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December 12, 2007 at 12:00:35

There's A Press Blackout on S 1959, the Thought Crime Prevention Bill; Why?

by William Cormier     Page 2 of 3 page(s)

www.opednews.com

 

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Unfortunately, writing Lou Dobbs or Jack Cafferty is futile, as CNN refuses to publish any information in regard this assault on our Constitution, and that’s after they have received hundreds, maybe even thousands of requests to editorialize on the subject. Has the government issued “signing letters” or other orders that prevent ALL of America’s Mainstream News Media from reporting on this vital issue? Jack Cafferty is attempting to promote his so-called “Blog” on CNN, however, if you even mention S 1959 in your comment, it probably won’t be published. CNN is stonewalling their viewer-ship, and on an issue where the public is demanding that this Bill be discussed in a public forum; CNN, along with the rest of the MSM, have turned their backs on America and have shown, despite increasing public outrage that they don’t give a damn about public opinion!

If you fine-tune your Internet searches, and Google S 1959, there are pages and pages of results, almost all of them Blogs and Discussion forums in the US who are discussing this matter and urging their subscribers to call, email, and write to Congress to defeat this Bill, yet it appears we are screaming into a void - and no one in the MSM has the courage to bring this odious Bill to the publics attention. In fact, there is little or nothing mentioned in the foreign press as well, and in this writer’s opinion, we must break the silence of the Mainstream News Media to bring about enough awareness where the people can protest in enough numbers to kill this Bill before free speech in America is nothing more than a fleeting memory.

To anyone that is aware of Naomi Wolf’s writing, the Guardian Unlimited published her recent essay, Fascist America, in 10 easy steps. One chilling part of that essay is published below, and we all need to take note that a Fascist America appears to be on our doorstep, and only by making the MSM report upon this attempt to silence free speech in America will we have any chance of stopping the steady march toward total fascism and dictatorship in America:

8. Control the press

Italy in the 1920s, Germany in the 30s, East Germany in the 50s, Czechoslovakia in the 60s, the Latin American dictatorships in the 70s, China in the 80s and 90s - all dictatorships and would-be dictators target newspapers and journalists. They threaten and harass them in more open societies that they are seeking to close, and they arrest them and worse in societies that have been closed already.

The Committee to Protect Journalists says arrests of US journalists are at an all-time high: Josh Wolf (no relation), a blogger in San Francisco, has been put in jail for a year for refusing to turn over video of an anti-war demonstration; Homeland Security brought a criminal complaint against reporter Greg Palast, claiming he threatened “critical infrastructure” when he and a TV producer were filming victims of Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana. Palast had written a bestseller critical of the Bush administration.

Other reporters and writers have been punished in other ways. Joseph C Wilson accused Bush, in a New York Times op-ed, of leading the country to war on the basis of a false charge that Saddam Hussein had acquired yellowcake uranium in Niger. His wife, Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA spy - a form of retaliation that ended her career.

Prosecution and job loss are nothing, though, compared with how the US is treating journalists seeking to cover the conflict in Iraq in an unbiased way. The Committee to Protect Journalists has documented multiple accounts of the US military in Iraq firing upon or threatening to fire upon unembedded (meaning independent) reporters and camera operators from organisations ranging from al-Jazeera to the BBC. While westerners may question the accounts by al-Jazeera, they should pay attention to the accounts of reporters such as the BBC’s Kate Adie. In some cases reporters have been wounded or killed, including ITN’s Terry Lloyd in 2003. Both CBS and the Associated Press in Iraq had staff members seized by the US military and taken to violent prisons; the news organisations were unable to see the evidence against their staffers.

Over time in closing societies, real news is supplanted by fake news and false documents. Pinochet showed Chilean citizens falsified documents to back up his claim that terrorists had been about to attack the nation. The yellowcake charge, too, was based on forged papers.

You won’t have a shutdown of news in modern America - it is not possible. But you can have, as Frank Rich and Sidney Blumenthal have pointed out, a steady stream of lies polluting the news well. What you already have is a White House directing a stream of false information that is so relentless that it is increasingly hard to sort out truth from untruth. In a fascist system, it’s not the lies that count but the muddying. When citizens can’t tell real news from fake, they give up their demands for accountability bit by bit.

