Lucille
09-24-2013, 10:52 AM
http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.com/2013/09/when-state-floods-zone-reform-is-dead.html
Imagine that there is a special class of American citizens. This special class is made up of individuals from private business, in fields such as agriculture, finance, the internet, academia, and utility companies. These people have certain responsibilities and, in exchange, they are granted certain privileges. These people are dedicated to providing information that, in their view, might be related in some way to possible threats to "national security." They are encouraged to report all such information they may come across, including information about their fellow employees. Imagine that there are tens of thousands of such "special" people, spread across the entire United States.
Members of the special class are given phone numbers for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. When they call to report "suspicious" behavior, and when they identify themselves as members of the special class, they know they "will be listened to." Were you recently angered by a decision by your boss, and did you mutter something about wanting "to give that bastard what he deserves"? Or perhaps you were chatting with one of your neighbors, and you casually and unthinkingly remarked that you'd like to see some of the politicians in Washington "get what they have coming." If a member of the special class heard such comments, you may already be known to the State, and in a decidedly unfavorable way.
For their diligent work, members of the special class are given advance "secret" warnings about terrorist threats, before the general public learns of them (and sometimes even before elected officials). These special individuals receive "almost daily updates" on threats "emanating from both domestic sources and overseas." These special people enjoy being "special." They "are happy to be in the know." In the event that communications networks are seriously disrupted, this special class will be able to get phone calls and internet messages through when most people can't.
These special individuals also have specified roles when martial law is declared. That's what the State has communicated to them: when martial law is declared, not if. These people will be "expected to share all [their] resources," and to protect any parts of the "critical infrastructure" to which they have access. In return, they will have "the ability to travel in restricted areas and to get people out."
When martial law is declared, these special individuals are granted one further power. They will be expected "to protect [their] portion of the infrastructure." If necessary, the State expects them to use deadly force to do so. Because these are very special people, the State has told them that, should they use deadly force, they will not be prosecuted.
Imagine all that. Would such a state of affairs trouble you? Do you think it would be a cause for concern that the State employed an army of "private" Americans to be its spies in businesses of every kind, perhaps including the business where you work? Would it bother you that the State has deputized tens of thousands of otherwise "ordinary" Americans to be murderers when martial law is declared -- murderers who are given an advance blank check for their killings?
But you don't need to imagine any of this. All of this is true, and this program came into existence in 1996. The program is called InfraGard, and I wrote it about more than five years ago. As of February 2012, InfraGard had more than 45,000 members; roughly 7,000 new members join each year. There are at least 86 chapters spread across the United States.
[...]
As a result of the recent NSA/surveillance stories, there is much debate about the NSA and its massive spying apparatus. But as the existence of InfraGard shows, the NSA is only the beginning of what should concern us. In fact, and it gives me no pleasure to say this, but it's better to face the truth as fully as we can, if the NSA ceased to exist today, it would not make any appreciable difference in the surveillance activities of the United States government. Given InfraGard's existence, which the State happily tells us about, if only we would pay attention, what other programs of this kind is the State engaged in, doubtless including many programs that the State is determined to keep secret?
And there are many other similar programs that we do already know about. Tarzie raised this critical point toward the end of a recent post. He provides a useful graphic, and he notes the other governmental entities that demand our focus, including the CIA and the Department of Justice. And the Justice Department includes the Bureau of Prisons, the FBI, and the DEA. InfraGard is nominally an FBI program, so that's where InfraGard would appear on this chart. InfraGard is also closely connected to the Department of Homeland Security, but, as Tarzie notes, the Department of Homeland Security doesn't even appear in the graphic.
