In light of the new Exec. Order, is it now safe to speak the truth here?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/07/20070717-3.html

For the very first time I feel personally threatened by George Bush. This new order ('scuse the pun) is so open-ended and can be interpreted in so many ways that to post a thread here saying "J'accuse!" and attaching his name to it may very well be enough for them to come in the night.

This could very well be the Grand Opening of all the scattered FEMA reeducation camps. This could very well be the beginning of the Night Of The Long Knives. This could very well be the start of The Purge.

How do we defend America against this? Do we do as they desire and tape our own mouths shut? Do we toss our keyboards (and the rage contained therein) into the wastebasket? Do we fade into the shadows and hope we're not noticed?

Do we surrender?

This post alone could be enough. These words alone could very well be the last words I post- the DU is a worldwide forum of freedom, and that is enough to incur their wrath. I've never made a secret of my real identity, and it would take all of ten seconds for some brainiac to figure it out and decide to render me to some unknown hole in the ground. And there are many here much more outspoken and eloquent than I who could find themselves sitting bound and gagged next to me for what they continue to say here.

It's frightening- I know it's meant to be, and I feel no shame in admitting it's working. For the very first time I sense we're dancing on the razor's edge. Personally. Intimately. Seriously.

I have no solution to this. I can't think of any words of encouragement or enlightenment. I can't think of anything other than the fact that the nation of freedom I was born into is turning into a fascist dictatorship before my very eyes, and the lawmakers in Washington are playing petty games while the Brownshirts sneak in the back door and prepare to walk down the aisles. If you remember your history, the day that happened in Germany they led many of those in the chamber out the back door and shot them dead on the spot. It was that quick. It was that simple. And it could very well happen again.

I admit it- I'm scared. I hope we can overcome this, but at the moment I don't see how. I hope for encouragement, for optimistic words, for someone to shake my shoulder and wake me up.

Somehow, I don't believe that's going to happen any time soon.

Good luck to us all.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. If you ever thought it was safe

I have a bridge in brookling for sale

But here is the point... you can choose to live your life free or lower your head as a slave

And that has been the way I have felt since '02 and I KNOW I have had alrady some retribution on me for being a good American instead of a good bushie

[aquart]

2. Brooklyn's bridge is better and cheaper.

George ain't doing a damned thing he didn't plan to do from the beginning, fascist piece of shit that he is.

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. Trust me, we know

I could even tell you some stories

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

3. I've spoken out here before, and many have agreed with me.

Until now I never felt my life may be in immediate jeopardy because of it.

It's a whole new level, and it's going to take some getting used to as we sit back and watch what they do and how they begin using it.

Welcome to the desert of the Real.

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. They are going to expand their reach

but you have been at risk since January 20th, 2001... that is the true reality

[highnooner]

8. If this happens

then the terrorists have, indeed, won.

[nadinbrzezinski]

11. I've said that for a while but that is because the real terorrisit

are in control of the levers of power

[bdamomma]

23. we won't let it happen, I truly believe that we will not go softly into

the night.

[nadinbrzezinski]

34. Some will not

most people, hey look American Idol is up tonight, pass the popcorn!

See.. most folks don't even know that they are no longer free

Before it goes out of print find the following tittle and raed it

They thought they were free...

http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/511928.html

[KAT119]

65. What Terrorists? */Cheney staged 9-11 & all terror all the time....

[Lars39]

14. From my last fortune cookie:

"To live your life in fear of losing it is to lose the point of life."

[SharonRB]

21. OMFG!

We got Chinese tonight, and I had the exact same fortune! How bizarre is that?

[Lars39]

22. Same company. :^)

[SharonRB]

51. Still weird -- I don't think I've ever had repeat fortunes

What are the chances that two of us would have the same one the same night and that you'd post it and I'd see it? Very, very strange.

[Lars39]

59. Could you imagine the messages that would be put out if a DUer

were in charge? :D

[razors edge]

62. I lurked here profusely

for five years, four to eight hours a day, everyday, but never registered because of the same fears you now express.

Fuck them, I refuse to be intimidated any longer by a incompetent attempt to replay the Hitler years.

They are so damn incompetent they will end up financing us by mistake, just like they have done with the extremists (pick your flavor) they claim to fight.

They need an enemy to fight, not one who is broken, and making threats to your rights is the way the get them. But just like the "Bring em on" bullshit, they will get more than they bargained for. No true conservative supports them, no person with a brain supports them, no cop or soldier with a family supports them. They are outnumbered and desperate and will push the rhetoric as much as they think will help them.

