The Daily Dispatch

Face Masks, Snipers and Aerial Surveillance: Chicago’s Newest Anti-Protest Measures Revealed. [Truthout] - Each time a new measure that the city of Chicago is preparing for the coming NATO and G8 summits is unveiled, the tension in the city ratchets up a notch. The latest news comes in the form of reports that Chicago has purchased face shields, and may be considering the implementation of airborne surveillance technology.

Somehow I missed this article last week. God bless Chris, and his efforts.

Chris Hedges: Why I’m Suing Barack Obama. [Truthdig] - I spent many years in countries where the military had the power to arrest and detain citizens without charge. I have been in some of these jails. I have friends and colleagues who have “disappeared” into military gulags. I know the consequences of granting sweeping and unrestricted policing power to the armed forces of any nation. And while my battle may be quixotic, it is one that has to be fought if we are to have any hope of pulling this country back from corporate fascism.

Congress Tosses PIPA and SOPA Antipiracy Bills. [WSJ.com] – Leaders of the Internet movement that turned little-noticed antipiracy legislation into a national cause proclaimed victory Friday after congressional backers abandoned their bills.

Yesterday this site, along with thousands of others on the Web, went “on strike” to protest the SOPA/PIPA legislation which is making its way through Congress. The legislation is being boosted by the big entertainment companies (Hollywood, the record industry, etc.) as a way to prevent “online piracy” and protect their property, but many believe that there are adequate copyright enforcement methods already available, and that this law would give the government (and individual copyright holders) too much power to censor online content they feel is objectionable.

Yesterday’s action has been called “the largest online protest in history” and it seems to have had some impact. According to Fight for the Future (the folks who run AmericanCensorship.org) there were only five U.S. Senators who had publicly opposed the measure as of last week. As we approach next Monday’s crucial Senate vote, now there are 35. It takes only 41 to block the bill.

We need to keep the heat on. I would urge you to learn more about this important issue, and to call your own Senators in advance of Monday’s session, and to call them again every day until the fight is over.

Use your freedom wisely.

10 reasons the U.S. is no longer the land of the free. [The Washington Post] - The list of powers acquired by the U.S. government since 9/11 puts us in rather troubling company.

This will likely be a longer essay once I have the opportunity to do some more research and to collect my thoughts, but I wanted to get at least a short note out on the subject while Ron Paul’s showing in New Hampshire is still in the news.

Here are two crucial points that Dr. Paul’s legion of true believers seem to miss, or perhaps ignore.

First of all, The Constitution of the United States was not handed down on stone tablets, nor was it written by people who were particularly more wise or prescient than we are. It is certainly a very advanced framework for its time, and brilliant in the use of checks and balances to protect the set of rights that were foremost in the minds of the framers. But throughout our history, through legislation, through jurisprudence and through other formal and informal precedent, a complex overlay of generally accepted addenda has been created. Kluge, that overlay may be, but it requires a special kind of ignorance to pretend as if all of it is irrelevant, harmful or lacking in benefit.

Beyond that issue, though, there is also the notion that the federal government is the only (or even the foremost) threat to our liberty. Paul’s logic and rhetoric suggests that if we simply return to a properly strict adherence to his view of what our Constitution dictates, then all will be well. The problem with this pretense is that it refuses to face the fact that the most serious threat to our liberty – indeed, to our very lives – is the unfettered power of huge, wealthy, corporate interests. Granted, their domination of the government also poses a threat, in that governmental powers are increasingly being used as instruments of subjugation to their will.

There is no escaping the fact that government, at this point, is part of the problem. The irony in Dr. Paul’s philosophy is that his program would make the larger threat to liberty worse, and would only result in broader and deeper enslavement of the people.

Faith in market forces to keep us free, secure and prosperous is, in my view, magical thinking. It depends on turning a blind eye to clear and overwhelming evidence, contemporary and historical, to the contrary.

