrospectives that he built his argument, as well as with dissections of the opening statements of the Constitution, mixed in with pseudo-legal jargon.

Journal # 9
The frontline video supported the image of Cheney that D. Kucinich was trying to reveal. It did not say that he was a monster; it tried to show how he actually interprets things, and then allows the audience to make their own conclusion. This video, with conservatives commenting on the expanding powers of the Executive Branch is fueling further, my personal bias; in that, many of them were uncomfortable with Cheney, his constituents, especially his belligerent jackass lawyer, and what they were doing.

I read some of the discussion on the PBS site, regarding the video, and somebody who I don’t think ‘gets it’ complained about the video citing Ashcroft as a lesser at fault player. They were angry that Ashcroft wasn’t demonized, when I think the people who made it were using it as a comparison. My bias is built in such a way that I have trouble finding “the argument” in my thesis that Government powers are expanding. I think it is clear that they are. I think the argument is whether the public would consent to the expansions if they were better aware of what is going on, are the expansions constitutional, etc. Another fella named Matt Foley, who sent an email to Frontline, said that the video was wrong. That “great men who stand up to tyrants and corruption are often villainized [sic], by those trying to protect the status quo [just wrong]. Reagan, Churchill and Lincoln (to name a few) took aggressive action to protect what they thought was right. Cheney/Bush are in this category” (pbs.org/pages/frontline/cheney/talk)
I thought it was remarkable that somebody who believes so different a point of view than me would use the same language to justify it. And that that individual would use an incredible license on historical perspective that they compare giving the Badmin more power to promoting action against tyranny, going against the status quo. This relates to my feelings reading Yoo’s memo. I looked at it. I read it, I said-NO Way; read it again and checked what he was babbling about. I most certainly learned something. I didn’t know that you could put motives behind documents like the Constitution using letters and essays from one of the many people who influenced the writing of it, when we know that the Constitution was a compromise among many people, and was meant to be altered over time. There were a lot of things Yoo simply asserted, which were straight-up disconcerting. Knowing that Yoo was involved in framing the current administration’s legal arguments is, for me, totally insane. .



Log # November 19. 07
Source: Book T.V

Title: The Terrorist Watch, Ronald Kessler
Brief: Characterized the nature of ‘homegrown terrorists, according to the author. He said they are “losers, the sort of people who would blow up buildings in Oklahoma City.’ He says the solution in Iran will be a mix of diplomacy and ‘covert action.’ Discussed Bush’s motivation in war on terror, actions in Iraq, and anticipation of conflict with Iran.

Log # 20
Source: http;://atfbrainwash.com/archives/007426.php

Title: St. Roosevelt’s Shrine, Chris Gabel
Brief: Roosevelt’s policies policy and legacy being critiqued, ‘reactions ranging from ‘courageous’ to ‘socialist,’ the author continues ‘in truth we have good reason for skepticism.’ The author asserts that FDR’s enormous programs did not stop the great depression. The new deal was an example of presidents expanding power of government in response to crisis.


Journal # 10

A better example, for Expansion of government power can be seen in examining past ‘adjustments’ to rights like habeas corpus. In Lincoln’s Presidency I believe he twice suspended habeas corpus, Once in response to actual threat, rioting. Now, how does this differ from what Kessler described in The Terrorist Watch? Well, these people rioting, they existed, and I suppose could be called ‘homegrown terrorists’ but I think that term is bogus. I think it is funny watching the conservatives backpedal as they have been. I worry that the public will be so complacent that they will not even notice something simple to laugh at, and conquer.