It will get worse before it gets better, but stay the course, hold your ground, they know they can't win and are only trying to scare you away from the door so they can make their run for the border.

[harun]

70. I will not be intimidated

If they come after me it will be the proudest day of my life because they will have confirmed I have spoken truth to power, truth they are afraid of.

[razors edge]

77. They are not coming for anyone.

It would cost money, money that could be better embezzled off into their accounts before they flee.

They don't have the nationalistic ideals of a Hitler or Stalin, more the greed of a Ken Lay.

They can't secure half of Baghdad, how could they hope to overtake a well fed, well armed nation like the US?

[NotGivingUp]

6. afraid i do not have optimistic words...times ahead do not look good. nt

[Snarkoleptic]

7. It's terra! Seize them thar bank accounts and use the money to fund the RNC...Now watch this drive..

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

9. I was scared starting in 2000.

Eventually, I gave it up...

darkest before the dawn and all that.

Plus

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

Mahatma Gandhi

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

15. The problem is, you have to SURVIVE all that for it to mean anything.

Hard to do if you're disappeared in the middle of the night.

:shrug:

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

39. "disappeared"?

:shrug: MKJ

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

47. Rendered.

Excommunicated. Hijacked. Beamed up. Pushed into the crack in the sidewalk. Dunked in invisible paint.

Disappeared.

:shrug:

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

89. Oh.

Sorry, I misunderstood, I thought you were addressing me specifically instead of the global "you". My bad, thanks for your colorful clarification. :-) MKJ

[truedelphi]

88. Look Fox news (yes that Fox news!) had two shows on today

With talking heads blasting away at the notion of staying in Iraq.


I mean - Icaught these shows by accident - I don't even know the names of who I was watching - but the tide is turning in most impressive manner if twenty minutes of FOX NEWS is devoted to getting out of Iraq.

Our side has won! We have won! We just need the people that are tied to lobbyists and their careers in Congress to step aside.

Did you realize that Two DEMOCRATIC SENATORS VOTED AGAISNT THIS WEEK'S MEASURE? While four Republicans voted for it. (Remark in other discussion: Don't forget the parliamentary manuever Reid pulled off at the end of the cloture vote. He changed his vote to "no" because only a Senator voting with the prevailing side can move to reconsider a vote...which he immediately did...this keeps Levin/Reed on the table. Gotta say one thing for Harry, he ain't stupid. Now, let's just hope he sticks to his guns.
I.T.M.F.A. )


They complained on FoX News that Lugar and Warner did not vote for the measure! Complained. I mean, a week ago I could not have envisioned anyone on Fox News whining that Lugar and Warner did not get in step with the mood of Congress.

Do you think the Powers-that-try-to-be can take 77% of the people away!!

Unless they have a whole lot of Kool AId for the Cristian Right to swallow over the weekend -
there is simply no way that 77% of us can be gobbled up.
I think it will be Bush and Cheny who are disappeared.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

10. Dupe.

:-) MKJ

[Rex]

12. Fuck George Walker Bush and Dickless Cheney I hope they rot in Hell

and soon. Come and get some you brownshirt goons!

[Cha]

43. There ya go,

Jack!

[mmonk]

73. Don't be shy now.

Express yourself.

[Rex]

74. Actually, I used quite a bit of restraint.

[mmonk]

76. Considering who you talking about

I agree.;-) I've got your back.

[Rex]

80. Thanks mmonk!

Together we are strong! :D

[Megahurtz]

98. LOL!

Cool, Dude! :D

[Megahurtz]

104. And Don't Forget Poppy....

you know damn well he's in on it!

[glowing]

13. I'm not so sure..... His numbers are at 26%.... He would literally have

to round up 70% of America to stop them from complaining about the war... He'd have to seal the doors to churches for praying we leave Iraq without more casulties. He'd have to take on veteran groups.... That's a lot of people to inflict this on, and besides its not like most of us own our houses anyway, they are borrowed loans and most people don't have much left for savings of bank accounts, we'd end up bartering for our things.

I think its a scare tactic to make you think twice. We're already imprisoned by debt, family responsibilities, and our menial jobs... Most of us can't financially make it accross town, let alone to the streets of D.C.... I suppose he could do it to a few as an example, but I think that will end up pissing more people off.

[nadinbrzezinski]

16. two words

Joseph Stalin

Two Words

Adolf Hitler

Oh Pinochet perhaps?

What about Mao?