9. Dissent equals treason

Cast dissent as “treason” and criticism as “espionage’. Every closing society does this, just as it elaborates laws that increasingly criminalize certain kinds of speech and expand the definition of “spy” and “traitor”. When Bill Keller, the publisher of the New York Times, ran the Lichtblau/Risen stories, Bush called the Times’ leaking of classified information “disgraceful”, while Republicans in Congress called for Keller to be charged with treason, and rightwing commentators and news outlets kept up the “treason” drumbeat. Some commentators, as Conason noted, reminded readers smugly that one penalty for violating the Espionage Act is execution.MORE

Based on all of the Blogs which are standing in solidarity against this issue, I’d bet my last dollar (If I had one to spare…) the Congress has received hundreds of thousands of phone calls and emails, yet they still remain mute and refuse to offer the public anything at all - not even an assurance they will look into our concern and outrage; instead, it appears The United States Congress is betraying their constituents, this time in an assault that could change the face of America! Based on the refusal of the MSM to publicize the issue, and Congress remaining deaf and dumb in the performance of their duties, we can only ascertain that Congress is attempting to pass this Bill while the bulk of the population isn’t even aware of its existence, and to me, that speaks of treason!

We have only one chance of defeating this Bill before it gets out of Committee, and that’s to make enough calls and send enough emails to effectively jam-up the phone systems in Congress, and only by acting in unison will we be able to save free speech in America. As an alternative, I’m calling upon the foreign press to publicize this matter, especially those in England, Germany, France, and all of the countries that America gave so many lives in World War I and II to help them throw off the yolk of oppression. America was there for them when Nazi Germany was attempting to enslave all of Europe, and I believe they have a debt of honor to repay -to stand tall and write about this critical issue that affects all of America. We were there for them, and now it seems that we need their help, if it’s nothing more than embarrassing the American Mainstream News Media into covering an issue that affects each and every American alive, here and abroad, and to lend their assistance in helping to insure that the United States will remain a free and democratic nation.

William Cormier

 1  |  2  |  3

 

http://justanothercoverup.com/

I am nothing more than a patriotic American that is doing whatever I can to further the cause of democracy, the rule of law, and am absolutely outraged on how the Bush administration is defying our Congress, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! Footnote: I write in a style that I believe is appropriate in today's world where we can't trust the Mainstream News Media, and rather than concentrating on one article alone, which may or may not receive the exposure and emphasis it should, I prefer to meld several relevant stories together, that each taken alone may not expose the entire situation, but when taken-in as a whole, tend to give the reader a better understanding of the subject. One article or story alone does not represent the "Big Picture" - but when several are effectively tied-together it often reveals a trend or broader view of the subject matter that is important to completely understand any given situation. http://justanothercoverup.com/

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8 comments

I am nothing more than a patriotic American that is doing whatever I can to further the cause of democracy, the rule of law, and am absolutely outraged on how the Bush administration is defying our Congress, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! Footnote: I write in a style that I believe is appropriate in today’s world where we can’t trust the Mainstream News Media, and rather than concentrating on one article alone, which may or may not receive the exposure and emphasis it should, I prefer...

to see more of bio, click on member name

William CormierI am nothing more than a patriotic American that is doing whatever I can to further the cause of democracy, the rule of law, and am absolutely outraged on how the Bush administration is defying our Congress, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! Footnote: I write in a style that I believe is appropriate in today’s world where we can’t trust the Mainstream News Media, and rather than concentrating on one article alone, which may or may not receive the exposure and emphasis it should, I prefer...

to see more of bio, click on member name

To anyone in the foreign Press reading this Op-Ed

As you read this Op-Ed, please sit back and contemplate on the significance of this matter; President Bush is blathering on and on about "Democratic Principles" while our own society is closing down and now we don't even have a free press except for what the Internet offers us - and we can't reach enough people by the Internet alone unless every one of us bands together in solidarity, and so far, that's been a daunting task, but without fair representation in the media, we remain unaware of how many thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of Americans who have called or emailed Congress in regard this assault on our constitution.

Freedom in Americana is quickly becoming what the Presidency "feels like" rather than a strict adherence to our constitution and laws - and without massive foreign coverage of the assault against the freedom of Americans by the Bush administration, this nation could easily be overwhelmed by fascism, something countless Americans died for in helping to protest Europe so many years ago.

Keep in mind these actions will not help the Bush administration and the Neo-cons who seem to want perpetual war, but will benefit the average American that still believes the United States should return to our constitutional roots, adhere to the Rule of American Law as well as International law, something this President holds in utter contempt.