Log #21 December 1, 07
Source: god-awful CNN, Lou Dobbs

Brief: Lou Dobbs connects Illegal Immigration to national security, so I connect it to Expansion. He complains that the “southern border [is a gateway] for methamphetamines, heroine, cocaine, and marijuana.’ and it is pivotal in the ‘war on drugs.’ He speaks to Sen. Luis Gutierrez who asks him why his focus I s on Mexico, why the Sen. himself was being mischaracterized as being all-for immigration reform, when he is really interested in protecting America’s borders. The department of Homeland Security Database, on which deportations etc. depend is said to be 70% inaccurate. Which Gutierrez called a “shoot first and ask questions later policy’ He, like so many people fighting for individual freedoms asked only that the Immigration Authorities ‘do it consistent with the Constitution.’

Log #22 December 02, 07
Source: www.whitehouse.gov/infocus/homeland/

Brief: Totalitarian Government Word bank:
nation, Homeland, national efforts, strategies, protect, offense, terrorist, homegrown, extremism, implications, institutionalize, public and private, foundation of security, enterprise, incidents, Culture of Preparedness


o Since September 11, 2001, our concept of securing the homeland has evolved, adapting to new realities and threats. The Strategy issued today incorporates this increased understanding by:
o Acknowledging that while we must continue to focus on the persistent and evolving terrorist threat, we also must recognize that certain non-terrorist events that reach catastrophic levels can have significant implications for homeland security.
o Emphasizing that as we secure the Homeland we cannot simply rely on defensive approaches and well-planned response and recovery measures. We recognize that our efforts also must involve offense at home and abroad.


Prevent and disrupt terrorist attacks. .. disrupt terrorists' ability to operate within our borders, and prevent the emergence of violent Islamic radicalization in order to deny terrorists future recruits and to defeat homegrown extremism.

Note wording here (and usual implications):
we will continue to strengthen the principles, systems, structures, and institutions that cut across the homeland security enterprise and support our activities to secure the Homeland. Ultimately, this will help ensure the success of our Strategy to secure the Nation.

Our entire Nation shares common responsibilities in homeland security. In order to help prepare the Nation to carry out these responsibilities, we will continue to foster a Culture of Preparedness that permeates all levels of society notice where emphasis is placed... nation, responsibilities... and what does "culture of preparedness" mean to you?

This system involves a continuous, mutually reinforcing cycle of activity across four phases – guidance; planning; execution; and assessment and evaluation.
"Education" - our Nation must further develop a community of homeland security professionals by establishing multidisciplinary education opportunities. In addition to covering homeland and relevant national security issues, this education should include an understanding and appreciation of appropriate regions, religions, cultures, legal systems, and languages. We also must continue to develop interagency and intergovernmental assignments and fellowship opportunities, tying them to promotions and professional advancement

Congress should help ensure that we have the necessary tools... We must make additional reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and ensure that the statute is permanently amended…The Congress should fully embrace a risk-based funding approach so that we best prioritize our limited resources to meet the most critical homeland security goals and objectives first.

The white house website is full of language not dissimilar from that of the Third Reich.

Journal # 11 December 02, 07
While looking for support, I fall back on the sites of the Equivocators themselves. That is, generally the DHS, White house, etc. What I noticed last, the ‘fact sheet’ was a remarkable support for the police state idea. The discussions of this I have had with friends and students is now including the use of terms like “Homeland” Nation, Homegrown “extremism” preventative measures, etc, is scary stuff. They say in the opening paragraph of the White house site that defensive security, and response preparedness is not enough. That the Department of Defense should be working on offense, why? Because we are bloodthirsty totalitarian regime? Or for a more rounded sound-bite, because ‘in times of crisis, Government Powers Expand.”

That’s how immigration gets clustered in, how trade policies are involved, how peace activists can be considered a threat, because ‘crisis’ is in the eyes of the ‘threatened.’ In this case, we’ve got a paranoid administration with a propensity for pathological behavior.


