Bush is putting together a private army.
I keep hoping this isn’t happening.
Everything in Marxist theory points to events in the US ( and the UK for that matter) as the inevitable outcome of unbridled capitlaism, so I should be saying ‘Told you so. HA-ha’. And, of course, we knew this was inevitable when Homeland Security hired both heads of the KGB and of the Stasi.
Being right doesn’t make this any less worrying or scary. I never thought to see the world’s biggest superpower become a openly fascist state in my lifetime. I fear for its citizens and I fear for us in the rest of the world – if I, for example, were to say in this blog that the only possible resistance to this were armed revolution, I could be picked up by the CIA this afternoon and rendered anywhere with no-one knowing, and my government would likely collude in it. especially if I happened to be brown-skinned and Moslem.
Via Steve Gillard
This is how dictatorships start
Coming to America?
American Gestapo
“What BushCo wants, according to the fine print (Sec. 605) of the new PATRIOT Act, is a permanent Praetorian Guard, or Cheka, or Gestapo. It’s all too easy to come up with apt historical analogies–but not with any from this nation’s history.
“A permanent police force, to be known as the ‘United States Secret Service Uniformed Division,'” empowered to “make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence” (what is “an offense against the United States?), “or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony” (what are “reasonable grounds”?).
I’m not making this up. See the text and URL below.
What will it take to get the press to notice this?
MCMHouse Report 109-333 – USA PATRIOT IMPROVEMENT AND
REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005
SEC. 605. THE UNIFORMED DIVISION, UNITED
STATES SECRET SERVICE.(a) In General- Chapter 203 of title 18, United States
Code, is amended by inserting after section 3056 the following:`Sec. 3056A. Powers, authorities, and duties of United
States Secret Service Uniformed Division`(a) There is hereby created and established a permanent
police force, to be known as the `United States Secret Service Uniformed
Division’. Subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the
United States Secret Service Uniformed Division shall perform such duties as the
Director, United States Secret Service, may prescribe in connection with the
protection of the following:`(1) The White House in the District of Columbia.
`(2) Any building in which Presidential offices are located.
`(3) The Treasury Building and grounds.
`(4) The President, the Vice President (or other
officer next in the order of succession to the Office of President), the
President-elect, the Vice President-elect, and their immediate families.
`(5) Foreign diplomatic missions located in the metropolitan area of the District of Columbia.
`(6) The temporary official residence of the Vice President and grounds in the District of Columbia.
`(7) Foreign diplomatic missions located in metropolitan areas (other than the District of Columbia) in the United States where there are located twenty or more such missions headed by full-time officers, except that such protection shall be provided only–
`(A) on the basis of extraordinary protective need;
`(B) upon request of an affected metropolitan area; and
`(C) when the extraordinary protective need arises at or in association with a visit to–
`(i) a permanent mission to, or an observer mission invited to participate in the work of, an international organization of which the United States is a member; or
`(ii) an international organization of which the United States is a member; except that such protection may also be provided for motorcades and at other places associated with any such visit and may be extended at places of temporary domicile in connection with any such visit.
`(8) Foreign consular and diplomatic missions located in such areas in the United States, its territories and possessions, as the President, on a case-by-case basis, may direct.`(9) Visits of foreign government officials to metropolitan areas (other than the District of Columbia) where there are located twenty or more consular or diplomatic missions staffed by accredited personnel, including protection for motorcades and at other places associated with such visits when such officials are in the United States to conduct official business with the United States Government.
`(10) Former Presidents and their spouses, as provided in section
3056(a)(3) of title 18. `(11) An event designated under section 3056(e) of title 18 as a special event of national significance.
`(12) Major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and, within 120 days of the general Presidential election, the spouses of such candidates, as provided in section 3056(a)(7) of title 18.
`(13) Visiting heads of foreign states or foreign governments.
`(b)(1) Under the direction of the Director of the Secret Service, members of the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division are authorized to–
`(A) carry firearms;
`(B) make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under
the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony; and `(C) perform such other functions and duties as are authorized by law.
`[…]
America has never had a federal police force, but hidden in the new “Patriot” Act is language that creates just such a beast.
SEC. 605. THE UNIFORMED DIVISION, UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE.
There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the `United States Secret Service Uniformed Division’.The Secret Service, Uniformed Division will not operate solely in DC, but anywhere former Presidents travel, or foreign dignitaries, or even “as the President, on a case-by-case basis, may direct.” #8A federal police force, directed by the President. Is this not the Gestapo all over again?
If the new “Patriot” Act passes, the new SSUD federal police can show up at:
(11) An event designated.. as a special event of national significance.(12) Major Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates and, within 120 days of the general Presidential electionsA federal goon squad on hand to arrest any ‘disruptors’ during the next Presidential Election? how can you look in the mirror and tell yourself that there’s hope for 2008? Or is that just an excuse to continue doing nothing right now?
Note: This bill comes up in two weeks, to date only myself and Kurt Nimmo have written about it. I’ve written Democracy Now, CommonDreams, etc? nobody wants to touch it.
Please do what you can to break this story….http://www.benfrank.net/blog/
The terms Gestapo and Cheka are innacurate. This is more like the CRS, Bundespoliezi or Guarda Civil. They won’t work in secret, you will have hundreds of uniformed, heavily armed regular police ready to beat heads in. This could grow very rapidly, and is being pushed because Katrina showed the military WILL NOT do civil law enforcement.
So Bush could send a couple of hundred to monitor anti-war protests outside the UN, “help” with isolating a city with a health emergency or take over security for a political convention.
A National Police Force, with national arrest powers is essential for a dictatorship.Even a force of 10,000 could kick off major disorder. And this is only part of the bill because the military will not serve as Bush’s police.
