Monday, March 8, 2004

Criminalizing Dissent FEATURED ARTICLES - Thousands of Aristide Supporters Pour Into Streets, Reuters - Kerry Condemns Bush for Failing to Back Aristide, NY Times - Kerry's Foreign Policy Record Suggests Few Differences with Bush, CommonDreams - Going Undercover/Criminalizing Dissent? - COINTELPRO Again? NOW With Bill Moyers QUOTE OF THE DAY "We must not confuse dissent with disloyalty. When the loyal opposition dies, I think the soul of America dies with it." - - Edward R. Murrow     KNOW YOUR HISTORY - MARCH 8th 1971 -- Members of the "Citizens Committee to Investigate the F.B.I." break into an F.B.I. office in suburban Philadelphia, later publishing files revealing the existence of the F.B.I.'s COINTELPRO program which harassed domestic political dissidents. RHINO HERE: On this anniversary of the Citizens Committee to Investigate the F.B.I. break-in, today's RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE offers is a link to Bill Moyers "NOW" TV show, which this past weekend broadcast an investigation entitled, "Criminalizing Dissent?"   It examines police infiltrators into non-violent anti-war groups here in the U.S., not mind you back in the 1970's but within this past year. The site has an array of information for anyone interested. But first, speaking of protestors, last Friday thousands of Haitians demonstrated in the streets of their capital city in support of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who as Rhino readers know, was recently ousted from office & from his country by a CIA backed coup.  These demonstrators marched in their streets knowing that the US  supported thugs were likely to confront them with US provided weapons. I wonder what the tri-letter (ABC, CNN, FOX, etc) pundits, who've been trying to make Aristide out to be worse than Papa or Baby Doc, have to say about this courageous outpouring of support for the former liberation theology preaching priest. Thousands of Aristide Supporters Pour Into Streets By Ibon Villelabeitia and Jim Loney, Reuters, 5/5/04 PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (Reuters) - Thousands of outraged supporters of exiled President Jean-Bertrand Aristide poured out of Haiti's slums and into the streets on Friday, marching on the U.S. Embassy to denounce the "occupation" of their homeland and demand Aristide's return... MORE AT: Aristide Supporters Meanwhile likely Democratic Presidential nominee John Kerry spoke out on the coup in Haiti as the Rhino hoped he would. The NY Times article below tells that tale, but following that, another article goes into great detail on Senator Kerry's foreign policy record & for progressives, it's not a pretty picture.  One thing the Senator could do to bring, as Governor Dean called it, the Democratic Wing of the Democratic party, to his side would be to declare that if elected, he will create a cabinet level Department of Peace, appoint Congressman Dennis Kucinich as Secretary (Dennis conceived the idea of that Department), and then really listen to him & do what he suggests. What say, Senator John? Kerry Condemns Bush for Failing to Back Aristide By David E. Sanger & David M. Halbfinger, NY Times, March 7, 2004 "I would have been prepared to send troops immediately, period," Mr. Kerry said on Friday, expressing astonishment that President Bush, who talks of supporting democratically elected leaders, withheld any aid and then helped spirit Mr. Aristide into exile after saying the United States could not protect him... MORE: http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/07/politics/campaign/07KERR.html?th Kerry's Foreign Policy Record Suggests Few Differences with Bush by Stephen Zunes, Common Dreams, March 5, 2004 Those who had hoped that a possible defeat of President George W. Bush in November would mean real changes in U.S. foreign policy have little to be hopeful about now that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry has effectively captured the Democratic presidential nomination. That Senator Kerry supported the Bush Administration's invasion of Iraq and lied about former dictator Saddam Hussein possessing a sizable arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in order to justify it would be reason enough to not support him...  However, a look at his record shows that Kerry's overall foreign policy agenda has also been a lot closer to the Republicans than to the rank-and-file Democrats he claims to represent... MORE: http://www.commondreams.org/views04/0305-03.htm 8:07:04 AM    comment

RHINO'S BOTTOM LINE - Going Undercover/Criminalizing Dissent? - COINTELPRO Again? Going Undercover/Criminalizing Dissent? - COINTELPRO Again? NOW With Bill Moyers, 3.05.04 From John Adams' Alien and Sedition Acts to the Cold War and Joseph McCarthy, civil liberties and national security have had a delicate and troubled relationship in American history. Notorious among these is the case of the domestic surveillance program run by the FBI between 1956 and 1971 (after the censure of Joseph McCarthy by the Senate) under the name COINTELPRO (counterintelligence program). COINTELPRO was a secret FBI program designed to monitor and "neutralize" domestic groups deemed by the FBI to be a danger to national security. Such groups included anti-war groups and civil rights groups and individuals like Martin Luther King, Jr. and even Eleanor Roosevelt. Some fear that something like COINTELPRO may again be at hand. There are undercover agents infiltrating peaceful protests in America. Pretending to be political activists, local law enforcement officials are monitoring the activities of advocacy and protest groups based on what one judge calls those organizations' "political philosophies and conduct protected under the First Amendment." The tactic has come about as a result of the relaxation of guidelines first put into place after the COINTELPRO scandal investigation... MANY INFORMATIVE LINKS TO THIS STORY AT: http://www.pbs.org/now/politics/cointelpro.html "RHINO'S BLOG" is the responsibility of Gary Rhine. (rhino@kifaru.com) Feedback, and requests to be added or deleted from the list are encouraged. SEARCH BLOG ARCHIVES / SURF RHINO'S LINKS, AT: http://www.rhinosblog.info RHINO'S OTHER WEB SITES: http://www.dreamcatchers.org (INDIGENOUS ASSISTANCE & INTERCULTURAL DIALOG) http://www.kifaru.com (NATIVE AMERICAN RELATIONS VIDEO DOCUMENTARIES) Articles are reprinted under Fair Use Doctrine of international copyright law. http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html All copyrights belong to original publisher. Tell a friend about Rhino's Blog 6:45:25 AM    comment

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