The excellent conversation with Chris Hedges that aired live on Book TV New Year’s Day is now available to view online. This broadcast is three hours long, but it is highly recommended to anyone who cares about liberty (and life) on this planet.

Follow the link below for more.

In Depth with Author and Journalist Chris Hedges. [C-SPAN] - On Book TV’s In Depth, author and journalist, Chris Hedges. The Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent spends three hours taking viewers’ calls, emails and tweets on topics such as terrorism, religion and politics.

Occupy groups urge defeat of proposed law. [UPI.com] -Two Chicago-area Occupy protest groups warned city aldermen that supporting Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s “Sit Down and Shut Up” ordinance will be met with resistance.

Coming soon, to a country near you: another way for the masters to strip troublemakers of our citizenship. Thanks, Joe.

H.R. 3166: Enemy Expatriation Act. [GovTrack.us] - To add engaging in or supporting hostilities against the United States to the list of acts for which United States nationals would lose their nationality.

From Matthew Grimm and The Red Smear, here’s one of the most inspiring songs I’ve heard in a very long time.

Buy the album at Amazon.

Lyrics are here.

Bastardised Libertarianism Makes “Freedom” an Instrument of Oppression. [George Monbiot, The Guardian] – Modern libertarianism is the disguise adopted by those who wish to exploit without restraint. It pretends that only the state intrudes on our liberties. It ignores the role of banks, corporations and the rich in making us less free.

Read the full article here.

Here’s a link to some fairly thorough reporting and explanation from The Christian Science Monitor concerning the National Defense Authorization Act anti-terrorist provisions. Highly recommended…

Does defense bill’s anti-terror provision deprive Americans of key rights? [CSMonitor.com] - The US Senate on Thursday approved a controversial measure that affirms broad authority for the nation’s military to indefinitely detain suspected Al Qaeda members and associates captured in the United States.

Today marks the 220th anniversary of the ratification of the first ten amendments to the Constitution of the United States. If ever there was a time that called for us to understand and to honor these sacred limits against tyranny, that time is now.

Here is the text of the Bill of Rights, originally proposed on March 4th, 1789 and ratified on December 15th, 1791, as transcribed by the National Archives.

Congress of the United States
begun and held at the City of New-York, on
Wednesday the fourth of March, one thousand seven hundred and eighty nine.

THE Conventions of a number of the States, having at the time of their adopting the Constitution, expressed a desire, in order to prevent misconstruction or abuse of its powers, that further declaratory and restrictive clauses should be added: And as extending the ground of public confidence in the Government, will best ensure the beneficent ends of its institution.

RESOLVED by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America, in Congress assembled, two thirds of both Houses concurring, that the following Articles be proposed to the Legislatures of the several States, as amendments to the Constitution of the United States, all, or any of which Articles, when ratified by three fourths of the said Legislatures, to be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of the said Constitution; viz.

ARTICLES in addition to, and Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, proposed by Congress, and ratified by the Legislatures of the several States, pursuant to the fifth Article of the original Constitution.

Amendment I

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III

No Soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the Owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV

The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V

No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI

In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.

Amendment VII

In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX

The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X

The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.

I’ve said in the past that I felt that provisions of this National Defense Authorization Act would mark the end of The Republic. Whether or not that is the case, if the President signs it into law it will mark the end of my support for his candidacy in 2012.

White House says no veto of defense bill. [WASHINGTON (AP)] – The White House on Wednesday abandoned its threat that President Barack Obama would veto a defense bill over provisions on how to handle suspected terrorists as Congress raced to finish the legislation.

Full text of the Press Secretary’s statement is not on the White House Website yet, but you can read it on the Lawfare Blog.

Although he says that both freedom of speech and law and order will prevail in the city, somehow I doubt it.

Emanuel Wants Big Fine Increases for G8 Protesters [Chicago Tribune] - Mayor Rahm Emanuel wants to raise fines for resisting police as the city gears up for anticipated protests that will come with the G8 and NATO summits to be held in Chicago next May.