America’s march towards fascism: and some helpful hints on how to protect yourself from the United States government

Last updated on 2008-05-19.

The American Heritage Dictionary defines Fascism as “a system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.”

According to National Security and Homeland Security Presidential Directives NSPD 51 and HSPD 20, the president of the United States of America has already obtained dictatorial powers.

Most of the following articles and news stories are events that have transpired in the last two to three months of 2008. Much more has happened before this:

Three States Subjected To "Martial Law Sweeps" - “Federal law enforcement agencies co-opted sheriffs offices as well state and local police forces in three states last weekend for a vast round up operation that one sheriff's deputy has described as ‘martial law training’. Law-enforcement agencies in Tennessee, Mississippi and Arkansas took part in what was described by local media as ‘an anti-crime and anti-terrorism initiative’ involving officers from more than 50 federal, state and local agencies.

“Given the military style name ‘Operation Sudden Impact’, the initiative saw officers from six counties rounding up fugitives, conducting traffic checkpoints, climbing on boats on the Mississippi River and doing other ‘crime-abatement’ programs all under the label of ‘anti-terrorism’. WREG Memphis news channel 3 reported that the Sheriff's Department arrested 332 people, 142 of whom were fugitives, or ‘terrorists’ as they now seem to be known.

“Hundreds of dollars were seized and drugs recovered, and 1,292 traffic violations were handed out to speeding terrorists and illegally parked terrorists… The authorities even raided businesses and store owners, confiscating computers and paperwork in an effort to ‘track down possible terrorists before something big happens’.

“The Sheriff's Department is determining if and when they plan another round-up. The operation, which involved police, deputies, the FBI, drug agents, gang units and even the coast guard, is just one example of how law enforcement at the state and local levels is being co-opted and centralized by the Department of Homeland Security via massive federal grants…

“The information and intelligence from the operation will be collated and routed through federally funded state-run fusion centers, which are working in conjunction with the military arm of the DHS, NORTHCOM.

“Such information will soon include the DNA and other biometric information from every person arrested, which DHS head Michael Chertoff has declared is no longer your personal information.”
National “DNA warehouse” bill passes - “Passing the House of Representatives on a voice vote, S. 1858 has been sent to President Bush for signature. The Newborn Genetic Screening bill was passed by the Senate last December. The bill violates the U.S. Constitution and the Nuremberg Code, writes Twila Brase, president of the Citizen’s Council on Health Care (CCHC).”

“‘The DNA taken at birth from every citizen is essentially owned by the government, and every citizen becomes a potential subject of government-sponsored genetic research,’ she states. ‘It does not require consent and there are no requirements to inform parents about the warehousing of their child’s DNA for the purpose of genetic research. Already, in Minnesota, the state health department reports that 42,210 children of the 780,000 whose DNA is housed in the Minnesota ‘DNA warehouse’ have been subjected to genetic research without their parents’ knowledge or consent.’”

Further information at: Brave New World:Bush signs Bill to Take all Newborns’DNA
Trials of Muslim Charities Likened to a Witch-Hunt - “Georgetown University law school professor David Cole, one of the U.S.' preeminent constitutional scholars, told IPS, ‘The 'material support' principle is 'guilt by association' in 21st-century garb, and presents all of the same problems that criminalizing membership and association did during the Cold War.’

“In the name of cutting off support for terrorist organizations, the government has adopted the ‘paradigm of prevention,’ Cole says. ‘That term, coined by former Attorney General John Ashcroft, describes an amalgam of tactics in which the government employs highly coercive and intrusive measures against groups and individuals based not on proof of past wrongdoing, but on necessarily speculative fears about what they might do in the future.’

“In a chapter of a forthcoming book, Counterterrorism: Democracy's Challenge, to be published later this year, Cole writes, ‘The United States law now makes it a crime to provide anything of support – from dues to volunteer services – to any organization or individual that the government has labeled 'terrorist.' The prohibition is not limited to those who intend to support the illegal or terrorist acts of so-called terrorist organizations. It criminalizes any and all support – including support that is otherwise entirely lawful, peaceful, and nonviolent.’