Log #23 December 9, 07
Source: Dye: Politics in America

Brief: Examined a ‘stable’ opinion of the roles of the president and judiciary, and their respective powers. Noted an important quote, a warning that, “excessive reliance upon courts, instead of self-government through Democratic processes, may demean the people’s sense of moral and political responsibility for their own future, especially in matters of liberty, and may stunt the growth of political capacity that results from the exercise of ultimate powers of decision.” Reviewed past sources including Greenwald, after determining that ‘bloggers’ are most clinically fallible. In his archive I found some questionable positions, some of which did not double check well. I reviewed the source he offered, and the article I cited was not garbage, but I was not impressed with Greenwald after further searching. There are grades of commentary, and one is the incestuous parroting of higher ups, not giving really, their own evaluations. I don’t like to read or reference stuff like that.


Log #24
Source: C-Span, Whitehouse.gov + Dana Perino.

Brief: Examined relevant terminology, specifically, Empire, Eminent Domain, which will be pertinent in my presentation, as well as the actual verification and discovery of sources.
In the analysis of Ahmadinejad, I noticed that his definitions differ from mine, and when you argue a topic, it is critical that your definitions are consistent.

In the White House website, it says “whatever it takes to protect the country in a legal way” such “manners of sensitivity should remain classified and not be discussed in public’” and that we intend to “spread hope and liberty...expand trade/” they also said that “Al-Qaeda is like a tumor in Iraq.” Similar statements followed as Dana Perino antagonized Iran.




Journal # 12
I am discovering even more difficulty in finding reliable communications, in part because of the prevalence of sound bites, and intriguing language choices. When I hear ‘spreading democracy,’ for example, it is more likely to mean expanding our military presence, installment of weapons, or restructuring of economies and resources. While I listen to Dana Perino, or read essays by online-narcissists, I see similar problems with transparency, and motivations. Why is it that there is so incestuous a cycle of information? This taking of a substantial event, and picking small parts or suspected logic behind them and using them to support some sort of ill-conceived argument, is just unacceptable. In secondary remarks, the Expansion of Government power, is clearly an honored tradition, and is not arguable. The arguable part is whether the methods and mechanisms are largely acceptable to the public, or not.


Log # 25 December 15, 07
Source: BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7145658.stm

Brief: Discussing Mukasey’s reaction to requests for investigation into why CIA tapes recording interrogations of suspected Al-Qaeda operatives were destroyed. It also addressed the Republican senators blocking a bill restricting the interrogation methods the CIA employs.

Log # 26 December 16. 07
Source1: (less recent BBC article) http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/europe/6736385.stm
Source2: (more recent) http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/europe/7070483

Brief: CIA chief Michael Hayden backed the rendition flights. One article says the flights were innocuous, that there were no secret prisons, and that the investigator was wrong, while the more recent one talks about it as if it was in past tense.

Journal # 13
Rendition is a clear example of expansion, but more so it is an incredible example of our being bullshitted. There is no recognition of how the senator from Switzerland had been marginalized and made out to be crazy for pressuring the U.S to admit to having prisoners renditioned. The Badmin does this occasionally… having somebody quietly prove wrongdoing while shallowly apologizing, or not even that. This is reminiscent of when Fran Townsend said how many terrorists we are “not torturing” and how that figure was close to one hundred. The two discussions were put in context, when the article addresses rendition, and I think the article shows a clear global consensus that what the U.S is doing is torture. If preserving the methods to propagate that sort of ‘intelligence collecting’ is not an Expansion of Government power, to protect National Security; I know few things that are. The BBC was a fascinating source, not that it was unfamiliar, or totally unique, but I hadn’t visited it recently, and it seems less apt to sugar coat or omit the truth. Also comparing BBC to Al Jazeera was fun. I didn’t realize how similar they are. Even the page in Arabic is not so odd to me. Also, they allowed commentary on topics, including the U.S “threatening” Iran. They actually were subtly mocking enough, to put quotations as if it were debatable. I thought it was cute.


Log #27 December 24, 07
Source: http://mwcnews.net/content/view/18890/57

Title: U.S Police Crack-down [police brutality] Against Crowd Protesting in New Orleans
Brief: The crowd did not want 4,500 subsidized housing units that had been damaged by Katrina to be destroyed. The city wants to use the space for new mixed-income housing, while homeless populations are on the steady increase.


