Recently, there has been an increasing amount of talk centering on the possibility (or even probability) that President Bush and his administration are going to declare martial law and bring around a new fascist state. There has been a lot of predictable nodding and hand-wringing on one side, and just as equally predictable laughter and dismissal on the other. What we’re going to do here is take a serious look at the situation, what is, and then outline one simple path for what could be, and then explore what can be done about it.
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terrorism
Should We Freak Out About H.R. 1955?
One of the more disturbing bits of news to hit headlines today was that back in October, the House of Representatives passed a bit of legislation entitled Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, H.R. 1955. Reading quick synopses and evaluations of this bill, one might think that Orwell’s 1984 really is at last upon us. Public criticism seems to focus on how this legislation opens the door to “thought-crime” punishment, how we are all off to the gulags, now. Carefully reading through the bill, however, does not support these outraged assertions. Still, it’s not a far leap to reach some fairly disturbing conclusions.
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