Preface
Chapter
1 The Founders and the Fragility of Democracy
Enduring, effective
democracy isn’t something we have that’s finished; it’s what we
do that’s always unfolding. Democracy is a particular culture, a system
of values-fairness, inclusion and mutual accountability-that empowered
citizens learn to infuse in all dimensions of our common life. In other
words, to save the democracy we thought we had, we must now take democracy
to where it’s never been. – Frances Moore Lappé, writing in The Nation magazine,
April 3, 2008
Why would the founders of the
Constitution be so concerned about establishing a democracy with built-in
safeguards?
Was that concern warranted?
Does it still apply to America
in the 21st century?
What can individuals do to
“safeguard” democracy?
Chapter
2 Invoke an External and Internal Threat
How real do you believe the
“terrorist” threat is to America?
Do you believe the “war on
terror” was a convenient occurrence for the Bush regime or that the
Bush regime manufacturer or magnified the threat?
With regard to your voting
choice and political activism, how motivated are your actions by fear?
Chapter
3 Establish Secret Prisons
Establish a gulag.
What locations do you know
of that have been used by the U.S. as gulag-type installations?
What do details do you know
about the following U.S. detention centers?
Guantanamo
http://ccrjustice.org/illegal
Bagram Air Base
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02
New York City Metropolitan
Detention Center
http://www.democracynow.org
Island of Diego Garcia
http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt
What makes internment at Guantanamo
different from imprisonment inside the borders of the U.S.?
True or false: President [sic]
Bush has acknowledged the existence of CIA secret prisons?
true:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi
Chapter
4 Develop a Paramilitary Force
On developing a Thug Caste
Historically, we know the thug
caste may go through multiple generations. Identify different groups
that have served as muscle for Bush and his supporters.
1. Brooks Brother Riot
http://www.washingtonpost.com
2. TSA.
Woman says TSA forced removal
of piercings
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap
Woman dies at airport while
handcuffed, shackled to table
http://rawstory.com/news/2007
3. Blackwater and other contractors.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi
What is the effect on citizens
when due process is set aside in favor of brute force and arbitrary
intimidation?
What can be done to mitigate
this effect?
Why is this step, the creation
of a thug caste, an essential part of dismantling a democracy?
Chapter
5 Surveil Ordinary Citizens
Internal surveillance:
Why was PATRIOT ready to go, the bulk of it written before 9/11?
Why was it necessary for Congress
to pass it without reading it first?
We hear that Congress was told
to vote on it while the pages were still hot from the printer. What would
motivate an elected official to sign off on something or vote for something
of which he or she has insufficient background information about?
Given that there is ample evidence that FISA as originally enacted, or
as extended by PATRIOT, is sufficient for U.S. national security; why
did Congress pass the Protect America act?
Why is there any debate at all
about amnesty for telecom officers who broke the law?
How will the debate and the
outcome of the telecom impunity affect the future of American?
Chapter
6 Infiltrate Citizens” Groups
Harrass citizens’ groups:
What purpose is served by putting peace and human rights activists on the
FBI list of criminals?
Naomi Wolf reports, “The White House recently announced that the Watch
List and No-Fly List together have 775,000 citizens and that they are
adding 20,000 A MONTH.” Are these lists necessary to national security?
Have they over reached appropriate suspects?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com
black_b_71067.html
Recall that the FBI list was used to bar entry to Canada by Code Pink
activists Medea Benjamin and Ret. Col. Ann Wright. Does that serve the
national security of either country? How so?
http://www.codepinkalert.org
Is voting for FISA extensions and telecomm amnesty an act of representative
government?
Is Congress acting in response
to an outcry for action on these issues by the people?
Chapter
7 Arbitrarily Detain and Release Citizens
Recently, the National Guard,
on orders from the Department of Justice, appeared before the Alabama
State Legislature. How could that affect lawmakers? How does that impact
the general public?
During the 2004 Republican
National Convention, perhaps as many as 1,000 people were arrested and
held in makeshift detentions areas, actually abandoned warehouses, allegedly
because the New York city and county jails could not process everyone.
Ultimately, the majority were released without charges. How should victims
or those made aware of these types of incidents respond? Would
these types of occurrences influence whether or not you would actively
protest or attend a political rally opposing the current regime?
Andrew Meyer, a student at
Florida University, is most well-known for screaming, “Don’t taze
me bro!” after police arrested him for asking Senator John Kerry about
evidence of vote tampering during the 2006 Presidential Election. Were
his Constitutional rights of freedom of speech violated? How would you
have reacted if you had witnessed the event? Do you think the number
of these types of police responses to dissent or protest have increased,
decreased or remained the same during the last eight years?
How should citizens counter
arbitrary detention?
Chapter
8 Target Key Individuals
Have you heard of any key activists
or whistleblowers being targeted by the Bush regime or its agents: Department
of Justice, CIA, FBI, IRS, etc.?
The US has detained several
journalists who were working in Iraq. What impact do these actions have
on other journalist and members of the press? How have such incidents
affected citizens?
In the case of Medea Benjamin
and Ret. Col. Ann Wright being prevented from crossing the American/Canadian
border, do you feel they were targeted because of their dissidence?
Is that an appropriate response from the US government?
Chapter
9 Restrict the Press
Control the Press.
We have the media suppression
of Winter Soldier 2008 There is also the swamping of election coverage
with bogus memes –
Obama is “inexperienced”
or Obama is a “phenomenon”
McCain is a “maverick”
from the buzzflash review of
“Free Ride”
http://www.buzzflash.com/store
Who really selected these candidates,
mainstream media or the voters?
Do you believe Americans truly
know what is happening in Iraq and/or Afghanistan? Iran?
Do you trust mainstream media?
To what degree?
Liberals and conservatives
both have decried bias in the media for decades. Is the press biased?
To whose favor? Has that biased been consistent or does it change? Have
there been any significant changes in the last eight years?
What can be done to promote
or ensure a free and unbiased press? Whose responsibility is it?
Chapter
10 Cast Criticism as “Espionage” and Dissent as
“Treason”
Conservatives have successfully
“framed” the debate on major policy for decades: “pro-life”
“the war on terror” and “family values.” Has the labeling
of dissent – anti-war activists not supporting the troops, those opposing
Bush are unpatriotic – the same as framing political debate?
Has there been a different nuance in applying such labels under the
Bush regime? How can it be overcome?
Chapter
11 Subvert the Rule of Law
Originally, the Bush regime
was emphatic that America does not torture. When evidence of the heinous
treatment of POWs and detainees at Abu Ghraib was publicized, Bush explained
the situation as being the result of a few “bad apples.” Since,
revelations of CIA taped “enhanced interrogations” and White House
staff (Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Yoo, et al) carefully choreographing
various torture techniques to be used have resulted in Bush admitting
he was aware of these war crimes and crimes against humanity taking
place. How should citizens respond to these lies? What is the appropriate
response to the lawlessness of this regime? How can law be imposed on
people who abuse such power?
Conclusions: The Patriot’s
Task
How would you gauge the current
threat to democracy?
How close are we to a point
of no return?
Are the echos of history worth
noting? Why or why not?
When and where is America’s
“tipping point”?
What’s the significance of
a status offense, i.e. as implied or expressed in the MCA, broadly defined “enemy combatants”?
Why have Americans failed as
true patriots, as defenders of the democracy?