Dictators don't care if they are popular... you've never studied a police state, have you? The tools of the state are very good. Clamp down, arrest some high profile people and try them in very public trials, and thorw the book at them... and people literally melt.

The tools are there... and they have already been used... can you say Valerie Plame Wilson?

[glowing]

27. I know, but they really don't have to do much to keep us complacent.

Most are still woefully unaware of what Democracy in a Republic means. They do not know what rights they have... And there are so many distractions and noise that most just tune out. Why would they even bother with the armed mercs?

[nadinbrzezinski]

35. There you go

and you disapear the ones who know... bam, you've got it!

Unfortunately you've got it

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

82. OTOH (now fighting against my own thesis)

Two words

Nelson Mandela

to name a prominent figure of undying strength and will who withstood over twenty years of imprisonment to emerge unbroken to help overthrow apartheid.

If we can hold on to the strength of those like him, perhaps all will not be lost.

IF.

[otherlander]

103. And he's still alive, too.

:woohoo:
See? It is possible to change the world without winding up like Gandhi and MLK and JFK and RFK and Malcolm X and Frank Olson and...
0_0

Well the point is, it's possible.

[SoonerPride]

19. When a couple of cities go *boom* will popularity rise back to 75% like in '01?

Then comes the restriction on speech which foments insurrection.

Restriction of travel.

Martial law.

Internment camps for insurgents and dissidents.

[nadinbrzezinski]

28. You don't even need that

as a student of history I know they don't need to be that dramatic

Tehy need to create a crisis, an attack they prevented, and arrest folks... and try them...

Trust me, they don't need a city to go boom...

Martial law is far easier to do than people think...

And yes, IT CAN HAPPEN HERE

IT IS HAPPENING HERE

[bdamomma]

31. as far as popularity coming back I really don't think so

Americans will not tolerate these thugs killing more Americans.

People in NY yesterday were saying "damn *" after that steam pipe explosion.

[BeHereNow]

24. They don't need to round up anyone- they simply shut you down electronically.

Keep cash in the house.
That's one of my strategies in the event
of the next stage of the coup unfolding.
BHN

[Lars39]

29. Doesn't even have to be a complete shutdown.

Slowing everybody down to molasses speed would do it.

[BeHereNow]

42. Yep- I don't think people realize how dependent we have become on the grid.

So many every day movements involve electronic transactions.
How many people actually have enough cash on hand to
function without plastic cards?
BHN

[KAT119]

68. You must have heard of the new currency *plans on printing =the amero.

One will have to work for the military to earn ameros and feed one's family and self. Easy to close the banks, drop the dollar/change over night to
ameros that no one will have unless they work for the dictator....or be sent to citizen labor camps....open and guarded as we speak by FEMA!!!

[BeHereNow]

78. STOP IT!!! You are scaring me! You are so on target!

That is exactly the type of thing I think these rat bastards will do.
A recall of all US currency- trade in your dollars for Ameros.
Got gold? Gotta turn that in too.
Why else did Bush make it law that banks and gold sellers
have to report all transactions and deposits?
The coup will not be massive round ups and such.
It will be financial.

I think you are so correct.

BHN

[nolabels]

66. Pretty sure the third Reich did that earlier in their trajectory also

Many people are in fact waiting for somebody to try something like that even. Heck the police cannot even control the streets now, what would it look like with ten to a hundred times as many people causing mayhem :shrug:

I said it before but still know for a fact such stupidity would make those L.A. riots like a picnic

[bdamomma]

17. * is a bully and coward, and just a little man and about a million

of us have to stand up to him.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

25. He's a little man with an army of armed mercs at his command.

Sneaky bastards, one and all, and pretty much outside the law.

[bdamomma]

41. how many americans have fire arms?

[nadinbrzezinski]

45. And how many Iraqis had firearms under Hussein?

once you answer that questioon you will realize that does not matter as much as you think

Secret police services are great as surgical removal of leaders

[bdamomma]

55. no disrespect to you but Americans love their fire arms.

[nadinbrzezinski]

58. Yes, but assuming that people will rise up just because they

have a Glock 40 at home, or a 38 special or a 22 rifle is just stupid... they won't, history shows that when revolutions happen they are led and done by a MINORITY of a population

In adition, the majority of Iraqi adults HAD AK-47 at home, and every adult male in Afghanistan has a weapon too, especially in tribal areas. Those vary from oh smooth bore all the way to late model assault riffles

[bdamomma]

64. point taken

[KAT119]

72. * has MORE bullets. firearms, bio-chem deterrants, nukes, ear drum shattering

weapons, electromagnetic mind control pulse weapons=HAARP etc.etc. And you KNOW they would happily use everything for control....