“‘Hundreds of individuals and groups have been placed on this 'terrorist' list since 2001,’ Cole says, adding, “Remarkably, there is no definition in federal statutes of a 'specially designated terrorist' or a 'specially designated global terrorist.' Thus, the president and the secretary of treasury can apply this label to literally anyone or any group.’”
Measure backs 'American values' in state schools - “Arizona schools whose courses ‘denigrate American values and the teachings of Western civilization’ could lose state funding under the terms of legislation approved Wednesday (April 16) by a House panel.

“SB1108 also would bar teaching practices that ‘overtly encourage dissent’ from those values, including democracy, capitalism, pluralism and religious tolerance. Schools would have to surrender teaching materials to the state superintendent of public instruction, who could withhold state aid from districts that broke the law.

“Another section of the bill would bar public schools, community colleges and universities from allowing organizations to operate on campus if it is ‘based in whole or in part on race-based criteria’… If the proposal becomes law, however, it would have a statewide reach. And that concerned even some lawmakers who voted for it, saying the language of what would and would not be prohibited is ‘vague.’”
Charter school will focus on homeland security - “The first high school dedicated to preparing students for the front lines in the Nation's homeland security has gone from theory to planning in Wilmington. The Project Manager for the Delaware Academy for Public Safety and Security, New Castle Attorney Thomas Little, signed a contract with Innovative Schools, a professional firm which will coordinate the mechanics of preparing the school for its eventual opening.

“The process to find and fund a site for as many as six-hundred young men and women in Wilmington's inner city is underway. Curriculum choices for students, who are to be called Cadets, range from SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics) through prison guard, water rescue, paramedic, fireman, professional demolition and emergency response operator, according to a Board statement.

“The first Principal of the institution is to be Dr. Fred Fitzgerald. A retired Captain in the Marine Corps, Fitzgerald teaches English, speech and debate at New Castle Christian Academy. Fitzgerald is also a former executive for Coca Cola in Jacksonville, Florida, and a former Director of Operations for the Port of Wilmington.”

Further information on “Christian fascists” at: The Christian Right and the Rise of American Fascism
Post Carrier Accused of Warning Customer About 'Mail Cover' Surveillance - “Here's a good reason to remember your postal carrier at Christmas time. Apparently, he or she can tell you if the government is secretly monitoring your mail.

“Federal prosecutors in Detroit say letter carrier Darlene Cry illegally tipped off a postal customer that he was the subject of a ‘mail cover’ -- a form of warrantless surveillance in which the envelope information on every card and letter received is secretly recorded by the Post Office, then passed to federal law enforcement or intelligence officials.”
FBI officials raid special counsel's office, seize evidence - “Federal agents raided the office and home of U.S. Special Counsel Scott Bloch on Tuesday while investigating whether the nation's top protector of whistle-blowers destroyed evidence potentially showing he retaliated against his own staff.

“Computers and documents were seized during the raid on the special counsel's downtown office, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing inquiry. At least 20 agents were still on the scene as of mid-afternoon Tuesday.”
Spy-in-the-sky drone sets sights on Miami - “Miami police could soon be the first in the United States to use cutting-edge, spy-in-the-sky technology to beef up their fight against crime. A small pilotless drone manufactured by Honeywell International, capable of hovering and ‘staring’ using electro-optic or infrared sensors, is expected to make its debut soon in the skies over the Florida Everglades.”

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“Taking their lead from the U.S. military, which has used drones in Iraq and Afghanistan for years, law enforcement agencies across the country have voiced a growing interest in using drones for domestic crime-fighting missions.”

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“Some privacy advocates, however, say rules and ordinances need to be drafted to protect civil liberties during surveillance operations. ‘There's been controversies all around about putting up surveillance cameras in public areas,’ said Howard Simon, Florida director of the American Civil Liberties Union. ‘Technological developments can be used by law enforcement in a way that enhances public safety,’ he said. ‘But every enhanced technology also contains a threat of further erosion of privacy.’”
US police seen in kicking video - “US police are investigating a video showing a group of officers in Philadelphia apparently pulling three suspects out of a car and beating them.”
N.Y. police cleared in 50-bullet wedding day shooting - “Three New York City detectives were found not guilty Friday in the shooting death of an unarmed black man killed in a hail of 50 bullets on his wedding day, prompting angry reactions and a federal review of the case.”
Chris Matthews Admits: MSNBC Bosses Were "Basically Pro-War" - “In a speech at Harvard's Institute of Politics on Monday, Chris Matthews admitted that MSNBC bosses were ‘basically pro-war during the war.’ The remark came in a larger discussion of top-down editorial control at the network — of which Matthews claimed there was none, citing the fact that many of his bosses supported Hillary Clinton while he has been very vocal for Obama.”
War Propaganda, Govenrment planted "salesmen" for the war ! - “Late last month, the New York Times exposed a shady Pentagon program to embed up to 75 ‘propaganda pundits’ on every major news network. These so-called experts went on the air to cover up bad news about Iraq with White House spin. Sen. George Voinovich sits on an influential committee that could hold hearings and investigate whether this “selling of the war” violates federal law. It is crucial that your elected officials hear from you now.

