Could we stop this in the Senate?
Chip Berlet <c.berlet at publiceye.org> wrote:
Below is the first few paragraphs of a larger post that offers a comentary on the issues. The link to the full text is at the end.
-Chip Berlet
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Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism?
Who doesn't want to prevent terrorism and violence? Not many folks I would imagine. So why am I in a snit over the federal legislative proposal H.R. 1955: the "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007"? Because it is a $22 million foot in the door that could lead to the same type of government surveillance abuse that was denounced by Congress, the media, and activists in the 1970s.
Liberal congressional representatives apparently were sucker punched by the language; and oddly forgetful of past government intelligence gathering abuses. It could easily turn into another privatized federally-funded giant slush fund for politically-connected hacks.
Anyone who remembers the infamous FBI Counterintelligence Program (COINTELPRO) will recall how compiling files on the ideological leanings of dissenters opened the door to a systematic campaign of illegal surveillance and disruption, spawned tens of millions of pages of spy files, and even led to the murders of political activists-primarily people of color. Just read the text of the legislation, and these claims of potential abuse seem absurd. Have I become a paranoid conspiracy theorist? I don't think so, but explaining why takes some doing. But isn't protecting our civil liberties worth a little effort?
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/11/26/85326/401
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