Espionage Act: How the gov can engage in serious aggression against people of the united states

Espionage Act: How the gov can engage in serious aggression against people of the united states

www.huffingtonpost.com

The Espionage Act was crafted in 1917 -- because President Woodrow Wilson wanted a war and, faced with the troublesome First Amendment, wished to criminalize speech critical of his war. In the run-up to World War One, there were many ordinary citizens -- educators, journalists, publishers, civil rights leaders, union activists -- who were speaking out against US involvement in the war. The Espionage Act was used to round these citizens by the thousands for the newly minted 'crime' of their exercising their First Amendment Rights.

(visit the link for the full news article)

A MUST READ by Naomi Wolf.

Fascist rulers at the top levels are not only trying to invoke this act in the Julian Assange case, but trying to EXPAND it outward to include ALL journalism and investigative reporting, and one can easily surmise as a means to an end of internet freedom as well.

And of course, all the same names in our gov keep popping up whenever draconian implementations and restrictions on freedoms are being discussed. Joe LIEberman is always at the podium of violating Americans.

This is serious business folks, and people better be paying attention, and becoming involved. Get on the phones to your officials and scream bloody murder, before these tyrants get this stuff fully pushed through and activated on a wide scale.

Naomi Wolf is a hero for her continued vigilance in investigating and reporting gov crimes against the populace.

www.huffingtonpost.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Its already in place and has been for sometime now. People want to make the argument that media outlets can print whatever they want, and constantly invoke the Pentagon Papers to back their claim up.

These people need to read the law, and look at the legal case involving the Nixon Administration, and read the courts ruling.

The Government wanted to use prior restraint on the papers to prevent them from releaseing classified information (Pentagon Papers). The argument was the info would embarrass to US Government. The Supreme Court said that is not a good enough reason to prevent a media outlet from printing classified information.

The USSC ruling DID NOT grant immunity to Media, and the 2 jouranlists were charged and went to court. They were both aquited of the charges, however it still allows for houranslits to be prosecuted uder the espionage act if the information they print falls within the criteria established by the Supreme Court ruling, which means anything other than embarrassment of the US Government.

While I agree the US Government callifies too much info and should be taken to task and held accountable, I disagree with the way wikileaks is doing this. Dumping massive amounts of information that has not been screened with personal info redacted is just irresponsible. Its even more so when the elrease is done without any regard to the effects of the release on entites other than the US Government.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


Starred and flagged!

We had better guard our freedoms jealously, and intently, or they will all be taken from us. These SOBs work for us, they exist for US - not the other way around.

Originally posted by mydarkpassenger
reply to post by DimensionalDetective

 

Starred and flagged!

We had better guard our freedoms jealously, and intently, or they will all be taken from us.

Too late.

All of the precedents are set brand you a terrorist.

The founding fathers are referred to as terrorists.

It is game over.

Keep consuming wares and content and paying taxes and you can live the happy life authorized for you.

Peace

If they can stop free speech on the internet I'll give them a (worthless) nickel. They will have actually done something of the order and magnitude to with the U.S. government is always accredited with by theorists despite their constant ineptitude.

I think it should be we who get to spy on them. Such bs.. thats it.. re-write it! Revised Constitution please!

reply to post by Myendica


Any of us with dissenting views are criminals under the Patriot Act and the Espionage Act. Hell, I'm on every government watch list because I vote Libertarian.

They can't jail all of us. Thank goodness we still have the right to bear arms....we may actually need to use them someday. I am sure this post just got the FBI's attention. Hi guys!!!! Patriots keep on.....

Originally posted by lostviking
reply to post by Myendica

 

Any of us with dissenting views are criminals under the Patriot Act and the Espionage Act. Hell, I'm on every government watch list because I vote Libertarian.

They can't jail all of us. Thank goodness we still have the right to bear arms....we may actually need to use them someday. I am sure this post just got the FBI's attention. Hi guys!!!! Patriots keep on.....

edit on 12-12-2010 by lostviking because: oops

And yet another person who fear mongers by invoking the patriot act and non existant thought police.

Please provide your source that supports your accusation.