“Since the story broke in the Times, nearly 30,000 Free Press activists have sent letters to Congress. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) have already responded, calling for a full investigation. In the House, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) has gathered more than 40 other representatives to demand answers from the Pentagon. By sending a letter to your elected officials, you're helping end years of media distortion by the White House targeted at the American public.

“The blame for propaganda doesn't end with the Bush administration. Despite the Times' front-page treatment, nearly every mainstream news outlet has ignored this explosive story -- opting to sweep under the carpet a scandal that reaches deep into their own newsrooms.”
Wyoming sheriffs put feds in their place - “Here’s one the mainstream media isn’t going to tell you: County sheriffs in Wyoming are demanding that federal agents actually abide by the Constitution, or face arrest. Even better, a U.S. District Court agreed according to the Keene Free Press.”
House Approves New Property Seizure Law - “The criminals in the federal government are now trying to legalize the seizure of computers and other property under the guise of strengthening intellectual property laws. HR 4279 or the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act of 2008 which was recently passed by the U.S. House of Representatives, will give the government draconian powers to do just this.

“This legislation gives the government the power to seize property that facilitates the violation of intellectual property laws. The legislation also mandates the formation of a formal Intellectual Property Enforcement Division within the office of the Deputy Attorney General to enforce this madness. In addition, a new office called the Office of the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative is created within the Executive Office of the President. If you boil it down to brass tax, this legislation allows the U.S. government to lawfully seize your computer if it has one unauthorized mp3 file on its hard drive. It also provides the authorization for the creation of offices within the executive branch to enforce a law that is impossible to enforce.”
Whitehouse gets Top Copyright Cop - “In what must be one of their greatest triumphs yet, entertainment industry interests have greased a copyright Top Cop with his/her own copyright police into the White House —- just before the present incumbent is replaced by a new president who might not be so amenable to corporate movie and music industry blandishments as George W’s administration.

“The official title will be US Intellectual Property Enforcement Representative”
'Unusual' Ferry Passengers Identified - “Two men who were sought in connection with alleged unusual activity on Washington State Ferries last summer have been identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as European Union citizens, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News. The men sparked the interest of authorities after numerous passengers and ferry employees reported the men behaving strangely while on the ferries.”

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“In a controversial move in August, the FBI published photos of the men that were taken by ferry workers even though the men were not accused of committing any crimes. Laura Laughlin with the Seattle division of the FBI said Monday that the two men were European business consultants. A news release by the FBI said the men came forward to clear their names and stated that they were fearful of arrest if they traveled to the United States.”
Judge rules for Taser in cause-of-death decisions - “Taser International has fired a warning shot at medical examiners across the country.

“The Scottsdale-based stun gun manufacturer increasingly is targeting state and county medical examiners with lawsuits and lobbying efforts to reverse and prevent medical rulings that Tasers contributed to someone's death. That effort on Friday helped lead an Ohio judge's order to remove Taser's name from three Summit County Medical Examiner autopsies that had ruled the stun gun contributed to three men's deaths.”
Top Ten (10) Things NOT to Do If You Are Arrested - “PLEASE TAKE NOTE OF THIS ADVICE. A wide variety of people are arrested every day and the majority of the individuals make the same mistakes which make there situation even worse. Many of these reactions are understandable, however some defy logic and reason. Nobody plans on being arrested, but you may be arrested for simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Share this with your colleagues, friends and family because it will come in handy for many of you. The basic rule is to simply listen to the officer and do as your told, ‘Put Your Hands Behind Your Back’ and do NOT do any of these Ten Things:”

1. Don't Talk.
2. Don't Run.
3. Never Resist Arrest.
4. Don't Believe the Police.
5. No Searching.
6. Don't Look At Places Where You Don't Want Police to Search.
7. Do Not Talk Shit to the Police.
8. If Police Come to Your Home, Do not Let Them In and Do Not Step Outside Your Home.
9. Outside Your Home Arrested, Do Not Accept Offer to Go In Your Home for Anything.
10. Don't say a word.

