14 Comments

I love paying taxes so we can spy on college kids. This is totally normal…

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Also as a girl that lived through the Saddam regime , seeing the rise of fascism while people deny it is even happening is laughable

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But. but. I thought it was Trump that was going to usher in Fascism. Don't nobody tell him, that that rug has already been pulled out from under him.

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May I direct your attention to The Memory Hole and The Federal Bureau of Corruption

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Stop the goddamn fake surprise. This was happening in the '60s, and again with the anti-nuke protesters in the 80s. I was there both times. CIA has been spying internally since its founding, and FBI has been creating "terrorists" and "subversives" since its founding. That's their job, for fuck's sake.

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The boot must have extra seasoning 🙂

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The role of detecting subversive activity and foreign influence has been around since the War of 1812. Look up the "Anti-Sedition Act." It was even more active during the First World War, and of course since. For evidence of WW II subversion, look at the America First movement and the German American Bund. Even paranoids can have real enemies! Why wouldn't a relatively open society like the US take measures to protect itself?

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Great piece.

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Damn, this title is depressing. Glad i don't read these.

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Many thanks to Ken for highlighting what most journalists lack the independence to explore.

The use of domestic intelligence techniques to restrict and chill dissent is precisely why surveillance is constitutionally offensive not only under the Fourth Amendment (prohibiting unreasonable search & seizure) but also the First (prohibiting restraints on speech and expression). People who may have thought that they "have nothing to hide, and so nothing to fear" might consider this a wake up call.

I've spent over 20 years writing about these concerns, organizing grassroots campaigns to politicize them, and running for federal office before a racist character assassination in 2020 blocked my attempt to force a public debate that has never happened in the United States. My most recent post addressing the disturbing rise of authoritarian restraints on speech examined the crackdown on student activism decrying Biden's genocide in Gaza. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/the-empire-strikes-back

A previous post dug into the disturbing complicity of journalists who continue to enable dynasty politicians responsible for these restraints on speech. They play an especially reprehensible role given the ethical values of their profession and the constitutional role that a free press is supposed to play promoting transparency and accountability. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/editors-or-propagandists

Unfortunately, leading Democrats are leading the authoritarian charge, including the one who my character assassination ultimately enabled. https://shahidbuttar.substack.com/p/democratic-icon-nancy-pelosi-accuses

Folks concerned about these patterns might consider supporting the few organizations focused on them, including Defending Rights & Dissent (full disclosure: I led an organization from 2010-2015 that helped form DRAD in a 2015 merger and continue to serve on its Board of Directors). The organization's website is https://www.rightsanddissent.org/ and the staff publish a terrific Substack at https://rightsdissent.substack.com/.

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"Are we the baddies?"

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If you take out the words Palestine and Israel and replace them with MAGA or Trump supporters, you will find that it's both of these groups. It is any group whatsoever that makes the currently embedded beuracracies in D.C. look bad. Left or right. Doesn't matter. If you question your "betters" you are going to be listed as a domestic threat. They will watch your purchases, your social, your employment, all of it.

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"If the only tool you have is a hammer, it is tempting to treat everything as if it were a nail." Maslow’s hammer is in action. This is one of the conflicts when you have federal agencies seeking a problem... a problem is created. Why the FBI is engaged is suspicious since there hasn’t been anything linking the protests to Hamas or the Green Bay Packers. Already this is an overreach and it will no doubt find causes without empirical evidence to determine Hamas is guiding the students.

Having yourself determine if you have jurisdiction is dangerous. It is government vigilance and now we are the Wild West... hang on!!!

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Links to the students and Hamas? Financing of the students by Hamas?

How about investigating the links between Netanyahu and Hamas - the fact that Hamas was financed by Netanyahu’s Israel via Qatar. Now that would put the cat amongst the pigeons. It’s almost like Oct 7 was allowed if not encouraged?

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