General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Don't entertain this garbage. [View all]Ms. Toad
(34,060 posts)Not to mention the second half of the sentence you quoted. It happened in the early 70s (at least my personal piece of the story). Because I exercised my freedom to associate with others on the governing body of the American Friends Service Committee, and otherwise in opposition to war (generally) and the Vietnam war (specifically), I was spied on and labeled a violent subversive.
In part because of that organization's efforts in response to that spying, the FBI domestic surveillance program was exposed and it was prohibited from continuing a domestic surveillance program until 2002, when it was resurrected by Ashcroft and - not surprisingly - the AFSC was again quickly targeted as a violent subversive organization (spying on the AFSC when it met at the Friends Meeting I belong to was oh-so-effective in preventing 911).
Have a little history lesson: http://www.aclu.org/images/asset_upload_file893_29902.pdf I suspect if the current situation doesn't trouble you that you are too young to remember how very familiar this pattern is.
And - while I expected Bush and his ilk to have no respect for the constitution, I expected more from the constitutional scholar we elected president.