Welcome to the Police State

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Peace is War

An unsettling development in America's War on Itself.

The FBI raided the Minneapolis homes of five antiwar activists, including three leaders of the Twin Cities peace movement, Friday morning as part of what it called a probe of "activities concerning the material support of terrorism."

The Minneapolis office of an antiwar organization was also raided, protest leaders said. No one was arrested in any of the raids.

Protest leaders said the raids surprised them. Mick Kelly, whose home was searched, played a central role in the 2008 demonstrations at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Asked if he was involved in illegal activities, he replied, "Absolutely not.''

The FBI appears to believe that if one takes a stance against the American War State, then they must have connections with terrorism. This garbage is getting out of hand.

Chisel of Precedent, Hammer of Fear

Post-game analysis of the Times Square Bomber's failed plot continues, and our leaders are falling over each other to remove what's left of our civil liberties.

On the chopping block today is the 5th Amendment, or specifically, Miranda rights, i.e. the right of US citizen terror suspects to be informed of their rights to remain silent and to an attorney.

Officials claim that this right interferes with public safety, and that terror suspects should be interrogated prior to being informed that they do not have to say anything that would incriminate themselves.

I know those who support suspending Miranda rights mean well. They simply want to learn more intelligence about the terror organizations that suspected terrorists belong to, in order to stop them and protect the American people. I get that.

But this cannot be done. Suspending an un-convicted suspect's rights is unconstitutional and wrong, no matter what you think he has done. This is what America is about, this is why it was founded, so that no man can be denied his rights, including the right to due process and 5th amendment protection.

Some defense hawks believe that people like me are blowing this out of proportion, that a change in Miranda rights requirements hardly makes us a police state.

To this I reply that a police state does not occur overnight. Our police state is occurring by the slow-but-steady chipping away of our liberties, one tiny bit at a time, because we are afraid. This fear is the impetus for giving away our liberties.

This hammer of fear strikes our liberty, but it does not destroy it immediately. It is with the fine chisel of legal precedent that the hammer strikes at our liberty. A new definition of liberty is defined, the chisel of precedent is set, and the hammer of fear strikes, etching out a new shape from our block of liberty.

The piece that is chipped off may be small, and it may be so small that some never notice that it is gone. But the hammer and chisel are not finished. As soon as a terrorist scares more people, the chisel is reset and the fresh fear energizes the hammer yet again. Another chip falls to the floor.

This is the point of terrorism. It is not just to kill innocents, but rather to make the survivors live in fear. Fear that permeates our laws and our agencies, fear that suppresses our freedoms. Fear that changes the way we live. That is the point of terrorism.

In his first inaugural address, FDR said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself." These are the words we must heed, or, as he knew then, our fear will destroy us.

If we allow fear to be our guide, we will be left with a nation that is not worthy of defending.

Obama Authorizes Murder of US Citizen

The story of Obama's new stance on citizen-terrorists is from last week, but it bears repeating:

Obama Authorizes Murder Of A US Citizen.

No arrest. No charges. No trial. Just execution.

You have been warned.

Something Wrong with Islam

After the bombings in Baghdad on Tuesday, I placed the blame at the feet of Islam. Many find this distasteful, as there are many Muslims who are good, peace loving people. However, I believe there is something distinctly different about the Muslim religion that is creating a very violent sub-culture.

I can't put it any better than Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Syrian-American ex-Muslim:

"We have not seen a single Jew blow himself up in a German restaurant. We have not seen a single Jew destroy a church. We have not seen a single Jew protest by killing people."

She concluded, "Only the Muslims defend their beliefs by burning down churches, killing people and destroying embassies. This path will not yield any results. The Muslims must ask themselves what they can do for humankind, before they demand that humankind respect them."

After her interview on Al Jazeera, Dr. Sultan was excoriated by Syrian clerics, who called her a "heretic and infidel who deserves to die," and she has since received numerous death threats.

You cannot look at me with a straight face and tell me there is not a deep and widespread problem with Islam. I know there are many great people who follow the teachings of Mohammed, but there are plenty, including those in high positions of power in the mosque, that are poisoning their people with violent rhetoric.

There can be no progress if we accept this kind of behavior as the norm. Most of what I do with my writing is call people out when they do something wrong, and this is no different.

There is no excuse for killing innocent civilians. It's time to grow up.