Most of the problems with the Espionage Act resulted from the amendment of the Sedition Act of 1918.
This act was beyond horrendous.
This act was REPEALED on December 13, 1920

Assange will be their test case. If that bird flies expect flocks of the same darkening the skies of America.
THOUSANDS of Americans were jailed for protesting against American involvement in WW 1.
Between the sedition act and the Federal Reserve Act, Woodrow Wilson gets my vote for worst President ever.
Damn good thing his League of Nations crashed and burned.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

Presidential candidate Eugene Debs received a ten-year prison sentence in 1918 under the Espionage Act for daring to read the First Amendment in public. The roundup of ordinary citizens -- charged with the Espionage Act -- who were jailed for daring to criticize the government was so effective in deterring others from speaking up that the Act silenced dissent in this country for a decade.

The effects of the Wilson Administration were so devastating to the American psyche over the constant lies, corruption, sell-outs, and unconstitutional imprisonments, that when the next Presidential election occurred in 1920 the Republican Warren G. Harding won with an overwhelming 26.2% win over the rival Democrat, garnering 60.3% of the vote.

This ushered in the era of American Conservatism and Libertarianism where they tried to rescind as much of the Wilson years as possible. Of course with Harding however policies did not change too much with his rampant corruption. However he did release Socialist Eugene V. Debs from prison.

The espionage act was of high treason to this nation, effectively eliminating the First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, and Eighth Amendment, this does not include other violations that probably occurred and are harder to find in historical documents.

If President Obama decides to restore the Espionage Act it will make the USA Patriot Act seem like a dream. By combining the Patriot Act and Espionage Act they could effectively tap into your calls then if they hear something they do not like they can legally arrest you. If you speak in public against them they can arrest you. If you quote the US Constitution in public they can arrest you. If you read certain things on the internet they can arrest you. If you have certain papers they do not approve of they can arrest you. If you are a news outlet showing things they do not approve of they can shut you down.

That will be the future of America under the USA Patriot Act combined with the Espionage Act.

reply to post by DimensionalDetective


you keep saying this crap, and all i'm seeing is story after story about the things you're claiming we never get to hear about. you'll hear it in america before you will just about anywhere else, PARTICULARY if it's anti-american. there's so much anti-american stuff in america, it's become its own industry with millions of dollars in revenues from book, film and music sales. how you could sit in this country and say the crap you do, every week, week after week, and yet yer still alive. still not in gitmo. still posting away on this free website, to your little heart's content.

i don't get it.

Ever since Wikileaks first came onto the public scene, there has been a lot of questions about its nature and what all it was suppose to be doing. On one hand, it is revealing some of the things that the public needs to know, be it from what really is going on in the 2 armed conflicts that the US is involved in. That in itself is something that we the people, citizens of the US, have an interest in and should know about. But there are other questions, that require some thought that should be answered, and will probably be asked in the process of the entire trial that will come out.
The reason for releasing the information, as much as it is doing good, as far as what all is going on in the war, what exactly was the purpose of relaxing the diplomatic cables sent out by the US Government? Was it to show the inconsistencies that the US Federal Government was doing, or was it done for malicious intent? And the other governments that are mentioned? How are they affected by the release of this information, is it going to benefit them, or is it going to strain the alliances that the US has with those countries, to the point of where the US is going to be isolated? And to what extent will this information be used, and by whom?
While the stuff on the current conflicts are of the public interest, that should not be prosecuted about, however, the diplomatic cables, that in itself should be cause for pause and alarm for 2 reasons. The first is that every government of a country has secrets, skeletons and things that it does not want its citizens or the rest of the world to know about. Such information can be very damaging and cause the strain of relations and damage that country, to the point of isolating it, turning it into a rogue nation, or causing it to take a sharp down turn economically. The other reason, ideas are often discussed in the heat of the moment, the context of anger comes to mind, or even that of fear. Many times, people do not want to do or see what they may bring to the table come to pass, but something a lot less, and when cooler heads prevail, they will often discredit those very ideas. To print those, is equally damming to the country that it revolves around.
While he may not be guilty for the information, the question must be asked, where did he get the information from and who provided such to him. Most of this stuff, is classified, and would be kept under either a secure computer or under lock and key, so where did it come from and why is the US not actively perusing those that provided that information in the first place? In the Pentagon papers, the USSC made that very clear, as the government could not go after a media outlet, as it tried, but would have to instead find the original source who provided such to the media outlet, and there in lies the problem and question. Right now there 1 one US private sitting in a prison to be tried, and then spend some time behind bars for providing the initial set of information to Wikileaks. Where are the rest, as the story that is provided does not even begin provide the entire picture. The other question that should be looked at, is what exactly is in the Insurance file, does it exist and what all will the release of said information do to the stability of the different countries and those involved?
Now the reason why the US government is going to attempt to try the founder of Wikileaks under the Espionage Act, simply is that is the only US law on the books they can get him with. But there is a slight flaw to what they are trying to do, and that is the founder of Wikileaks is not a citizen of the United States, rather he is a citizen of Austraila. Much that is in the actual act only applies to persons in the US, or is a US citizen, and not to those who are foriegn countries. So this should be interesting to see how this plays out in the US courts, and the arguments that will be used. That is providing that the US can convience the British and Swedish governments that they have a greater claim and get him extradited to the US for trial.