Further information at: Flex Your Rights and ACLU.
Congress Quietly Repeals Martial Law Provision - “In late 2006, Congress revised the Posse Comitatus Act and the Insurrection Act to make it far easier for a president to declare martial law. Those changes were repealed at the end of this January as part of Public Law 110-181 (HR 4986), the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 (signed into law by President Bush on January 28, 2008).

“Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt), who championed the opposition to the original law, was also the hero of the repeal. It helped that all the nation’s governors opposed the 2006 law.”
Fabricated 'Bioterrorism' Case Collapses - “After a four-year legal battle, a US federal judge has dismissed all charges against an avant-garde artist who public officials condemned as a bio-terrorist in a case critics are calling ‘a persecution, not a prosecution.’”
CNN, the Pentagon's "military analyst program" and Gitmo - “The Pentagon has posted to its website the roughly 8,000 pages and audio tapes it was forced to provide to the New York Times regarding its "military analyst" program. Anyone who reads through them, as I've now done, can only be left with one conclusion (other than being extremely impressed with David Barstow's work in putting together this story): if this wasn't an example of an illegal, systematic "domestic propaganda campaign" by the Pentagon, then nothing is.

“Despite this, the truly extraordinary blackout by the major television and cable news networks -- which were complicit in this program -- continues. Howard Kurtz of CNN and The Washington Post previously called this blackout "pathetic", and yesterday, The Politico published a relatively impressive article further documenting the "deafening silence" from the networks at the center of this story…

“In June of 2005, communications officials in the Pentagon began planning a military-sponsored trip to Guantanamo for selected retired military officers who were currently working as "news analysts" for various television networks and magazines. Amnesty International had just issued its most scathing report yet about Gitmo, as part of its 2005 report on America's "new gulag of prisons around the world beyond the reach of the law and decency." It specifically called Gitmo "the gulag of our times," and detailed years of extreme abuses that had taken place there.”
The Ray Gun - “Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Dave Gaubatz, the first Federal Agent (civilian) to enter Iraq in 2003. Currently the Director of the Mapping Shari'a project and owner of Wahhabi Counter-terrorism publications providing first-hand intelligence for law enforcement and CT professionals.”

“FP: So tell us about the 'Active Denial' Program – the Ray Gun.”

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“Gaubatz: The Pentagon has had an operational ‘Ray Gun’ since early in 2003. The Ray Gun was designed to be a lethal weapon. It can kill, injury the person very badly, or just slightly depending on the setting of the mechanisms. if they want to show the ‘Ray gun’ to news media and some politicians who advocate non-lethal weapons, and are usually the same politicians who have advocated getting our troops out of Iraq months before they were even sent there, they bring in a journalist and ‘feed’ him/her the non-lethal story. Otherwise know as liberals who know less about the Ray Gun than they do basic fundamentals of war.

“(CBS) 2: Pentagon officials call it a major breakthrough which could change the rules of war and save huge numbers of lives in Iraq. But it's still not there. That because in the middle of a war, the military just can't bring itself to trust a weapon that doesn't kill.

“Gaubatz: The Pentagon officials have intentionally lied. Again the breakthrough was made in 2002/2003, at Kirtland AFB, NM. The Pentagon admits it could save huge numbers of lives in Iraq if only it were operational and a lethal weapon. The Pentagon official says this weapon can’t kill. This mystical Pentagon official purposely did not reveal his name, because he knows there are people like me who know the truth. The American public were simply lied to. The Ray Gun was designed at the AFRL/DE facility, Kirtland AFB, NM, was/is operational, and can kill… AFRL/DE (Directed Energy) does not spend millions of dollars and have the worlds leading scientists develop a weapon that can only ‘hurt’ an enemy of war. The brightest scientist assigned to Kirtland AFB design weapons that are lethal (otherwise known as a weapon that can actually kill).”

