Airport insanity

[Sunder]

I think you need to read this remake of the "First they came for the 
commies" poem.  Short translation - whenever anyone's rights are being 
trampled upon, whether it affects you or not, you should protest.

Goes along with one of the unsaid credos about cypherpunks: "I absolutely 
disagree with what she said, but I'll defend to the death her right to say 
it." which along with "Cypherpunks write code" fell quite short of its 
goal.


http://buffaloreport.com/021123rohde.html

Here I'll save you the trouble.

- - -

They came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up...

By Stephen Rohde
 
(Author's Note:  The USA Patriot Act became law a little over one year 
ago.)
 
First they came for the Muslims, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a  
Muslim.
 
Then they came for the immigrants, detaining them indefinitely solely on 
the certification of the attorney general, and I didn't speak up because I  
wasn't an immigrant.
 
Then they came to eavesdrop on suspects consulting with their attorneys, 
and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a suspect.
 
Then they came to prosecute noncitizens before secret military 
commissions, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a noncitizen.
 
Then they came to enter homes and offices for unannounced "sneak and peak"  
searches, and I didn't speak up because I had nothing to hide.
 
Then they came to reinstate Cointelpro and resume the infiltration and  
surveillance of domestic religious and political groups, and I didn't 
speak up because I no longer participated in any groups.
 
Then they came to arrest American citizens and hold them indefinitely  
without any charges and without access to lawyers, and I didn't speak up 
because I would never be arrested.
 
Then they came to institute TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention  
System) recruiting citizens to spy on other citizens and I didn't speak up 
because I was afraid.
 
Then they came for anyone who objected to government policy because it 
only aided the terrorists and gave ammunition to America's enemies, and I 
didn't  speak up ... because I didn't speak up.
 
Then they came for me, and by that time, no one was left to speak up.

    Forum Column (from the Daily Journal, 11/20/02). Stephen Rohde is an 
attorney. He edited American Words of Freedom and was was president of the 
American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California.


Does Rohde's text seem familiar? It should. He based it on one of the 
web's most widely-circulated texts about silence in the face of evil:

        In Germany, the Nazis first came for the communists, and I didn't 
speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I 
didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade 
unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then 
they came for the Catholics, but I didn't speak up because I was a 
protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left 
to speak for me.


----------------------Kaos-Keraunos-Kybernetos---------------------------
 + ^ + :"Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we.  /|\
  \|/  :They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country /\|/\
<--*-->:and our people, and neither do we." -G. W. Bush, 2004.08.05 \/|\/
  /|\  :                                                             \|/
 + v + :    War is Peace, freedom is slavery, Bush is President.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

On Mon, 18 Oct 2004, James A. Donald wrote:

> I know when it will happen.  It will happen when people 
> interested in anon ecash go on suicide missions.   :-)
> 
> People who are, for the most part, not like us are trying to 
> kill people like us. Let us chuck all those people not-like-us 
> off those planes where most of the passengers are people like 
> us.  This really is not rocket science.