Your help will be appreciated, and I have been loathe to request international press support, however, with the mainstream news media compromised by many factors, we are now looking for any measure that could help to bring awareness to the general public in regard S 1959. Even the United Nations should be able to see through this ploy to keep the American people in ignorance - and ignorance and propaganda is how a free society is transformed to a fascist and authoritarian government.

 

William Cormier 

 

 

by William Cormier (117 articles, 5 quicklinks, 17 diaries, 292 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 12:52:53 PM
 


Erik Larson, Human Being and concerned Citizen. Member of 911Truth.org Advisory Board. Opinions expressed here are my own. I only advocate and practice non-violent methods of social and political activism & change.

Recommended links:
9/11 Family Steering Committee Review of the 9/11 Commission Report

http://www.911truth.org/downloads/Family%20Steering%20Cmte%20review%20of%20Report.pdf

JusticeFor911.org Complaint and Petition
http://justicefor91...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Better World OrderErik Larson, Human Being and concerned Citizen. Member of 911Truth.org Advisory Board. Opinions expressed here are my own. I only advocate and practice non-violent methods of social and political activism & change.

Recommended links:
9/11 Family Steering Committee Review of the 9/11 Commission Report

http://www.911truth.org/downloads/Family%20Steering%20Cmte%20review%20of%20Report.pdf

JusticeFor911.org Complaint and Petition
http://justicefor91...

to see more of bio, click on member name

they hate us for our freedoms

the terrorist fear-peddlers in our government hate us for our freedoms. Actually, what most terrorists say, and the 9/11 Commission said before the White House prevented it from being included in the Report, is that "islamic radicals" hate us due to US corporate/foreign policy that props up dictators in order to exploit oil and gives 1-sided support to Israel, which the MSM also does a blackout on.

Boycott Corporate media- how long can lies be sustained?

Stop S 1959, the Thought Crime Bill 

by Better World Order (4 articles, 408 quicklinks, 26 diaries, 875 comments) on Wednesday, December 12, 2007 at 3:35:03 PM
 


JUST A CONCERN CITIZEN AND LOVE MY COUNTRY GREW UP IN A SMALL FISHING TOWN IN NJ,BUT THE DAY I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE,SPENT MOST OF MY TIME EXPANSING MY MINE. LEARNED A LOT THE HARD WAY,BUT MOSTLY STREET SMART. AT 65 HAVE PRETTY GOOD IDEA WHO THE SNAKES ARE.
RICHARD SHADEJUST A CONCERN CITIZEN AND LOVE MY COUNTRY GREW UP IN A SMALL FISHING TOWN IN NJ,BUT THE DAY I GOT MY DRIVERS LICENSE,SPENT MOST OF MY TIME EXPANSING MY MINE. LEARNED A LOT THE HARD WAY,BUT MOSTLY STREET SMART. AT 65 HAVE PRETTY GOOD IDEA WHO THE SNAKES ARE.

ALL ROADS LEAD TO THE GLOBALIST

 THIS IS NOT A BUSH THING THIS BILL WAS WRITEN BY RAND CORP. WITCH ARE GLOBALIST, THIS IS THE SAME AS FORD FOUNDATION FUNDING LA RAZA, TO KEEP OUR BORDERS OPEN, TO KEEP THE FLOW OF CHEEP LABOR COMING. THIS ALL PART OF THE GLOBALIST AGENDA. THESE GLOBALIST NEED TO BE EXPOSED TO THE WORLD.

by RICHARD SHADE (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 460 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 1:41:18 AM
 


Thinking ex-pat
AngeloThinking ex-pat

S1959

"we don't even have a free press except for what the Internet offers us"?

Internet?  How long do you think OpEdNews will be up if this bill passes?  They'll have to enlarge Gitmo if this bill passes! 

by Angelo (5 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 159 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 7:13:17 AM
 


I am nothing more than a patriotic American that is doing whatever I can to further the cause of democracy, the rule of law, and am absolutely outraged on how the Bush administration is defying our Congress, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! Footnote: I write in a style that I believe is appropriate in today’s world where we can’t trust the Mainstream News Media, and rather than concentrating on one article alone, which may or may not receive the exposure and emphasis it should, I prefer...

to see more of bio, click on member name

William CormierI am nothing more than a patriotic American that is doing whatever I can to further the cause of democracy, the rule of law, and am absolutely outraged on how the Bush administration is defying our Congress, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! Footnote: I write in a style that I believe is appropriate in today’s world where we can’t trust the Mainstream News Media, and rather than concentrating on one article alone, which may or may not receive the exposure and emphasis it should, I prefer...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Abraham007 - Your Link Doesn't work

I believe this is the story and link you referenced, however, when I tried the link that was posted, it didn’t work. Mine may or may not work, but I’ll try and see what happens. Thanks for the link to a great story! (Hope this is the right story, as it’s the only one with the last name of smith, and it seems to math the address you posted.)