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3 suspended for not standing for Pledge of Allegiance - “Three small-town eighth-graders in Minnesota were suspended by their principal for not standing Thursday morning for the Pledge of Allegiance, violating a district policy that the principal now says may soon be reworded to protect free speech rights.”
Pentagon Drops Post in Pakistan for Top General - “When the Pentagon announced in March that Maj. Gen. Jay W. Hood would become the senior American officer based in Pakistan, it reflected the military’s aim to put a crisis-tested veteran in a critical job at a pivotal time in the fight against Al Qaeda and the Taliban in Pakistan’s tribal areas.

“But nearly two months later, the military has quietly canceled the assignment of General Hood, a 33-year Army veteran who was excoriated in the Pakistani news media for one of his previous jobs: commander of the United States prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.”
Rejecting Authority at Police State Checkpoint - “The checkpoint in this video was nearly 50 miles north of the Mexican border, so it would have been utterly pointless in stopping illegal immigration. The real purpose of these checkpoints is to condition Americans to get used to the police state.”
States Seize Citizens' Property to Balance Their Budgets - “The 50 U.S. states are holding more than $32 billion worth of unclaimed property that they're supposed to safeguard for their citizens. But a "Good Morning America" investigation found some states aggressively seize property that isn't really unclaimed and then use the money -- your money -- to balance their budgets.”
Feds Accuse Student Of "Terror and Espionage" For Talking About Constitution - “A student of a large bible college in east Texas was accused by federal agents of committing an ‘act of terror and espionage’ after he gave a talk to a group of Boy Scouts in which he encouraged them to educate themselves about the U.S. constitution.”
Domestic spying far outpaces terrorism prosecutions - “The number of Americans being secretly wiretapped or having their financial and other records reviewed by the government has continued to increase as officials aggressively use powers approved after the Sept. 11 attacks. But the number of terrorism prosecutions ending up in court -- one measure of the effectiveness of such sleuthing -- has continued to decline, in some cases precipitously.

“The trends, visible in new government data and a private analysis of Justice Department records, are worrisome to civil liberties groups and some legal scholars. They say it is further evidence that the government has compromised the privacy rights of ordinary citizens without much to show for it.”
Americans Are Living (And Dying) In A Militarized Police State - “Today, police departments across the United States more closely resemble an occupying army than they do public servants responding to calls for help. Police officers can now be seen wearing helmets and body armor and carrying AR-15's, just to deliver simple warrants. The militarization of our police departments not only gives the appearance of a military dictatorship but places the public at great risk.

“No less than 70 percent of U.S. cities now have SWAT teams. In cities with a population of 50,000 or more, 90 percent have SWAT teams.

“Eastern Kentucky University professor Peter Kraska told the Washington Post that SWAT teams are currently sent out 40,000 times a year in the U.S. During the 1980's, SWAT teams were only used 3,000 times a year. Most of the time, SWAT teams are being sent out to simply serve warrants on non-violent drug offenders.”
Data Mining Your Life - “Few Americans pay attention to the Bush administration’s effort to better monitor terrorist communications. In short, federal authorities want to indirectly void the 4th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which requires a warrant signed by a judge before they can search a person’s home and other personal information. This seems harmless to most law abiding citizens, so why is this opposed by many in the U.S. Congress? The answer is that most people have skeletons in their closet, as New York Governor Eliot Spitzer recently demonstrated. Congressmen know that the U.S. government wants to learn every detail about everyone’s private life through the growth of massive computer databases and new search technology that allows ‘data mining.’”

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“Last year, an article in Sanders Research explained the growing danger of databases for blackmail.[8] This may explain why most Congressmen are afraid to confront abuses by the executive branch led by President Bush. Julian Sanchez recently provided an excellent overview of why Congress passed various laws in support of the 4th amendment over the years:

“…for decades, intelligence analysts -- and the presidents they served -- had spied on the letters and phone conversations of union chiefs, civil rights leaders, journalists, antiwar activists, lobbyists, members of Congress, Supreme Court justices -- even Eleanor Roosevelt and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. The Church Committee reports painstakingly documented how the information obtained was often ‘collected and disseminated in order to serve the purely political interests of an intelligence agency or the administration, and to influence social policy and political action.’"[9]

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“Former New York Governor Eliot Spitzer is a recent example of a prominent American whose career was destroyed by intrusive government surveillance. He had harmed no one, yet his desire to have sex with beautiful women is deemed criminal. Like most Americans, he had violated one of thousands of federal statutes that can be legally interpreted as a heinous offense. On the other hand, this particular case is ironic since Spitzer was known for abuse of statute intent during his years as a federal prosecutor.”

