Locking Out the Voices of Dissent by Chris Hedges

[Ichingcarpenter]

NEW YORK—The security and surveillance state, after crushing the Occupy movement and eradicating its encampments, has mounted a relentless and largely clandestine campaign to deny public space to any group or movement that might spawn another popular uprising. The legal system has been grotesquely deformed in most cities to, in essence, shut public space to protesters, eradicating our right to free speech and peaceful assembly. The goal of the corporate state is to criminalize democratic, popular dissent before there is another popular eruption. The vast state surveillance system, detailed in Edward Snowden’s revelations to the British newspaper The Guardian, at the same time ensures that no action or protest can occur without the advanced knowledge of our internal security apparatus. This foreknowledge has allowed the internal security systems to proactively block activists from public spaces as well as carry out pre-emptive harassment, interrogation, intimidation, detention and arrests before protests can begin. There is a word for this type of political system—tyranny.





If the state is ultimately successful in preventing us from mobilizing in public spaces, then dissent will mutate from nonviolent mass protests to clandestine and perhaps violent acts of resistance. Some demonstrators have already been branded “domestic terrorists” under the law. The rear-guard effort by a handful of activists to protect our rights to be heard and peaceably assemble is perhaps the most crucial, though unseen, struggle we currently are engaged in with the corporate state. It is a struggle to salvage what is left of our civil society and our right to nonviolent resistance against corporate tyranny. This is why the New York City trial last week of members of Veterans for Peace, along with other activists, took on an importance that belied the simple trespassing charges against them.




The executive, legislative and judicial branches of government have been taken over by corporations and used to protect and promote the criminal activity of Wall Street, the destruction of the ecosystem by the fossil fuel industry, the looting of the U.S. Treasury by the banking industry and the corporate seizure of all major centers of power. The primacy of corporate profit trumps our right to a living wage, affordable and adequate health care, the regulation of industry and environmental controls, protection from corporate fraud and abuse, the right to a good and affordable public education, the ability to form labor unions, and having a government that serves the basic needs of ordinary citizens. Our voices, our rights and our aspirations are no longer of concern to the state. And if we try to assert them, the state now has mechanisms in place to shut us down.



https://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/07/15-0#.UeQpMqk2Ntw.reddit

[Luminous Animal]

1. K&R

[xtraxritical]

27. IchingDat too ^ K&R

[rhett o rick]

2. We are being backed into a corner and the OligarchCabal has an army of right-wing wackos and even

many conservative Democrats that will fight on the side of the Authoritarian State. It wont be a revolution, it will be a civil war.

[99th_Monkey]

7. Why can't the USA just GIVE Texas, Florida, et. al. to the Mega-Corporations

lock, stock and barrel (so to speak) ... along with whatever Southern States want
to join them to create their "Ayn Randian Utopia" , all in exchange for that We The
People get the rest of our nation back, without their greedy meddling?

I know I'm just being a bit fanciful & flip here, but it would be a more preferable
option than another bloody civil war.

[Hydra]

13. It would make sense

But frankly, the people doing this want it ALL.

This is a global "game" and it's winner take all. We're just seeing our little part of it.

[Unknown Beatle]

15. If that's all you see,

then you haven't been paying attention.

Pointing fingers won't help either.

[99th_Monkey]

17. Pointing fingers?

Exactly WHO am I "pointing fingers" at in my self-confessed
"flip and fanciful" post?

If you mean at our "Mega-Corporate" oligarchs behind the curtain,
then you'd be at least somewhat correct, but the REASON THEY
ARE BEHIND THE CURTAIN <-- is why it's important to finger
them (in both senses).

[Unknown Beatle]

18. No,

you're pointing fingers at states you don't deem worthy of belonging to the US.

Never mind. No use in an exchange that will lead nowhere.

[99th_Monkey]

22. Well, at least we can agree on one thing

"No use in an exchange that will lead nowhere."

[JoeyT]

21. Yeah, we should give the states where the banks and insurance companies

are headquartered to them too.

That would be uh...New York and what...Connecticut, Maine, and another blue state or two.

So we'd basically end up with 2 USes that are divided more or less exactly as the original one is. Which seems like a lot of trouble to not accomplish much.

[Mojorabbit]

45. Hell no

I live in a blue county in Fl. It is a beautiful state and well worth fighting for. No one is giving us to anybody without a fight.