The Anti-War Enablers

William Cormier

by William Cormier (117 articles, 5 quicklinks, 17 diaries, 292 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 8:56:37 AM
 


36 year old Bid rose well above the ignorant environs of his family's upbringing and filled his mind with the extremes of subversive underground counterculture and illegal substances until he wound up sitting naked on the end of his bed in one of his empty rooms of this world, bleeding, and trying to braid a noose to hang himself with out of a trashbag that contained the last of his worldly belongings... Then he cut off all his hair and moved straight away to the wild unknown country where he c...

to see more of bio, click on member name

C.Bid36 year old Bid rose well above the ignorant environs of his family's upbringing and filled his mind with the extremes of subversive underground counterculture and illegal substances until he wound up sitting naked on the end of his bed in one of his empty rooms of this world, bleeding, and trying to braid a noose to hang himself with out of a trashbag that contained the last of his worldly belongings... Then he cut off all his hair and moved straight away to the wild unknown country where he c...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Another great article, William...

The powers that be would like nothing better than to strip our right to free speech and as they mull over new media consolidation acts to pass along with S1959 (I thought it was S 1954) we are surely going to hell rather quickly...  With the new media consolidation stuff, we'll never hear 'real' news again!

My GA Senators, of course, feed me the line that they are still looking at the 'Homegrown Terrorist and Thought Crime Prevention Bill' and listening to their constituents when you call their office...  which means to me that they will likely be voting to pass it.

These are the dark days just before they get a little darker...

by C.Bid (0 articles, 7 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 645 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 9:20:20 AM
 


I am nothing more than a patriotic American that is doing whatever I can to further the cause of democracy, the rule of law, and am absolutely outraged on how the Bush administration is defying our Congress, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! Footnote: I write in a style that I believe is appropriate in today’s world where we can’t trust the Mainstream News Media, and rather than concentrating on one article alone, which may or may not receive the exposure and emphasis it should, I prefer...

to see more of bio, click on member name

William CormierI am nothing more than a patriotic American that is doing whatever I can to further the cause of democracy, the rule of law, and am absolutely outraged on how the Bush administration is defying our Congress, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights! Footnote: I write in a style that I believe is appropriate in today’s world where we can’t trust the Mainstream News Media, and rather than concentrating on one article alone, which may or may not receive the exposure and emphasis it should, I prefer...

to see more of bio, click on member name

The subject of S 1959 Certainly Has the Nation's Attention

I'll be curious to see how long this Press Blackout on S 1959 continues. I have never written about a subject that seems to be gathering even more momentum as each day passes, and now this story is even on discussion groups that belong to the teaching community. This story was picked up by BuzzFlash, and then www.rense.com/ , as well as several other sites.

In the past three or four days, I've seem my traffic increase to levels I never believed possible for someone who isn't a real writer, and it's indicative of the message - not my writing skills or lack thereof. This is a matter the public is actively showing its concern and revulsion for, and they want answers. I know that CNN has been assailed by messages, as has Congress - yet they still remain silent. I have a gut feeling that soon the silence will be broken, and those Senators who are supporting this Bill may be in for a surprise.

As an interesting fact, I read where one individual received information that Obama sent a message back to one of his constituents that this was a Bill necessary to "protect us" or some other idiotic reply, and unless people take this matter seriously and keep up the pressure, it will be voted into law while the general public is still unaware of its existence. The MSM is beginning to lose money and some of their viewership by constantly publishing the Bush administration’s propaganda and not reporting the real news, and when corporate America begins to feel the pressure financially, even more "leaks" will occur, and impeachment may soon be reality.

 

The mood of the country is not good, and even though its been slow going, the people are finally voicing their outrage - and this is a time when we need to pay special attention to Bush and Cheney - as it's almost time for a diversion to take our eye off the ball - and no matter what happens, we cannot let ourselves be tricked into believing whatever will happen that the Bush administration will attempt to somehow "re-nationalize" the people in an effort to continue his criminal Presidency.

William Cormier

by William Cormier (117 articles, 5 quicklinks, 17 diaries, 292 comments) on Thursday, December 13, 2007 at 10:05:43 AM
 

 

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