Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007
October 27th, 2007This is an effort to devise a coherent legislative package that is geared toward counterinsurgency operations inside the United States.
But… Why?
Americans, in general, are the most docile and gullible people I have ever encountered. They have proven, time and time again, that they are willing and able to swallow any manner of excrement that dribbles out of the television, no matter how absurd or detrimental to their own lives.
I wrote about the awesome perception management systems that the American Corporate State employs for counter insurgency purposes.
And before the American Culture Bomb was deployed abroad, it had to defeat Americans at home. In Constant Conflict, U.S. Army Major Ralph Peters wrote the following:
Contemporary American culture is the most powerful in history, and the most destructive of competitor cultures… It stresses comfort and convenience–ease–and it generates pleasure for the masses.
…
Secular and religious revolutionaries in our century have made the identical mistake, imagining that the workers of the world or the faithful just can’t wait to go home at night to study Marx or the Koran. Well, Joe Sixpack, Ivan Tipichni, and Ali Quat would rather “Baywatch.†America has figured it out, and we are brilliant at operationalizing our knowledge, and our cultural power will hinder even those cultures we do not undermine. There is no “peer competitor†in the cultural (or military) department. Our cultural empire has the addicted–men and women everywhere–clamoring for more. And they pay for the privilege of their disillusionment.
So, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007…
Did I miss something here? Does the U.S. Government have a reason to believe that the American people are about to snap out of their zombie trance and actually do something? Personally, I wouldn’t have bet on it happening any time soon. The way I saw it—before I left the United States for good—was that 9.9 out of 10 Americans would gladly dig their own holes, get down on their knees and pull the muzzle of the executioner’s weapon against their skulls. It’s their patriotic duty to be spineless followers and boot lickers, no matter what.
All of that assumes a steady flow of crap from WalMart and another iteration of the PlayStation every few years.
Maybe… Just maybe the USG knows that the situation on the ground is going to change substantially and that the general level of comfort is going to drop. In other words, less bread and fewer compelling enough circuses. If that was the case, increasing numbers of people could become radicalized. The USG will do what all other governments do as they collapse: Turn inward.
As the level of sociopolitical cohesion falls, the state increasingly views the people as a national security problem.
To wit, from the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007:
(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term ‘violent radicalization’ means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.
(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term ‘homegrown terrorism’ means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.
Not only are (most) Americans supremely docile and gullible, they are also perfectly passive suckers on the corporate tit (I realize this is old news, but for my little post, it bears repeating). As such, they devote extremely little of their medicated (literally and figuratively) “intelligence” to planning for the future, regardless of the huge and vivid font of the “writing on the wall”. After all, if they have a need, of any kind, then the military-industrial complex will take care of it. Period. And what’s worst of all, they project this same willing blindness on those in power. The idea that Dick Cheney, of Halliburton, and Condi, of Chevron, and Bush, of the Saudis, hawks all, would be waging aggressive war in the most oil-rich region in the world, FOR OIL (DUH!), is alien to Joe Sixpack, as he himself has, for the most part, never planned for dire eventualities, but only reacts to “imminent dangers”. If Dick Cheney were to say something like, “Gosh, is there oil in Iraq? What a bonus!”, I don’t think it would make a ripple in our society, even if some of the ballsier “journalists” on teevee called him on it.
But, it is a very big universe, http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970115.html, maybe intelligent life somewhere out there will get beyond the point where their self-indulgence outweighs their wisdom.
Relevant links
http://consumerist.com/consumer/leaks/comcasts-we-dont-throttle-bittorrent-internal-talking-points-memo-315791.php
Blocking bittorrenting
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kieyjfZDUIc
Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine
Yes, indeed. People are about to become very uncomfortable indeed. When that happens, there will almost certainly be trouble–demonstrations, protests–and riots.
Sounds like “homegrown terrorism” is intended to cover any form of protest by US citizens, whether peaceful or otherwise:
“…the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence…to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.”
So, how do they define “force”? I suppose that could include blocking a public road or sidewalk, or even making a forceful statement–or perhaps even planning to do these things.
They are afraid of the unmonitored and free-range conversations taking place outside the sandbox. The foundation of their power and control of western civ is based on seriously flawed assumptions and out-right LIES. Because of this, it doesn’t take a whole lot of truth-talking to start bringing walls down. Granted the average citizen, even if they do understand the nature of the game, is still unwilling to “go against” the Script, because that involves risks both large and small. And as its been mentioned, there are a whole lot of people who have been enriched by the current status quo and because of this are unwilling to entertain ideas that might disrupt the game board. So my question is, are the Resistors, the Truth-tellers doing this just for the sake of Truth or do they want to wake up the grass-roots and have some positive impact on the future? For me its a bit of both. I fear that doing nothing will eventually leave a no-where to hide situation. I also think that the battle-front is for the ideas in the head of the common man. TV is still dominant in this arena, but if we can begin to destroy the faith that citizens have in the controlled media, we can begin to break up this sick relationship and allow them to renew a relationship with their tribe. The mantra should be something like Your TV is Lying. The TRUTH is Lo-Fi. Still there is the possibility that the masses will simply choose a stimulating slavery to true freedom and if that’s the case, then I’m not willing to risk my left nut to try and wake them up.