It's not a matter of gaurding our freedoms. it's a matter of taking them back.

It's time for America to wake up and smell the corruption. I don't know how long I've been saying this, but I've been a member here for 3 years now, and I know I've said a lot.

Now it's staring you all in the face! What are we going to do?

Would you rather sit here typing away staring at RN news feeds and waiting for them to tell you "It's official, next stop indentured servitude. take a ticket and get in line or we will make you.".... OR, would you take it upon yourself as a citizen of this country to STAND UP FOR YOURSELVES, AND STAND UP FOR THE FUTURE OF OUR COUNTRY?!?!

The ball has been pushed in motion. The avalanche will quickly and steadily gain speed. What are you going to do America? Will apathy suffice until there is no longer a chance? Will you be able to tell your children, and their children that we let them walk right over us? We gave them your future and sacrificed your freedom. Is that what you want to tell your kids?

Make a decision America. It's happening now weather we like it or not. Freedom? Or a prison state of fear and control.... Would you allow some one to take you to jail for reading your First Amendment Right of OUR CONSTITUTION?!?!?!?!

I would rather be dead than allow that to happen.

What are you going to do America?

reply to post by sdcigarpig


you might try asking any body you know who is or was in the military, if they think it would be possible for a private first class to have access to top secret documents. then let us know the answer. i'm curious why anyone would believe that in the first place.

Originally posted by zroth

Originally posted by mydarkpassenger
reply to post by DimensionalDetective

 

Starred and flagged!

We had better guard our freedoms jealously, and intently, or they will all be taken from us.

Too late.

All of the precedents are set brand you a terrorist.

The founding fathers are referred to as terrorists.

It is game over.

Keep consuming wares and content and paying taxes and you can live the happy life authorized for you.

Peace

It's not game over just yet...

Have a peek at this thread;

Breach of Peace

What can be more disturbing?

Good looking-out OP!

reply to post by W3RLIED2


i'm going to ask you : if this is all true, how come we're all still here,
posting thread after thread of anti american rhetoric, for literally, YEARS?

case in point:

alex jones, who was going to be in a concentration camp back when clinton was in office, then bush jr, then obama, and well, lookie there, he's still not in a concentration camp and still making a bunch o' money off of his anti american stuff

www.infowars.com...

i don't mind if he makes money, btw. i don't mind if people criticize the US. i just mind when they try to foment revolution and endanger my family based on stuff that hasn't even happened yet, and may never happen.

reply to post by undo


BECAUSE YOU'RE ALL AFRAID!

SMASH THAT FEAR TO PIECES AND TAKE A CHANCE. IT MAY BE OUR LAST.

I WAS AFRAID TOO. I WAS SCARED TO SPEAK OUT ABOUT INJUSTICE. IT'S TIME FOR THAT SHIP TO SET SAIL. IF WE DON'T TAKE ACTION SOON THEY WILL PULL THE RUG RIGHT OUT FROM UNDER US IN TOTAL!

THIS IS ALL TRUE. WHY ARE YOU SITTING HERE? WHY AREN'T WE SCREAMING AT THE TOP OF OUR LUNGS FOR THEM TO CUT THE $HIT. BIG GOVERNMENT, THE BANKS, AND THE CORPORATIONS HAVE US PIGEON HOLED AS WE SPEAK, AND HERE WE ARE STILL IDLY DISCUSSING IT.

THE TIME IS NOW. IT'S TIME TO ORGANIZE.

READ! THIS!

AND READ THIS NOW!

THE ACTION HAS ALREADY BEGUN.

--MODS THE CAPS IS FOR A REASON PLEASE DO NOT DECAP THIS POST. IT'S IMPORTANT.