the contrarian - THE BEAT GOES ON

Most anyone's first reaction concerning the government's acquisition of additional powers is that these laws and executive orders must be for our own protection.

The government - our government - would never set out to restrict our time-honored freedoms. After all, aren't we involved in two wars to specifically spread freedom to other countries?

Well something's going on. Something is definitely going on.

It's easy to understand why we might remain unconcerned, however, because the power grab has extended over time and the bits and pieces have been largely ignored by the mainstream media.

It's sort of like a wooden structure under attack by termites. No one might notice until the day the house falls down.

And let me be clear right up front. This is not aimed at any one political party. Both parties and the Bush administration are involved.

The domestic power of government, on the one hand, and civil liberties, on the other, are mutually exclusive, Any increase in one creates a shrinking of the other.

The following is a summary of the increases that have occurred in the government's powers during the Bush presidency, as well as certain other related developments. Please note that the powers we are talking about here are those that have impacted on American citizens, not on foreign terrorists.

Look at the facts and the commentary....then you decide.

THE RAY GUN

Last Sunday night, Sixty Minutes aired a segment on a ray gun developed by the Pentagon that shoots out a 100,000-watt beam at the speed of light, temporarily disabling anyone it hits within its range of at least one half mile. It's "harmless" as long as it is used properly, according to the report.

The Pentagon was reported to have said the weapon could change the rules of war and save huge numbers of lives in Iraq.

Who are they kidding? And shame on Sixty Minutes for allowing itself to be spoon-fed such an obvious line. This isn't intended for foreign wars. Can you imagine the military using it against groups that may or may not be armed with lethal weapons? - Not on your life, and certainly not on theirs.

No, this is the first weapon in the Pentagon's arsenal to be used against its brand new adversary - us! The ray gun is the twenty-first century version of the high-powered fire hose of the 1950's.

And all the credit for its intended use by the Pentagon goes to something called...

THE JOHN WARNER DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT

HR5122, also known by the above name, was passed by Congress and signed into law by the president on 10/17/06. Thus, with a stroke of a pen, the president took away the protection that Americans had enjoyed for the past 128 years against the government's potential abuse of power.

The Posse Comitatus Act, passed way back on June 16, 1878, had previously limited the federal government from using the military for law enforcement, except on federal property. The Warner Act has changed all that.

Under the Warner Act, if the president declares a "public emergency," which he can do at his discretion, he can station troops anywhere in America to be used as he sees fit to quell any disturbance or demonstration.

Another feature of the law allows the president to take control of all state-based national guard units without the consent of the governors or local authorities involved. This prompted a strong letter of protest signed by every one of the nation's governors.

Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) was the only member of Congress to warn that this bill will actually encourage the president to declare a national emergency.

The law also facilitates the military round-up of protestors, who might then presumably be held in...

THE NEW DETENTION CAMPS

On January 24, 2006, a subsidiary of Halliburton, by the name of KBR, announced that it had been awarded a contract for as much as $385 million to construct detention facilities by the Department of Homeland Security.

On June 7, 2006, Fox News reported that "the contract has sparked wide speculation that massive prisons are going to be built to detain illegal immigrants or even U.S citizens, fears that government officials say are unfounded."

Of course, if they are "unfounded," then why build them.

Tom Hennessy reported in the Long Beach Press Telegram on February 3, 2006 that the camps are, indeed, cause for concern.

The facilities are described as "temporary," but have extensive, high-tech features designed to prevent escapes.

To sharpen its ability to be able to successfully direct and manage the massive roundups that might be required to fill such detention camps, the government has conducted...

OPERATION FALCON

USA Today reported on 11/2/06 that the government had carried out three extensive sweeps over the previous two years bringing in more than 30,000 felons. The operations, known as Falcons I, II and III were unique in that they involved federal agents rounding up individuals who were guilty only of state and local crimes.