Absolutely! I am glad I’m not the only one who sees this. Since THEY are going to rig the elections (if there are even elections in 2008) so that Hillary win, THEY are going to revert back to what was happening during the 90s: the patriot militia movement will arise again, only this time it won’t just be right-wing white supremist wackos in the movement. What THEY are planning for is the eventual break up of the US…seccessing movements in Vermont, New Hampshire, Hawaii (and there is still a remnant “Republic of Texas” movement…I was on the fringe of that back in 1997 and live out here where it took place outside Fort Davis, Texas), “Aztlan”, a revived southern Confederacy (without slavery), and others. But, you know what? THEY have so many laws on the books that THEY don’t enforce that it might not make much of a difference anyway. One could even construe this as a stop-gap measure for THEM should Ron Paul look as if he might actually be the next President.
And finally…what with Mearshiemer and Walt’s publication of the Israel Lobby book, anti-Zionism is starting to get more and more popular and have more and more credence. There is an article on
the site
http://mparent7777-2.blogspot.com/2007/10/attorney-general-will-block-aipac-probe.html
that claims that Gonzales was removed from Attorney General because he was going to go ahead and prosecute the Larry Franklin-AIPAC case, not because of anything about torture memos.
It could be that this bill from the House (which Pat Buchanon calls “Israeli Occupied Territory”) is meant primarily to forestall people rising up against Zionist-led wars and foreign policy in general. Or it could be to forestall the “hate crime” of trying to defend one’s home against the likes of MS-13. But Kevin I think you’ve written a timely post.
http://www.somethinghappeninghere.net
Almost nobody is doing anything in the streets, and most of those people probably work for alphabet agencies. But what the spooks are reading in people’s emails and blogs must give them nightmares.
Mike Rivero’s blog is in the top 10 in political market share, 40% the audience of Kos or Freep!
Not to mention the results of “non scientific” (meaning possibly semi-honest) internet polls.
Thinking ‘mericans may be a small minority, but the majority of them have stopped drinking the kool aid. This has to worry the PTB.
It’s highly unlikely that the progressive/liberal/middle-class sector of U.S. society will ever take up arms. It’s party the result of brainwashing of non-violent protest (“We must be like Gandhi/Martin Luther King/Mandela/etc.”)
Gandhi would have had less luck had he tried his movement forty years earlier, when the British Empire still had virility. Mandela would still be in prison had the apartheid state not collapsed (apparently a side-effect of the end of the Cold War). MLK’s movement co-incided with social movements that swept many nations at that time. I find it hard to imagine that 50s style institutionalised racism would still exist in the US, in any event.
No, most left wing elements in America think it’s enough to get “An Inconvenient Truth” on Netflix, and to stick an “Impeach Bush” sticker on their bumper.
The kinds of insurrection one might expect in the US could come from a variety of groups:
1. Disillusioned ex-military. Oh, but there’s going to be a LOT of these, and they’ll have decent training.
2. Ethnic groups, i.e., gang members. If these guys ever discover a political ideology, things will get ugly. Chances of that happening rise when serious shortages occur.
3. Working classes, especially in the former confederacy. Just finished “Deer Hunting with Jesus” by Joe Bageant – if those folk ever realise what’s been done to them, watch out.
I’m sure there are more, though it’s hard to imagine a national insurgency. One never knows.
Me, I’m with Kevin’s plan of “keep your head down and get out.”
Thank you for pointing out the connection between the American public’s willful servility and its spoiled-child narcissism. I’ve observed the same thing myself. I could say more, but I don’t want to start ranting and raving like a fool. 🙂
It’s looking to me like government is anticipating some serious, and possibly violent dissent. And I suspect they are anticipating this because of a tanking economy.
Americans in large numbers are soon likely to be suffering major withdrawal symptoms from their consumer toys and customary sedations. I’m really afraid it will be far worse than that–that whole segments of the population will face hunger and homelessness, as the more fortunate decline into poverty and struggle to pay for gasoline, food, and electricity.
If things get very bad–and I think they will–the US government will be confronting a very angry population. They want to be ready.