[Fuddnik]

24. Almost right.

Who was the "liberal" Democratic Senator, along with "moderate" John McCain who slipped the indefinite detention sections into the NDAA?

I don't want to mention any names, but his initials are Dick Durbin. How many pieces of silver did he get?

[rhett o rick]

30. When he takes that kind of action, IMO he loses his "liberal" certification. nm

[loudsue]

33. Not all liberals are passive.

Some liberals are fighters. Ask the framers of the constitution.

[rhett o rick]

35. Most liberals are fighters. What did I say to make you think different?

Supporting indefinite detention is not a liberal concept. If he supports it he can not be liberal.

[loudsue]

38. Sorry....I thought your reply was to a different post.

My bad.

[Catherina]

3. Great last sentence

The corporate state’s quest to control all power includes using the military to carry out domestic policing, which is why I sued the president over Section 1021 of the National Defense Authorization Act. It is imperative to defend, as the activists did in New York City, what freedoms and rights we have left. If we remain passive, if we permit the state to continue to use the law to take away our right of political expression, we will have no legal protection of resistance when we will need it most"

[Ichingcarpenter]

5. There hundred more examples he could have used

of the locking down of Dissent but his examples were just fine to make his point.

[SMC22307]

4. K&R

[99th_Monkey]

6. Totally K & R!!

[SHRED]

8. From the "Comments"

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2013/07/15-0#comment-962695942

The corporate take over the state is complete. It has been for some time. Elections are all prepackaged show biz glitz without any substance whatsoever. Congress spends all their time raising money for re-election, so legislation is written by corporate lobbyists. The news media has become a cheerleader for wealth, greed, and corporate control. The police have become tools of the military. The Pentagon spends millions every year on developing weapons to crush "urban unrest." It is not just the government that needs to protested against, it is an entire society. The "Greed is Good" culture needs to be overthrown. It cannot be done without massive numbers of people willing to put everything on the line. And so, in the US, it cannot be done.

[Hydra]

14. That is such a spot-on comment

Really covers the important bases.

We're so screwn...

[jtuck004]

9. Too late, I think. K&R n/t

[Cleita]

10. ...

[Egalitarian Thug]

11. K&R Do we control government of does government control us?

I think the answer is obvious.
& R

[Dustlawyer]

12. We need to challenge the issue by demanding publicly funded elections! We need

COMPLETE CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM to end the shadow government that has been running our country into the ground! They are prepared to fight to stop us. They do not want to be caught off guard again like they were with OWS. We need to stop fighting every issue that is a symptom of the corruption and just go after the root cause. The Root cause is allowing campaign contributions which operate as a bribe. If they wish to remain in office they must keep the big donors happy.
Chris is totally right, but too many people believe this is too far out there and that this is conspiracy theory stuff. Wake up America!

[sulphurdunn]

25. Your're absolutely right, but...

what you advocate is like asking pigs to move away from the trough. You need to give them the boot, asking them to move is like asking them to stop being pigs.

[Dustlawyer]

48. I agree, but once the protesting starts in earnest we will find out that they will not be nice!

Only then will we find out if the people will fold, or come with greater numbers! I am not holding my breath this will happen, I cannot even get DU'ers to spread the word!

[woo me with science]

16. Cannot rec highly enough. nt

[Smickey]

19. K/R nt

[WillyT]

20. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[Fuddnik]

23. Kick and Rec!!!!!!!

This is what the surveillance is really all about. A complete lockdown of dissent. Meta data tells them who else to keep an eye on. And to make matters even worse, they've turned almost all of it over to private corporations.

[SoCalDem]

26. It started DECADES ago.

The voices we were deprived of hearing over time, could have made us a better place.

They were pushed aside, or onto opinion pages of papers that were routinely bought out by conservatives...

or they retreated into academia, which has been under assault by conservative legislatures, judges & politicians..

or they wrote books that not many read

The PWTB realized soon after the WWII vets actually USED those benefits and created a middle class, that this would never be a good thing for them, and could not remain in place permanently.

It was imperative that pensions/unions/benefits simply had to go, and liberal voices had to be squelched.

Where the left erred, was when WE did not form "think tanks" and we did not aggressively maintain what we had accomplished. I am a democrat, but I also realize that we tend to think "Whew..we got THAT done", and then we relax our guard. Conservatives NEVER relax their grip or retract their reach.