An Information Clearinghouse article by Mike Whitney on 2/26/07 warned that the government is "fine tuning its shock troops." The article goes on to say that "This should be a red flag for anyone who cares at all about human rights, civil liberties, or simply saving his own skin."

If you are wondering how the government could possibly process such a sudden and overwhelming wave of detainees through the courts, that problem has been solved by what is known as the ...

MILITARY COMMISSIONS ACT OF 2006

In the final hours before adjourning in 2006, when hardly anyone would notice amid the flurry of new legislation, Congress passed the above act which was subsequently signed by the president.

Some did notice, however, and expressed grave concern over the fact that the law appears to cast aside the principle of habeas corpus.

As the ACLU said, "Habeas corpus isn't a fancy legal term. It's the freedom from being thrown in prison illegally, with no help and no end in sight. No president should ever be given the power to call someone an enemy, wave his hand, and lock them away indefinitely. The Founders made the president subject to the rule of law. They rejected dungeons and chose due process."

Experts have concluded, according to the online encyclopedia, Wikipedia, that the law could apply to U.S. citizens. It gives the president the power to order the arrest and indefinite detention of anyone he deems to be an "unlawful enemy combatant."

An unlawful enemy combatant is vaguely defined as "a person who has engaged in hostilities or who has purposefully and materially supported hostilities against the United States."

And, of course, looming over all of these moves by the federal government is the ...

PATRIOT ACT

Enacted by Congress and signed into law on October 26, 2001, this legislation expanded the definition of terrorism to include "domestic terrorism."

Wikipedia reports that the act "has been criticized from its inception for weakening protections of civil liberties. It authorizes such activities on the part of the government as 'sneak and peek' searches through which law enforcement officers search a home or business without the owner's or the occupant's permission or knowledge; the expanded use of 'National Security Letters' which allow the FBI to search telephone, email and financial records without a court order; and the expanded access of law enforcement agencies to business records, including library and financial records."

And, of course...

THAT'S NOT ALL

There is more - much more.

The Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA), which enabled warantless surveillance and wiretapping expired in February under a built-in "sunset clause" but is expected to be revived, perhaps in the flurry of session-ending activity later this year.

Also, while most of the country was watching the dramatic pictures of the California wildfires last year, the House of Representatives quietly passed - without debate - the bill known as the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007.

The bill would add a provision to the Homeland Security Act of 2002 establishing a commission and an academic center to define, for the benefit of future government action, the ideologies and political thinking that would be considered unacceptable.

This has caused critics to describe it as a first skirmish into the area of "thought crimes" and, as more people have become aware of it, the controversy has grown. Currently it sits in the Senate where it has been referred to the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee.

Also, the picture wouldn't be complete without mentioning:

- that just last Monday, President Bush signed an executive order virtually castrating the powers of a little known group called the President's Intelligence Advisory Board (PIAB) whose prior purpose was to investigate and check on illegal intelligence activities,

-or the multiple steps taken by the government to control anticipated activism on the part of students on our college campuses (the contrarian 2/13/08),

-or the takeover of the mainstream media by a mere handful of billionaires who control the topics that will not be discussed and who enjoy the government's payback in the form of a controversial FCC ruling allowing local media monopolies (the contrarian 1/29/08),

-and, of course, there's Blackwater, the private security operation that, in 10 years, has developed into a conglomeration of nine companies and has left a number of controversial episodes in its wake, and which seems to operate above the law (the contrarian 8/21/07 & 10/3/07).

I don't know about you, but it seems as though there might be a pattern here.

Dave McGill, News Correspondent

Dave's column, "The Contrarian," generally published every Wednesday, to Gather Essentials: News will sometimes present a contrary view to various aspects of the news, or an alternate take on the conventional wisdom of the day, and will occasionally also appear on other days of the week

Dave has been a senior officer of a large eastern insurance company, involved in economic projections and investment strategy, president of a Midwestern mortgage banking company, and a financial consultant in Southern California, serving clients in the field of commercial real estate development

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