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

49. I do.

That's ONE.....

[SharonRB]

18. I agree.

I was looking at FDL and DailyKos for something about this, to see what people are saying, and DU is the only place I've seen anything about it. Even KO didn't cover it tonight. No one is talking about it. Did it happen late this afternoon?

[mod mom]

75. From TPM: Broad New Exec Order Targets Iraq-Related Finances

Broad New Exec. Order Targets Iraq-Related Finances
By Spencer Ackerman - July 19, 2007, 4:04 PM

In a little-noticed executive order issued on Tuesday, President Bush directed the Treasury Department to block the U.S.-based financial assets of anyone deemed to have threatened "the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq" or who "undermin(e) efforts to promote economic reconstruction and political reform in Iraq."

The order empowers Treasury, in consultation with the State and Defense Departments, to target those individuals or organizations that either "have committed, or ... pose a significant risk of committing" acts of violence with the "purpose or effect" of harming the Iraqi government or hindering reconstruction efforts. It applies to "U.S. persons," a category including American citizens. It had not previously been disclosed -- and still hasn't -- that U.S. persons are abetting the Iraqi insurgency, nor that Iraqi insurgents have property in the United States, raising questions about who in fact the order targets.

"The part where they reserve lots of discretion to themselves is the list of conditions that goes beyond determination of acts of violence. 'Threatening the peace or stability of Iraq or the Government of Iraq,' that could be anything," says Ken Mayer, an expert in executive orders and a University of Wisconsin political scientist. "Think of the possibilities: it could be charities that send a small amount of money (to groups linked to) the insurgency, or it could be the government of Iran that has assets in the U.S. and has money that flows through a U.S. bank or something like that."


The order permits the targeting of those who aid someone else whose assets have been blocked under the order -- wittingly or not. And under Section Five, the government does not have to disclose which organizations are subject to having their assets frozen:

For those persons whose property and interests in property are blocked pursuant to this order who might have a constitutional presence in the United States, I find that, because of the ability to transfer funds or other assets instantaneously, prior notice to such persons of measures to be taken pursuant to this order would render these measures ineffectual. I therefore determine that for these measures to be effective in addressing the national emergency declared in Executive Order 13303 and expanded in Executive Order 13315, there need be no prior notice of a listing or determination made pursuant to section 1(a) of this order.

-snip
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/003726.php

[Greeby]

20. My thoughts on Shrub and martial law are

You and what army?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

30. I like.

:rofl:

:yourock: I REALLY needed that. Thanks.

[Swamp Rat]

26. LIVE FREE OR DIE!!!

LIVE FREE OR DIE!!!



LIVE FREE OR DIE!!!

[glowing]

32. Pretty much my thoughts!!! Of course, I don't believe PEACE comes

from the pointed barrel of a gun.

[Swamp Rat]

38. Yeah, just ask any Iraqi.

[Rex]

33. Can you believe this shit!?!

Just when I think King George can't get any more sinister - he does! Fucking worthless assholes.

[Swamp Rat]

36. They are not going to get away with it!!!!

Fuck this shit! Brain dead mutherfuckers!!!

[Rex]

40. You know it!

We will stand against their tyranny, together! If they think they can get away with this shit, they got ANOTHER THINK COMING!

Together we are strong!

[bdamomma]

48. We will find that "will" and "determination" to stand up, this is

our country, we cannot make assumptions or predictions but we can be ready. just my two cents.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

54. WHAT??? CAN YOU SPEAK UP A BIT???

:rofl: Thanks! Love it!

Y'know- I do believe I'm starting to become a little encouraged.

Just a little. :evilgrin:

[proud patriot]

37. Shoulder to shoulder

and stand tall. I will not live in fear .

[bdamomma]

50. and not surrender either, no way not to these thugs.

[DianaForRussFeingold]

44. I'm not so sure! This video pretty much sums it up

Bush's New Executive Order http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x42112

[Drum]

46. oh my, I'm late to the party, but believe I've brought the awaited 5th rec...

:thumbsup:

[Cha]

52. And who's going to

enforce all this shyte? The National Guard? The Po-lice? The Firemen?

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

56. Brownshirts- er, I mean BLACKwater shirts...

:evilgrin:

...and yes, a great many police will willingly join in. I have little faith in a group of armour-plated bullies who wear black masks, break into homes and use flash grenades, and taser people to death in lieu of performing genuine police work...