Of course, Rosen and Clapper are right, talking about the NSA is a good thing, but so is talking about the other branches of the United States Intelligence Community, like the CIA, for instance, the most lavishly funded of all the agencies, no slouch in the surveillance department itself (including internet snooping) and also no slouch in murdering the people it surveils. Then just under the NSA in budgeting terms is the National Reconnaissance Office, which maintains the country’s spy satellites in a shroud of secrecy. This Business Insider graphic of the so-called Black Budget is helpful in showing both where the priorities are and how really rather arbitrary a unique focus on the NSA , as one of five agencies, seems to be.
http://ohtarzie.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/usintelligencefunding.png?w=640&h=272
Look at the little tiny Justice Department and how insignificant it seems. But when you count up the surveilled, harassed, murdered and imprisoned bodies credited to its various arms — which includes the The Bureau of Prisons, The FBI, The DEA and their local proxies in militarized police departments — the singular focus on the NSA seems even more perplexing, and that’s putting aside that the Department of Homeland Security isn’t even on this map.
For these reasons (among others), Tarzie describes the "unique focus on the NSA" as "arbitrary" and "perplexing." He's entirely correct, and the problem is far worse than that. Certainly, the discussion about the NSA is of value in one sense; shining any light at all on the nightmarish and deadly activities of the U.S. government is a good thing. However -- and it is a "however" of singular significance -- to focus on the NSA as if that agency is the only or even a major source of the problem is entirely wrong. The NSA is only one source of the rot that is spread across numerous agencies and programs, the rot that has infected our government at every level (federal, state, county, municipal, etc.) and in countless ways. But the unique and restricted focus on the NSA is also an enormous boon to the State; it is largely the result of our culture's idiotic and myopic focus on the "hot" story of the moment, devoid of history, of context, of everything that should inform our understanding of the issues involved. It creates and supports the view that, if only we "fix" the NSA, then a significant part of the problem will be solved. But that is flatly untrue. As I already noted, you could eliminate the NSA entirely this very minute, and it wouldn't make a damned bit of difference. But the heightened focus on the NSA, while ignoring all the other agencies and programs involved in similar and even identical activities, leads directly to the "solution" that will make the State writhe in ecstasy. Congress will have some hearings, and they will provide for some "oversight" and "accountability," and most people, including most of the State's critics, will herald the great triumph of "the people" and "democracy." Meanwhile, the State will continue doing exactly what it was doing before.
There is a further, related reason why the "reformist" agenda focused only on one part of a far larger problem is doomed to failure, and why such a reformist agenda represents exactly what the State hopes will happen. Here we come to the phenomenon that I now refer to as the State "flooding the zone." When the State floods the zone, as it has with regard to surveillance (and in many other areas), incremental reformism is rendered almost entirely meaningless.
[...]
Certainly with regard to surveillance, the State has already granted itself entirely comprehensive, indeed omnipotent, powers. I guarantee you that, buried in the hideous bowels of all the laws, regulations, agency rulings, etc. and so on unto the ends of time, that give the State surveillance powers, the State has the power to spy on anything, anywhere, anytime, for any reason it manufactures, or for no reason at all. The State can do whatever it wants. And since the State now claims the right to murder anyone, anywhere, anytime, that statement is literally true: the State can do whatever it wants.
[...] For our purposes here, the basic point remains: the State already possesses total surveillance powers. It doesn't need the NSA to accomplish its goals; an endless number of other agencies and programs (including InfraGard, as just one example) can fulfill those goals just as easily. Provide oversight and accountability all you want; it won't make the slightest bit of difference, except to the reformers who will shout in triumph still one more time.
[...]Make the NSA "accountable," make many of its operations more "transparent." The ruling class will be goddamned thrilled. They know that it will make no difference at all with regard to the success of their program -- and they know that they will have won once again.
Once the State has flooded the zone, the State has placed itself far beyond "reform." I realize this is a notably unpleasant, unwelcome and unpopular truth. Unhappily, for all of us, it is the truth.
A few threads on Infragard: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?116044-EXPOSED-FBI-program-preparing-businesses-for-martial-law
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?117919-FBI-gives-corporations-authority-to-kill
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?224953-I-just-got-word-I-m-approved!-I-m-in!
