Welcome to the Police State

This week, the United States Senate passed a Defense Authorization Bill that includes a provision that would allow the U.S. military to arrest American citizens and imprison them indefinitely without even filing charges. Yes, you read that correctly and no, I'm not wearing a tinfoil hat to keep them from stealing my thoughts. A suspected "terrorist" would get just one hearing with the military and they could be locked up for life, without ever actually being charged with anything. Welcome to America 2012.

For the last decade, the United States government has quietly and carefully been engaged in efforts to expand state powers, while reducing civil rights – all in the name of ”security.“ As a result, we now have what you might call a shell for a fascist police state to be legally implemented at a moment's notice. I realize that sounds alarmist. It should.

The provision, which was carried by Senator John McCain, was added behind closed doors and without debate on the floor. Senator Mark Udall of Colorado stood up and loudly attempted to draw attention to it last week, before offering an amendment to the bill that would allow the legislation to pass the Senate without the provision, so that it could be properly debated and explored before lawmakers had to vote on such a profound change to the rights of American citizens. With little fanfare, Senator Udall's amendment was voted down 61-37 and the legislation passed the Senate with bipartisan support.

The only "spirited discussion" that reportedly took place was at the Republican Caucus' weekly luncheon, which was also ominously attended by former Vice President Dick Cheney, where McCain emerged saying that nearly all Republicans would oppose the amendment. They did. Senators Rand Paul (R-KY) and Mark Kirk (R-IL) were the only GOP members who supported it. If you thought that 2008 meant that Dick Cheney would no longer be making policy decisions that deeply impacted the lives of Americans because such debates were held in the open among lawmakers, not in back rooms by party bosses, welcome to the reality of Washington.

The events of September 11, 2001 provided an opportunity to push through sweeping changes in the way we govern. Policy groups that had advocated what were once regarded as extreme policing powers for the federal government, correctly saw a once in a lifetime opportunity to enact broad legislation in the name of national security. The Patriot Act, which also received bipartisan support when it was extended earlier this year, gave formerly inconceivable, sweeping power to the federal government, especially in the controversial section 215 of the law.

Udall and Oregon Senator Ron Wyden loudly opposed that legislation as well, exposing what was a "secret interpretation" of some aspects of the law that they were certain would outrage Americans – if only they were only allowed to know about it. Wyden and Udall seem to be two very rare animals in today's Washington, consistently showing up on the people's side of legislation, rather than that of the corporate elite. From these bills to Citizens United and the recent effort to grant broad internet censorship powers to corporations in the Protect IP Act, one or both of them have been at the forefront of suspiciously small groups of legislators sounding the alarm to the public.

I think it goes without saying that there exists a considerable amount of very influential Americans who do not believe in the freedoms that many of us hold sacred. They argue, sometimes publicly others privately, that the best interests of our nation are served when a small oligarchy of elites have near total control and dissent can be put down quickly. Though it's been sanitized from the history books, the so-called Business Plot of 1933 was after all instigated by the corporate elite of that era – many of whom are still directly related to most powerful corporate forces today.

For those unaware of that significant piece of American history, one of the most revered and decorated soldiers in American history, two-time Medal of Honor recipient Major General Smedley Butler, testified before a Congressional Commission that he had been approached on numerous occasions by a cabal of corporate and financial elites that wished him to lead a coup of the FDR administration that would serve to install a fascist regime not unlike the one that was gaining popularity in Germany – the Nazi Party, which history has proven to have also received tremendous early support from American financial interests.

The coup obviously failed and those years were followed by the greatest period of both American prosperity and economic parity our nation has ever known. But plutocrats have continued to refine their approach. The Business Roundtable, the Trilateral Commission, the Council of Foreign Relations and a few other small, interrelated groups of the economic elite wield a tremendous amount of power over who gets elected and what gets legislated. It seems they didn't need a coup after all. They just needed things like a Federal Reserve, influence of the deployment of an elite military, control of the media and ”personhood“ for their corporate shells.

Today, wealth disparity is right back to where it was then, and while people are taking to the streets to voice their disapproval, steps are being taken to ensure that our nation's ”security“ forces can be turned against its own citizens who will be denied their constitutional rights in the process. As usual, the provision is being defended as a tool to fight ”terror,“ though not a single terrorism expert has come out in favor of it, and the Director of the FBI has even cited concerns that it could hamper counter-terrorism efforts!

How long will it be until such provisions are turned on an ”Occupy“ or ”Tea Party“ protest that the powers that be deem a security threat? As more details spill into the open about secret back-door Fed bailouts, or a cabinet secretary transferring wealth to American billionaires by tipping them off on banking regulatory issues that were presented much differently to the public, protestors are not likely to be pacified any time soon.

Certainly, some of the oligarchs would like the opportunity to shut down internet communication channels, send dissidents to Guantanamo and use their mainstream media to tell the American people how their government just saved them from another ominous threat. If we allow them to use our elected ”representatives“ to deprive us of the sacred rights that have set us apart as a nation that exists as a sanctuary from such oppressive tactics, then I suppose we deserve what we get. Ben Franklin said that people willing to trade their freedom for temporary security deserve neither and will lose both. I suspect he is correct, though I hope we don't insist on proving him so.

Dennis Maley is a featured columnist and editor for The Bradenton Times. His column appears every Thursday and Sunday on our site and in our free Weekly Recap and Sunday edition (click here to subscribe). An archive of his columns is available here. He can be reached at dennis.maley@thebradentontimes.com. You can also follow Dennis on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the badges below.