Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death

Sedition …such person, being thereof convicted before any court of the United States having jurisdiction thereof, shall be punished by a fine not exceeding two thousand dollars, and by imprisonment not exceeding two years.

But tonight‘s winner, Mel Hooker, human resources chief of the Veterans Affairs Agency. A woman in New Mexico wrote a letter to the editor, as a private citizen and evidently on her own time, away from work, published in a weekly newspaper in Albuquerque.

Laura Berg strongly criticized the president and his administration for its handling of Iraq and Katrina and suggested the country act forcefully to impeach and/or prosecute. Mr. Hooker, the V.A. H.R. chief, discovered that Ms. Berg was a nurse in VA hospital, so he ordered his agency to seize her office computer and investigate her.

He says he has to investigate, quote, “any act which potentially represents sedition.” Sedition? Who do you think you are, pal, President John Adams, Trotsky? Sedition for writing a letter to the editor?

IMAGINE A COUNTRY WHERE ...

The government was always right and never apologized;

Any dissent was suppressed, ridiculed, banned or worse;

Secret prisons were denied and never acknowledged or spoken about;

The torture of captives was condoned;

State incarceration was not subject to the checks and balances of a legal system;

Economic plans, like for oil, were established/determined in closed sessions between politicos, commissars and production managers, far outside public view,

and where government claimed privilege in so doing;

Wages were set at the lowest common denominator, no matter what Bloc country you were in;

Government agents had access to your medical records, your library records, your telephone, and your e-mail.

A place where judicial power and judicial review were proclaimed concepts, but simply ignored in application;

Where criminal records of young adults were closed to all but the military;

Where a Constitution was a mere facade and ignored by state actors.

Any dissent, debate and protest were deemed unpatriotic;

The public media was bought, paid for, and provided by the state;

The military clandestinely and shamelessly influenced the national media and public opinion;

A place where wrong was declared right;

Where tapping a phone was like tapping a pencil;

Where lying was considered a patriotic skill;

The extraction of natural resources was paramount to any concern for the environment and the impact on the health of its people;

Where the use of estate secrets,(those things embarrassing to the government) were confused with legitimate issues of national security;

A place where "secrecy" and "national security" were used to control debate;

Where legitimate secrecy, was subject to political use and abuse;

Where "legislators" were mere mouthpieces for and rubberstamps of whoever was in power;

Where you lived and died with the permission of the government;

A place where foreign policy was more important than domestic concerns;

Where fear was used as a political weapon and an acceptable means of control;

Where the best medical care was reserved for the influential;

Where wealth was concentrated in the top 5%;

A place where there was no middle class -- just a small economic and political elite, and the working poor.

President Kennedy, when describing the Office of the President once said:

To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public.

“So what if he lies on once in a while? He has a duty to his country and some things are better keep behind close doors.”

It's very clear the point

and it's that the us each day looks more like the URSS or like a totalitarian state..

90% of the points of the speach of Jim Marcinkowski (atributed then to the URSS) are now happening in the US..

The thought that you or I could be convicted of sedition is outrageous and a little too similar to a kind of society we claim we are not.

The government was always right and never apologized

Any dissent was suppressed, ridiculed, banned or worse

Secret prisons were denied and never acknowledged or spoken about

The torture of captives was condoned;

State incarceration was not subject to the checks and balances of a legal system

Economic plans, like for oil, were established/determined in closed sessions between politicos, commissars and production managers, far outside public view,

Government agents had access to your medical records, your library records, your telephone, and your e-mail

A place where judicial power and judicial review were proclaimed concepts, but simply ignored in application

Where a Constitution was a mere facade and ignored by state actors

Any dissent, debate and protest were deemed unpatriotic

The public media was bought, paid for, and provided by the state

The military clandestinely and shamelessly influenced the national media and public opinion

Where tapping a phone was like tapping a pencil

Where lying was considered a patriotic skill

The extraction of natural resources was paramount to any concern for the environment and the impact on the health of its people

Where the use of estate secrets,(those things embarrassing to the government) were confused with legitimate issues of national security

A place where "secrecy" and "national security" were used to control debate

Where legitimate secrecy, was subject to political use and abuse

Where "legislators" were mere mouthpieces for and rubberstamps of whoever was in power

A place where foreign policy was more important than domestic concerns

Where fear was used as a political weapon and an acceptable means of control

Where the best medical care was reserved for the influential

Where wealth was concentrated in the top 5%

No it's not. It's three disconnected thoughts all lumped together. Juxtaposition is a common propaganda technique. Learn to resist.


Would you care to argue that? The OP certainly didn't even begin such an argument.


Would you care to tally them up? And explain why it would be relevant at all?

A totalitarian regime mobilizes its entire population in support of the state and a political ideology, and does not tolerate activities which are not directed toward the goals of the state, such as involvement with labour movements, religion or opposition political parties. Such regimes maintain political power through a range of measures including the use of secret police, mass surveillance, propaganda disseminated through state-controlled mass media, restriction of a range of rights and freedoms such as freedom of speech, and widespread use of terror tactics.

It is obvious from your quick replies that you are not interested about a meaningful discussion.

Suppression of dissent is an important issue in a democracy. Apparently you and others don’t grasp this.

NEW YORK Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) has asked Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson for a thorough inquiry of his agency's investigation into whether a V.A. nurse's letter to the editor criticizing the Bush administration amounted to "sedition."
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The agency seized her office computer and launched an investigation. Berg is not talking to the press, but reportedly fears losing her job.

Bingaman wrote: "In a democracy, expressing disagreement with the government's actions does not amount to sedition or insurrection. It is, and must remain, protected speech. Although it may be permissible to implement restrictions regarding a government employee's political activities during work hours or on government premises, such employees do not surrender their right to freedom of speech when they enlist in government service."
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Peter Simonson, executive director of the ACLU of New Mexico, told The Progressive magazine: "We were shocked to see the word 'sedition' used. Sedition? That's like something out of the history books."

In a press release, Simonson also said: "Is this government so jealous of its power, so fearful of dissent, that it needs to threaten people who openly oppose its policies with charges of 'sedition'?"

Come on towns folk, go git yer ropes. We gotta hangin' to tend to! DNFTT

Sure. But like any other right, the right to dissent has its limits. I believe that violent overthrow is one of those things a government should be allowed to prevent.

I don't understand the point of having three disconnected thoughts all in one post either.