Introduction

"Beware the leader who bangs the drums of war in order to whip the citizenry into a patriotic fervor, for patriotism is indeed a double-edged sword. It both emboldens the blood, just as it narrows the mind. And when the drums of war have reached a fever pitch and the blood boils with hate and the mind has closed, the leader will have no need in seizing the rights of the citizenry. Rather, the citizenry, infused with fear and blinded by patriotism, will offer up all of their rights unto the leader and gladly so. How do I know? For this is what I have done. And I am Caesar."

- Julius Caesar


America is currently the victim of a dupe that has been used by would-be-dictators since the time of Julius Caesar. It has been used more recently by dictators such as Hitler to create Nazi Germany and Mussolini to create Fascist Italy. And it is being used right now by George Bush and the Neo-Conservatives here in America. In these blogs, we will explore the full scope of America's precarious situation.

Here is a snippet from Wikipedia:

"On 29 September 2006, the House and Senate approved the Military Commissions Act of 2006 (MCA), a bill that would suspend habeas corpus for any person determined to be an “unlawful enemy combatant" engaged in hostilities or having supported hostilities against the United States”^[3][4] (...) President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act of 2006 into law on October 17, 2006. The declaration of a person as an "unlawful enemy combatant" is at the discretion of the US executive branch of the administration, and there is no right of appeal, with the result that this potentially suspends habeas corpus for any resident, citizen or non-citizen, of the USA.

(...)

There is, however, no legal time limit which would force the government to provide a Combatant Status Review Tribunal (CSRT) hearing. Prisoners are legally prohibited from petitioning any court for any reason before a CSRT hearing takes place."

Clarification: The executive branch now has the power to imprison anyone it pins as a "suspected terrorist" indefinitely and without a trial.

The government is also broadening its definition of terrorism. The Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act was signed into law on November 2006. It expands the definition of terrorism to include animal rights and environmental activists.

With the signing of the USA PATRIOT Act into law on October 26, 2001, the FBI was given the expanded power to use National Security Letters. National Security Letters allow the FBI to search telephone, email, and financial records without a court order. With their "sneak and peek" operations, the individual would never even know they were being investigated. The FBI has since issued tens of thousands of these NSLs. They used some of these NSLs to seize over one million financial, credit, employment, and health records of customers of Las Vegas businesses.

Our federal government has given away our right to privacy. It has given the executive branch the power to detain indefinitely - essentially eliminate - anyone it sees as an enemy with the Military Commissions Act. These laws were passed through congress with almost no opposition or debate. They were presented as a way to ensure the safety of the US citizens in the post 9/11 world. In reality, these laws are a direct attack on the rights of US citizens.