[MisterP]

28. interestingly, the think tanks only got big with the neocons after 1978

Reagan was a pipsqueak until he created a coalition within the GOP that's around today (though the right-libertarians may rebel)
1942-70 was a period of huge growth, unionization, Federal activity in the economy, but the hegemony of the technocrats and Cold Warriors in both parties came apart in the 60s and 70s with movements for peace, disarmament, Civil Rights, the environment, etc., perhaps peaking in 1975 with the Church Committee and the House dismissing the Warren Report; all this while the two parties had an interplay, with a big change after LBJ where the South started moving GOP; the 80s was a rancid period under Reagan--corrupt and genocide, with no little opposition from O'Neill and Dukakis Dems (FWIW); with the 90s and 00s we have News Corp., corporate-approved "rebel thinkers" like Alex Jones or St. Paul, and two Reaganaut parties chasing each other rightwards

[Lifelong Protester]

29. Yes, after seeing Gasland 2 last night

I realize more and more that dissent is being squelched. Or bought off, when people can't fight any more, take the money and run. (We've all been in that tired place).

Environmentalists are now 'terrorists'. Probably everyone on this site is listed somewhere as a 'terrorist'.

[Hydra]

42. You have the last part right

Only the people placed here to cause disruption are not on the list. Everyone else is screwed.

Hi Agent Mike!

[ucrdem]

31. Ironic, considering that yesterday was the SECOND day of coast-to-coast protests

against the Martin verdict, including massive crowds peacefully protesting in Oakland, DC, Chicago, SF, LA, and NYC to name a few locations:

'No Justice': Thousands March for Trayvon Martin

Protesters speak out against 'not guilty' verdict, from Sanford, Florida to Times Square


Trayvon Martin supporters crowd Times Square in New York.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/no-justice-thousands-march-for-trayvon-martin-20130715#ixzz2Z9Z8F3Ed

Hedges is a dishonest FUD mongerer (that's fear, uncertainty, and doubt) who apparently thinks that any protest outside the corporate-sponsored Occupy movement beloved of fake-left libertarians like himself isn't really a protest:

The legal system has been grotesquely deformed in most cities to, in essence, shut public space to protesters, eradicating our right to free speech and peaceful assembly.

Right Chris, it's all been eradicated, in your dreams. Seriously, why do people still post and rec his RW tripe on DU? He's playing to the TV-news (read low-information) "independent" swing voters in Ohio and PA.

[Cha]

32. Chris Hedges is a

professional whiner.

Some wonderfully Peaceful Protest have happened From San Francisco to NYC.


New York, July 14

meta @metaquest

Peaceful protest for Trayvon Martin in San Francisco. pic.twitter.com/5GbQfX848X3:58
AM - 15 Jul 2013


Jasmyne Cannick @jasmyne

This is not like 1992, there are black, white, Latino, Asian, gay, straight, old and young marching together in solidarity.4:52 PM - 14 Jul 2013

705 Retweets 297 favorites ReplyRetweet

http://theobamadiary.com/2013/07/15/rise-and-shine-554/

Mahalo ucrdem

[rhett o rick]

36. And you make his point very well.

Of course you would support dissent if it doesnt reflect badly on your Obama.

But the President isnt responsible for the constitutional violations. The Booz-Allen-NSA is bigger than him. He had no choice but to appoint Clapper, Mueller, and Comey, Republicans that before 2008 you would disparage. Now magically you worship them.

[loudsue]

34. Man. That is so fucked up in so many ways

I don't even know where to begin to respond.

I'll just say I totally vote down your post.

[rhett o rick]

37. It's funny that you call him Right-Wing. Those that support Clapper, Mueller and Comey

are the right wingers.

[Waiting For Everyman]

39. It's not a protest against the Corporatists, though, is it? Try one of those.

Sure, we can protest, as long as it doesn't affect the elite's interests. That's just to their benefit, so comments like yours can be made.

But a guy drawing something dispaging a bank on a sidewalk in chalk, gets arrested and hauled into court for a nice, long, expensive lawsuit. Just for an example. Occupy and other movements have lots of examples.

[FSogol]

44. +1. n/t

[Safetykitten]

40. Kick

[Horse with no Name]

41. You can't even walk down the street in my town without being pulled over

and asked to identify.

[woo me with science]

43. Cannot kick and rec enough. This needs to stay on top.

[woo me with science]

46. kick

[raouldukelives]

47. K&R Invest in Wall St and support the oligarchs or don't and start being a liberal. nt