NYT: Large Volume of FBI Files Alarm Activists

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

WASHINGTON, July 17 - The Federal Bureau of Investigation has collected at least 3,500 pages of internal documents in the last several years on a handful of civil rights and antiwar protest groups in what the groups charge is an attempt to stifle political opposition to the Bush administration.

The F.B.I. has in its files 1,173 pages of internal documents on the American Civil Liberties Union, the leading critic of the Bush administration's antiterrorism policies, and 2,383 pages on Greenpeace, an environmental group that has led acts of civil disobedience in protest over the administration's policies, the Justice Department disclosed in a court filing this month in a federal court in Washington.

The filing came as part of a lawsuit under the Freedom of Information Act brought by the A.C.L.U. and other groups that maintain that the F.B.I. has engaged in a pattern of political surveillance against critics of the Bush administration. A smaller batch of documents already turned over by the government sheds light on the interest of F.B.I. counterterrorism officials in protests surrounding the Iraq war and last year's Republican National Convention.

F.B.I. and Justice Department officials declined to say what was in the A.C.L.U. and Greenpeace files, citing the pending lawsuit. But they stressed that as a matter of both policy and practice, they have not sought to monitor the political activities of any activist groups and that any intelligence-gathering activities related to political protests are intended to prevent disruptive and criminal activity at demonstrations, not to quell free speech. They said there might be an innocuous explanation for the large volume of files on the A.C.L.U. and Greenpeace, like preserving requests from or complaints about the groups in agency files.

http://tinyurl.com/9fqvb

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. They can stuff those files where the sun don't shine when the

indictments start coming down... or as soon as this admin is thrown out on its ear.

[goforit]

2. And where the hell is Osama Bin Ladin????

Just beat up on the nobody's of the world....eh??

Meanwhile This administration is breaking laws right and left!!

[kainah]

3. and I'm sure

my files from the 60s/70s have been dug out again and, no doubt, updated with a photo of our weekly antiwar protest (HONK FOR PEACE) in dowtown Laramie, Wyoming.

It's deplorable but anyone who has been protesting openly about this war and doesn't think the FBI has your name is fooling themselves. :dilemma: :hide: :patriot:

[madeline_con]

8. Exactamundo...

I'm sure the FBI has had files on a lot of these org.s long before Bushco took over the world.

I have one, too, I'm sure. Once married to person of Iraqi descent, Muslim son and I get phone calls & emails from Middle east. Mine's probably updated every week or so... :eyes:

If there wasn't one, there will be NOW! Bwahahahahahaaaa!

[llmart]

19. I would be proud to be on their list.......

and in the words of that most articulate coward-in-chief "Bring it on"!!!!!

[cyberpj]

4. The ACLU is doing some great work for us lately - Contribute if you can.

And don't forget their FOIA request for the additional Abu Ghraib photos and video was upheld in court and new info is due out by Friday, 7/22.

Support them if you can!

[rodeodance]

14. it seems that the FBI is using the Patriot Act and view protestors as

some form of terrorists!

......."I'm still somewhat shocked by the size of the file on us," said Anthony D. Romero, executive director of the A.C.L.U. "Why would the F.B.I. collect almost 1,200 pages on a civil rights organization engaged in lawful activity? What justification could there be, other than political surveillance of lawful First Amendment activities?"

Protest groups charge that F.B.I. counterterrorism officials have used their expanded powers since the Sept. 11 attacks to blur the line between legitimate civil disobedience and violent or terrorist activity in what they liken to F.B.I. political surveillance of the 1960's. The debate became particularly heated during protests over the war in Iraq and the run-up to the Republican National Convention in New York City last year, with the disclosures that the F.B.I. had collected extensive information on plans for protests.

In all, the A.C.L.U. is seeking F.B.I. records since 2001 or earlier on some 150 groups that have been critical of the Bush administration's policies on the Iraq war and other matters.

The Justice Department is opposing the A.C.L.U.'s request to expedite the review of material it is seeking under the Freedom of Information Act, saying it does not involve a matter of urgent public interest, and department lawyers say the sheer volume of material, in the thousands of pages, will take them 8 to 11 months to process for Greenpeace and the A.C.L.U alone. The A.C.L.U., which went to court in a separate case to obtain some 60,000 pages of records on the government's detention and interrogation practices, said the F.B.I. records on the dozens of protest groups could total tens of thousands of pages by the time the request is completed........

[cyberpj]

32. See my post #6 - Our government has been doing this for a long time

Steal This Movie shows how they did it to Abbie Hoffman and many others involved in civil rights and war protests back then.

Watching this really brings it home that Government - and Republicans in particular - cares very little about civil rights and privacy and is all about watching you and shutting you up when you start getting too much attention for your cause.