[Cha]

63. Ah yes, those bullies in armour that

come out for the Peace Rallies..is there enough to go around to contain all of us?

Won't those blackwater shirts be busy in Iraq and Iran and who knows what other country the dems will okay for bush to bomb next? :nuke: :nuke:

[Robeson]

53. Well, does this mean if they confiscate my bank account....

...I can refer my creditors to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

[Exultant Democracy]

57. This is rather tame , and no your post wouldn't be enough. n/t

[JacquesMolay]

60. You might be right, I better change course. IRAQ IS GREAT.

IT'S BETTER THAN CATS. I WANT TO VISIT OVER AND OVER AND OVER.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

69. Shall we stroll through the Marketplace in the afternoon?

Yes, it's ever so much safer now than it was before. Just ask McCain... :thumbsup:

But it's still not better than cats... :evilgrin:

[Gregorian]

61. Ah, Democracy. You fleeting anomaly. We're you ever safe?

There seems to be an equilibrium between democracy and safety. We don't get one without sacrificing the other to a certain extent.

To be honest, I think safety is overrated. But I sure am afraid of this administration.

We all decide how safe we want to be. How much we're willing to risk.


Edit- I just want to add that when one is taken away the other doesn't matter anymore. So in the long run it doesn't seem to matter if Bush is dangerous or if DU was safe. If it isn't, we never lost anything. We already lost it.

[Fearless]

81. Attn: The Franklin quote below

[L. Coyote]

67. What's to worry about? I don't get it. Watch Colbert and enjoy the humor.

You may wish to ask a pro if your issues are rational.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

71. Hell, I haven't had a rational thought in years.

So that's no guide (OR comfort) to me...

[w8liftinglady]

79. dear God=plese speak the truth

if you care.
http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/viewmovie.html

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

83. I don't think we have a choice any more.

It's the truth or nothing.

I believe I'll choose the truth.

[Gregorian]

84. I think that deserves a reply.

http://p5.fileho.com/download3/5ef4b2281241_f8zej72v2s0tolwl/GOD.mp3

[ryanus]

85. You're already on the list. Don't stop now.

[Fearless]

86. The history of our grand experiment...

is riddled with instances such as this and to this point it has withstood.

Every day now we move further into uncharted waters as in this age of Internet, television, etc. we are more connected than ever before and the flow of information and misinformation is greater still than EVER before. We stand on an ever shrinking precipice juggling the balancing act between freedom and protection and the struggle between government and the individual. Could we be on the verge of actions not seen since the Revolution or on par with the difficulties of the Civil War, a country divided upon itself? It's not for us to say, but to live this next year and a half in constant vigilance for indicators such as the aforementioned Executive Order and to bring them into the public sphere. This is our duty. This is the only way we can prevent disaster. And, it must be done now. Knowledge is power. But, too, forethought is vital.

[Fearless]

87. This forum is already threatened btw...

Net Neutrality has been repealed. It's only a matter of time now.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

90. I just got home from work, yours is the first I've seen of this. Please elaborate.

Thank you. MKJ

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

100. Yes- another stunning cave-in by the Dems

Happened perhaps a week ago. I don't have a link handy, but it shouldn't be too hard to Google it.

[lonestarnot]

94. wha? link please.

:wow:

[w8liftinglady]

91. believe it or not,I have already told my kids

Prepare to have mommy arrested one of these days for her letters.We have gotten to this point.They understand my views and support them.What a crock of shit.

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

93. Yep, we all have family and friends.

:hug: MKJ

[babylonsister]

92. There's too many of us, I think. And I can't live in fear, not that I do anything

to piss anyone off. :)

Now, there's more of 'us' than 'them'.

[lonestarnot]

95. Strength does not come in numbers but by the courage of your convictions.

:toast:

[babylonsister]

97. And the majority of us have that courage, I hope!

:toast:

[lonestarnot]

101. Drinking to that!

:toast:

[madokie]

96. If possible I'll try to put madoke on me somewhere when we do get there

no sense in giving up now cause they all ready have the goods on us you can bet

[BlackVelvet04]

99. I don't know which is more efficient in spreading fear......

the bush administration or posters on D.U.

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

102. BOOGA BOOGA!!!

-So sorry you can't see my scary face mask as I jump out of the cyberbushes at you... :shrug:

[Xenotime]

105. So now they can arrest you for what you say?

I am truly afraid. We are no longer free.