Imagine that there is a special class of American citizens. This special class is made up of individuals from private business, in fields such as agriculture, finance, the internet, academia, and utility companies. These people have certain responsibilities and, in exchange, they are granted certain privileges. These people are dedicated to providing information that, in their view, might be related in some way to possible threats to "national security." They are encouraged to report all such information they may come across, including information about their fellow employees. Imagine that there are tens of thousands of such "special" people, spread across the entire United States.
Members of the special class are given phone numbers for the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI. When they call to report "suspicious" behavior, and when they identify themselves as members of the special class, they know they "will be listened to." Were you recently angered by a decision by your boss, and did you mutter something about wanting "to give that bastard what he deserves"? Or perhaps you were chatting with one of your neighbors, and you casually and unthinkingly remarked that you'd like to see some of the politicians in Washington "get what they have coming." If a member of the special class heard such comments, you may already be known to the State, and in a decidedly unfavorable way.
For their diligent work, members of the special class are given advance "secret" warnings about terrorist threats, before the general public learns of them (and sometimes even before elected officials). These special individuals receive "almost daily updates" on threats "emanating from both domestic sources and overseas." These special people enjoy being "special." They "are happy to be in the know." In the event that communications networks are seriously disrupted, this special class will be able to get phone calls and internet messages through when most people can't.
These special individuals also have specified roles when martial law is declared. That's what the State has communicated to them: when martial law is declared, not if. These people will be "expected to share all [their] resources," and to protect any parts of the "critical infrastructure" to which they have access. In return, they will have "the ability to travel in restricted areas and to get people out."
When martial law is declared, these special individuals are granted one further power. They will be expected "to protect [their] portion of the infrastructure." If necessary, the State expects them to use deadly force to do so. Because these are very special people, the State has told them that, should they use deadly force, they will not be prosecuted.
Imagine all that. Would such a state of affairs trouble you? Do you think it would be a cause for concern that the State employed an army of "private" Americans to be its spies in businesses of every kind, perhaps including the business where you work? Would it bother you that the State has deputized tens of thousands of otherwise "ordinary" Americans to be murderers when martial law is declared -- murderers who are given an advance blank check for their killings?
But you don't need to imagine any of this. All of this is true, and this program came into existence in 1996. The program is called InfraGard, and I wrote it about more than five years ago. As of February 2012, InfraGard had more than 45,000 members; roughly 7,000 new members join each year. There are at least 86 chapters spread across the United States.
[...]
As a result of the recent NSA/surveillance stories, there is much debate about the NSA and its massive spying apparatus. But as the existence of InfraGard shows, the NSA is only the beginning of what should concern us. In fact, and it gives me no pleasure to say this, but it's better to face the truth as fully as we can, if the NSA ceased to exist today, it would not make any appreciable difference in the surveillance activities of the United States government. Given InfraGard's existence, which the State happily tells us about, if only we would pay attention, what other programs of this kind is the State engaged in, doubtless including many programs that the State is determined to keep secret?
And there are many other similar programs that we do already know about. Tarzie raised this critical point toward the end of a recent post. He provides a useful graphic, and he notes the other governmental entities that demand our focus, including the CIA and the Department of Justice. And the Justice Department includes the Bureau of Prisons, the FBI, and the DEA. InfraGard is nominally an FBI program, so that's where InfraGard would appear on this chart. InfraGard is also closely connected to the Department of Homeland Security, but, as Tarzie notes, the Department of Homeland Security doesn't even appear in the graphic.