Now that Bush has The Patriot Act, we're in more trouble than ever before -- still, it's all been done and you'll see how if you can catch this movie.

[shraby]

5. That was a Nixon trick and it's been

recycled..now to find where the orders to surveil came from..can I say the White House?

[cyberpj]

6. See STEAL THIS MOVIE by Robert Greenwald if you can...

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[wli]

7. these files should be purged

Further surveillance should also be prohibited. This is a truly gross violation of the Fourth Amendment.

[madeline_con]

9. What about "no expectation of privacy"?

Anything these orgs do in public is open to video filming, photos, articles, opeds, etc.

[wli]

12. those are fine; surveillance and infiltration is not

[rodeodance]

13. and who will make them do it?

[Barkley]

10. Those darn focus groups are a real security threat -eom

[Rose Siding]

11. WP version: FBI Terrorism Unit Eyed Web Protest Sites

FBI agents monitored Web sites calling for protests against the 2004 political conventions in New York and Boston on behalf of the bureau's counterterrorism unit, according to FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

The American Civil Liberties Union pointed to the documents as evidence that the Bush administration has reacted to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the United States by blurring the distinction between terrorism and political protest. FBI officials defended the involvement of counterterrorism agents in providing security for the Republican and Democratic conventions as an administrative convenience.

The documents were released by the FBI in response to a lawsuit filed by a coalition of civil rights, animal rights and environmental groups that say they have been subjected to scrutiny by task forces set up to combat terrorism. The FBI has denied targeting the groups because of their political views.

"It's increasingly clear that the government is involved in political surveillance of organizations that are involved in nothing more than lawful First Amendment activities," said Anthony Romero, executive director of the ACLU. "It raises very serious questions about whether the FBI is back to its old tricks."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/17/AR2005071700889.html

[rodeodance]

15. but both maintain that the FBI is overstepping.

[rodeodance]

16. see this discussion thread also.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=1635123&mesg_id=1635123

[Karenina]

17. And this one:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x4115950

[cyberpj]

34. watch how it happened in the 60s:

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[leveymg]

18. Backers of Patriot Act extension claim "no abuses" Another lie.

How many out there believed that stinker? Why are we just now beginning to see the NYT and other MSM beginning to pick up on what the ACLU and other groups have been saying for years? Under the guise of counter-terrorism, the intelligence services (all of them) are back in the game of domestic surveillance, disruption, and prosecution of political dissent.

Could it be we haven't hear anything about this stort until AFTER the House and Senate Intel Committees already voted on their versions, both of which propose to make the Patriot Act (and the elimination of previous walls to domestic spying and political repression) permanent?:eyes: :bounce:

[cyberpj]

35. The Pat Act gives them so much more 'legality' but it's all been done:

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[bklyncowgirl]

20. Disturbing but not at all surprising.

Like other administrations in the past, Bushco is out to get its enemies. They went after the Antiwar and Civil Rights movements in the 60s and the Nuclear Freeze and US out of Central America movements in the 80s.

What would have been surprising is if they hadn't done this.

[Vinca]

21. Wonder if they've got a dossier on the DU?

Note to agents investigating my life: try to stay awake.

[davekriss]

22. Of course they have a file on DU

With Negroponte now our "security czar", the first thing unplugged in the event of real rising civil disobedience will be sites like this. Should disobedience rise further then expect harrassment in the form of sneak-and-peak, disinformation campaigns, and much worse. We are living in the Wiemar Republic and the Fourth Reich is rising.

[cyberpj]

36. See what they did to Abbie Hoffman in the 60's:

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[leveymg]

42. Here's some cold water - Abbie & Jerry acted like agents provocateur

as were many of the leaders of the Weather Underground who implausibly either escaped apprehension or broke out of jail and lived incognito for years.:eyes:

Some of the Situationist antics of the Yippies were fun and clever political theater -- disrupting the NY Stock Exchange by throwing wads of cash down onto the trading floor from the visitors gallery, and running a pig for President in 1968. Others pissed off Middle America to no end, such as parading the Vietcong flag and fighting with the cops at the Democratic National Convention. Chicago probably did more to elect Nixon than anything else - strange, Abbie claims he was sitting in a nearby cafe, unnoticed, while most of the other protest leaders were getting arrested and their heads cracked at Grant Park.

The war stopped after it was finally realized in Washington that it was unwinnable, even after the deaths of 53,000 American troops and over a million Vietnamese.:bounce:

[cyberpj]

43. I'm not blind to the egocentric nature of Hoffman and others

That aspect of the man is evident in the film as well.

But the covert collection of information on these people and what happened to expose that is important to remember.