Log #28 December 24, 07
Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7158723

Brief: The article discusses claims that a new biometric database will not threaten the liberty of U.S citizens by making face recognition and other data available. The president has said that innocent people have nothing to fear from the database, called “Next Generation Identification,” as he said, “post 9-11 we’ve had an increase in our customer base; we need a system that is literally bigger, faster, better…” “What we deal with is bad guys’ data, suspected terrorists or criminals.”


Journal # 14
The most recent thing, the NGI, is profound. I think it is a terrible idea. When the government goes through these avenues (lists, profiles and databases), there is always some sort of ill-motivation. Here the Badmin even said it’s because of an increase in data post 9-11. If the same people being investigated for that are going to increase in volume, and amount of data collected, the innocent citizens, they need to be worried. I think it is a great example of expansion. In 1950, the FBI had planned massive arrests, under then chief J Edgar Hoover; to counter what they felt was threats of ‘treason, espionage and sabotage.” The U.S; declassified documents revealed that “Mr. Hoover wanted the president to suspend the centuries-old legal right of habeas corpus, which protects individuals against unlawful arrest.
The FBI director planned to detain the suspects - whose list of names he had been compiling for years - in US military and federal prisons.
"The index now contains approximately 12,000 individuals, of which approximately 97% are citizens of the United States," wrote Mr. Hoover, in the now declassified document. “
This is a good example of why I think it is a ridiculous and awful idea.



Log # 29 January 5, 07
Source:www.chris-floyd.com/articles/all_Wet%3A_The_Liquid_Bomber_Farce_Unfolded


Brief: Chris Floyd points out, as is his custom; things people interested in civil liberties and government influence might want to know. This case in particular is regarding the supposed threat from liquid-component explosive devises. To minimal effect of surprise, this is bullshit; the mechanisms necessary to make any sort of explosive substance in the materials described would require hours of intense chemistry.


Log # 30 January 5, 07
Source: commondreams.org/archive/2008/01/05/6199

Brief: John Yoo is being sued. Something of a step toward justice, the person suing is not trying to garner a ton of money from it, but instead is opting to sue for some sort of recognition of wrong-doing.

Journal # 15
Continuing the Liquid bombers explanation, this intense chemistry would have to occur in a controlled situation, on scales that even substantial labs would probably have trouble with. One description of how to make the substance in question, called for a recipe that included several critical failure points, and a reaction time somewhere between 8 hours and three days, the result of which would have to be rinsed and dried, before being effective as an explosive. Oh yeah, and the chemicals? You’d need a bathtub full of them, because the final substance is a concentrated thing, y’know, how to make small reactions like hydrogen peroxide, bleach and acetone into something of real concern.

The person pursuing the suit is choosing to sue for $1.00, and the declaration of what Yoo did as illegal. They are filing this case in the spirit of justice; they want it recognized that because of Yoo’s memorandum torture was promoted. They want him to be publicly challenged, and possibly disbarred. While I am not totally certain of the sanctity of the suit in legal terms, I think it is morally justified. There seems to be a growing resentment in the American public for the type of deceit and violence that is commonplace in this and past administrations. Their answer, unfortunately, doesn’t seem to be destroying the system, refusing to participate, or attempting to crush it. Instead, it is to try to take care of the symptoms of it, to cover up the ill effects, through protecting your personal assets, small scale litigation, and a brief relief when insignificant policies are promised to change. While only making small scene for each of the increasingly common atrocities of our government. The plebs no longer seem to mind the wool over their eyes, instead of complaining that they have been blinded, and abandoned, they only complain that it occasionally is uncomfortable, but are satisfied with the reminder of its warmth. Yoo prosecuted or not, I worry it will make no change in the toxic milieu that is throughout our citizenry. They look for change in the upcoming elections, but they won’t get it, it is time for rising in the streets. Or to present a boring speech.