Of course, Rosen and Clapper are right, talking about the NSA is a good thing, but so is talking about the other branches of the United States Intelligence Community, like the CIA, for instance, the most lavishly funded of all the agencies, no slouch in the surveillance department itself (including internet snooping) and also no slouch in murdering the people it surveils. Then just under the NSA in budgeting terms is the National Reconnaissance Office, which maintains the country’s spy satellites in a shroud of secrecy. This Business Insider graphic of the so-called Black Budget is helpful in showing both where the priorities are and how really rather arbitrary a unique focus on the NSA , as one of five agencies, seems to be.
http://ohtarzie.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/usintelligencefunding.png?w=640&h=272
Look at the little tiny Justice Department and how insignificant it seems. But when you count up the surveilled, harassed, murdered and imprisoned bodies credited to its various arms — which includes the The Bureau of Prisons, The FBI, The DEA and their local proxies in militarized police departments — the singular focus on the NSA seems even more perplexing, and that’s putting aside that the Department of Homeland Security isn’t even on this map.
For these reasons (among others), Tarzie describes the "unique focus on the NSA" as "arbitrary" and "perplexing." He's entirely correct, and the problem is far worse than that. Certainly, the discussion about the NSA is of value in one sense; shining any light at all on the nightmarish and deadly activities of the U.S. government is a good thing. However -- and it is a "however" of singular significance -- to focus on the NSA as if that agency is the only or even a major source of the problem is entirely wrong. The NSA is only one source of the rot that is spread across numerous agencies and programs, the rot that has infected our government at every level (federal, state, county, municipal, etc.) and in countless ways. But the unique and restricted focus on the NSA is also an enormous boon to the State; it is largely the result of our culture's idiotic and myopic focus on the "hot" story of the moment, devoid of history, of context, of everything that should inform our understanding of the issues involved. It creates and supports the view that, if only we "fix" the NSA, then a significant part of the problem will be solved. But that is flatly untrue. As I already noted, you could eliminate the NSA entirely this very minute, and it wouldn't make a damned bit of difference. But the heightened focus on the NSA, while ignoring all the other agencies and programs involved in similar and even identical activities, leads directly to the "solution" that will make the State writhe in ecstasy. Congress will have some hearings, and they will provide for some "oversight" and "accountability," and most people, including most of the State's critics, will herald the great triumph of "the people" and "democracy." Meanwhile, the State will continue doing exactly what it was doing before.
There is a further, related reason why the "reformist" agenda focused only on one part of a far larger problem is doomed to failure, and why such a reformist agenda represents exactly what the State hopes will happen. Here we come to the phenomenon that I now refer to as the State "flooding the zone." When the State floods the zone, as it has with regard to surveillance (and in many other areas), incremental reformism is rendered almost entirely meaningless.
[...]
Certainly with regard to surveillance, the State has already granted itself entirely comprehensive, indeed omnipotent, powers. I guarantee you that, buried in the hideous bowels of all the laws, regulations, agency rulings, etc. and so on unto the ends of time, that give the State surveillance powers, the State has the power to spy on anything, anywhere, anytime, for any reason it manufactures, or for no reason at all. The State can do whatever it wants. And since the State now claims the right to murder anyone, anywhere, anytime, that statement is literally true: the State can do whatever it wants.
[...] For our purposes here, the basic point remains: the State already possesses total surveillance powers. It doesn't need the NSA to accomplish its goals; an endless number of other agencies and programs (including InfraGard, as just one example) can fulfill those goals just as easily. Provide oversight and accountability all you want; it won't make the slightest bit of difference, except to the reformers who will shout in triumph still one more time.
[...]Make the NSA "accountable," make many of its operations more "transparent." The ruling class will be goddamned thrilled. They know that it will make no difference at all with regard to the success of their program -- and they know that they will have won once again.
Once the State has flooded the zone, the State has placed itself far beyond "reform." I realize this is a notably unpleasant, unwelcome and unpopular truth. Unhappily, for all of us, it is the truth.
A few threads on Infragard: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?116044-EXPOSED-FBI-program-preparing-businesses-for-martial-law
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?117919-FBI-gives-corporations-authority-to-kill
http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?224953-I-just-got-word-I-m-approved!-I-m-in!