[Goldmund]

23. FBI Says It Has Files on Rights Groups

The FBI has thousands of pages of records in its files relating to the monitoring of civil rights, environmental and similar advocacy groups, the Justice Department acknowledges.

The organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union and Greenpeace, are suing for the release of the documents. The organizations contend that the material will show that they have been subjected to scrutiny by FBI task forces set up to combat terrorism.

The FBI has identified 1,173 pages related to the ACLU and 2,383 pages about Greenpeace, but it needs at least until February to process the ACLU files and until June to review the Greenpeace documents, the government said in a filing in U.S. District Court in Washington.

The FBI has not said specifically what those pages contain. The ACLU's executive director, Anthony Romero, said the disclosure indicates that the FBI is monitoring organizations that are engaging in lawful conduct.

More: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050718/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/fbi_monitoring&printer=1;_ylt=AunaW_JW9LW0nHLhoEc7HF5K2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

[appleannie1]

24. It makes one wonder

what now constitutes terrorism in this country. Disagreement with policy seems to be enough.

[Broken_Hero]

28. I agree with you on that.

What is a terrorist, who is going to define that? It seems that our goverment is getting more direct control of our lives..its scary, reminds me something.

[appleannie1]

29. I am old enough for it to remind me

of Germany, many years ago.

[Zorbuddha]

33. The similarities are chilling.

Reminds me of the uncanny parallels between Kennedy and Lincoln, except these are not tortured coincidences, these are fundamental and often identical.

[cyberpj]

37. watch how it happened in the 60s:

And welcome to DU! :hi:

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[FloridaPat]

25. Nice to know we're so well protected from people defending our rights

while the FBI has no idea how to get a line on real criminals.

[EFerrari]

27. We should just all change our user name to Yossarian

and simplify their filing system.

[cyberpj]

39. A good reminder that it was all the same with Nixon - Seen this?

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[EFerrari]

45. Actually, I haven't seen it. Thanks for the heads up.

:)

[dxdem]

26. Excellent book on this topic...

Terrorism and the Constitution

Read this a while back, same topic matter...good stuff...

[cyberpj]

40. And here's a good film:

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[peacefreak]

30. Agent Mike

You HAVE been a busy boy. :hi:

[HockeyMom]

31. Story of my friend back in the 60s

My friend demonstrated in a several anti war protests back in the 60s. At one rally, a reporter took pictures of the crowd and asked my friend for comments on protest movement. Her picture and quotes appeared in the NY Daily News. It was a peaceful protest. No violence occurred.

Not long after she applied for a clerical position at the local FBI. She was turned down for the position for "security" reasons. She was told that the FBI had her name on file from that newspaper article and that she was considered a "dissident". Can you believe that?

If they were watching back then, you can be sure they are now, especially with the Patriot Act. They probably have all OUR names in their files too.

[Zorbuddha]

38. This is a lesson in ":Be careful what you wish for"

Given all the new legal latitudes and computer info gathering technology, they must be swimming in data. How do they sort through it all? Must be overwhelming. No wonder serious threats slip through the defenses.

[cyberpj]

41. Maybe he's in some of the reel footage used in this film:

Just saw Robert Greenwald's STEAL THIS MOVIE about Abbie Hoffman. HBO-Signature channel has been showing it and my Tivo caught it but I checked, and it's also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend it! It's a great reminder of just how similar our Iraq situation is to the Vietnam era, reinforces the extent to which Presidents using CIA and FBI will go to extinguish dissent, has good music, good actors and a good message to today's youth at the end - and is just a darn good movie.

Vincent D'Onofrio .... Abbie Hoffman
Janeane Garofalo .... Anita Hoffman
Jeanne Tripplehorn .... Johanna Lawrenson
Kevin Pollak .... Gerry Lefcourt
Donal Logue .... Stew Albert
Kevin Corrigan .... Jerry Rubin

You may remember Robert Greenwald's other efforts such as:
Unconstitutional (2004) aka Unconstitutional: The War on Our Civil Liberties
Plain Truth (2004)
Uncovered: The War on Iraq (2004)
Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism
The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron (2003)
Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War (2003)
Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election (2002)

He's also now working on The Walmart Movie
http://www.walmartmovie.com/index.php

One review:
Steal This Movie is an engaging and illuminating trip into the not so distant past and the stormy life of a generation brave enough to question their government and fight for their Constitutional rights. As Abbie put it eloquently, poignantly, and sadly in some of his speeches after remerging from his underground exile: "We stopped a war." Whatever one might think of him and his sometimes bizarre methods of protest, he did indeed lead a movement that led to the end of the Vietnam conflict.

http://www.cinemasense.com/Reviews/steal_this_movie.htm

[High Plains]

44. Enough already with flogging that movie n/t