“While the Spitzer story received widespread media coverage, the intriguing inner story was ignored, even after it was mentioned in the Washington Post, which revealed: ‘The FBI placed a surveillance team on Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel for the first time on Jan. 26, after concluding from a wiretapped conversation that he might try to meet with a prostitute when he traveled to Washington to attend a black-tie dinner, the source said Tuesday.’[10]

“Americans have a federal government near bankruptcy, yet it dispatches several $100,000 a year FBI agents to spy on a senior political rival in hopes of ruining his career. This is the same government that continually informs citizens that a major terror attack is imminent, and claims that all available resources are focused on this threat. The American media did not critically pursue this story, perhaps because owners, editors, and reporters fear they may become “data mined” and placed under surveillance.”
Rove refuses call to testify under oath - “A House Judiciary Committee deadline passed Monday with former White House adviser Karl Rove standing by his refusal to testify about allegations that he pushed the Justice Department to prosecute former Alabama Gov. Don Siegelman.”
Blunt Federal Letters Tell Students They’re Security Threats - “A German graduate student in oceanography at M.I.T. applied to the Transportation Security Administration for a new ID card allowing him to work around ships and docks.

“What the student, Wilken-Jon von Appen, received in return was a letter that not only turned him down but added an ominous warning from John M. Busch, a security administration official: ‘I have determined that you pose a security threat.’”
The Long Night - “Have you ever wondered how human beings can be so cruel? And how cruelty crosses all the boundaries – national, racial and ethnic? I have. Rereading an autobiography published in 1941 by a communist agent reminded me of the dark side of human nature.

“The book, Out of the Night, was written – under the pseudonym ‘Jan Valtin’ – by a German who lived through the chaos of the collapse of the Weimar Republic and the rise of Nazism. Broken by Gestapo torture, he ended up being pursued by both the Nazi and the communist manhunters and killers.

“Murders by these two forms of socialism are measured in the millions during the 20th century. That alone should warn all people off any form of collectivism, because all of those millions, in the minds of their killers, were sacrificed ‘for the greater good.’ They – flesh-and-blood individual human beings – were all murdered in the name of an abstraction, a stupid theory of how society should be organized. I doubt if the head thugs on both sides actually believed the theories. What they really believed in was power over their fellow man.

“If you look at the French Revolution and the Bolshevik Revolution, the message is clear: Intellectuals and the common people can produce a blood bath. Latching on to some ‘ism’ for justification, their greed for power and desire for revenge can run amok. Butchering women and children because they were born into the ‘wrong’ class is surely insane.

“In our time, when people are saying we must sacrifice liberty for security, that scrapping the Constitution is necessary to win the ‘war’ against terrorism, I would suggest that you take your choice of genocides in the past 100 years and remind yourself what happens when people buy into the false proposition that the end justifies the means. People who preach that are always more interested in the means than in any end.

“The only safe environment for a human being is under a weak government with very restricted powers. Normal people don't need much to be happy – food, shelter, dignity and freedom from marauders. They need a rule of law that applies to everyone equally and at all times and in all circumstances. In established societies, legislators should meet rarely – perhaps once every two or three years – because a continuing cascade of new laws will eventually drown freedom.

“The Founding Fathers, whether through luck, wisdom or divine guidance, gave us an almost perfect form of government, and we've been busy ever since trying to take it apart. Human beings are dangerous predators and cannot be trusted with power over their fellows. Many Americans have forgotten that the power of government comes out of the barrel of a gun. Governments coerce; they don't persuade.

“There are people living among us at this very moment capable of the cruelty so evident in the Holocaust. All they are waiting for is the opportunity. No greater opportunity exists than when a government enlists such people and says whatever you do is now justified for the sake of the ‘greater good.’

“Who would have guessed that George W. Bush, who seemed to be a genial good old boy, would turn out to be a tyrant, launching wars of aggression, arresting and confining people without charges or access to a lawyer, condoning torture and lying to the American people? A government that can without trial destroy you by simply putting on a list your name or the name of an organization with which you are associated is a tyranny. A government that invades other countries and that feels free to murder people in any country it chooses is a tyranny.

“Americans are on the edge of a long night. We had better wake up and step back before it's too late.”