College of Political Knowledge

My daughter jumped my case Sunday at dinner that I had not railed against the new cybersecurity bill and its implications…..on my defense I said that I was consumed with the idiots running for prez, the idiots that we have elected and the idiots…well just idiots in general….so to make her happy and to research it a bit more I will now post on the silliness that we are allowing to happen…..

People laugh and call me “paranoid” but as an aging radical from the 60’s & 70’s I spent a lot of time looking over my shoulder for the goon squad that was called COINTEPRO…..believe me in those days if you wrote openly about dissent and civil disobedience you were a TARGET……if you are 35 or under then you have little knowledge of this attempt to silence domestic political opposition….know just what was COINTELPRO?

COINTELPRO (an acronym for Counter Intelligence Program) was a series of covert, and often illegal, projects conducted by the United States FBI aimed at surveilling, infiltrating, discrediting, and disrupting domestic political organizations.

COINTELPRO tactics included discrediting targets through psychological warfare; smearing individuals and groups using forged documents and by planting false reports in the media; harassment; wrongful imprisonment; and illegal violence, including assassination.   Covert operations under COINTELPRO took place between 1956 and 1971; however, the FBI has used covert operations against domestic political groups since its inception.   The FBI’s stated motivation at the time was “protecting national security,  preventing violence, and maintaining the existing social and political order.

Their tactics included:

According to attorney Brian Glick in his book War at Home, the FBI used four main methods during COINTELPRO:

1. Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main purpose was to discredit and disrupt. Their very presence served to undermine trust and scare off potential supporters. The FBI and police exploited this fear to smear genuine activists as agents.
2. Psychological Warfare From the Outside: The FBI and police used a myriad of other “dirty tricks” to undermine progressive movements. They planted false media stories and published bogus leaflets and other publications in the name of targeted groups. They forged correspondence, sent anonymous letters, and made anonymous telephone calls. They spread misinformation about meetings and events, set up pseudo movement groups run by government agents, and manipulated or strong-armed parents, employers, landlords, school officials and others to cause trouble for activists.
3. Harassment Through the Legal System: The FBI and police abused the legal system to harass dissidents and make them appear to be criminals. Officers of the law gave perjured testimony and presented fabricated evidence as a pretext for false arrests and wrongful imprisonment. They discriminatorily enforced tax laws and other government regulations and used conspicuous surveillance, “investigative” interviews, and grand jury subpoenas in an effort to intimidate activists and silence their supporters.
4. Illegal Force and Violence: The FBI conspired with local police departments to threaten dissidents; to conduct illegal break-ins in order to search dissident homes; and to commit vandalism, assaults, beatings and assassinations.   The object was to frighten, or eliminate, dissidents and disrupt their movements.

And now, with bi-partisan support we have…..

The bill would clearly delineate the cybersecurity functions of the Department of Homeland Security by requiring DHS to evaluate cybersecurity risks for critical infrastructure firms and determine the best way to mitigate them.

“Cybersecurity is truly a team sport, and this bill gives DHS needed authorities to play its part in the federal government’s cybersecurity mission and enables the private sector to play its part by giving them the information and access to technical support they need to protect critical infrastructure,” said House Cybersecurity subcomittee Chairman Dan Lungren (R-Calif.).

By authorizing DHS to oversee civilian cybersecurity, the legislation aligns with proposals from both the Senate and the White House, but it is unclear how much authority DHS would have to enforce its security standards. Democrats have argued DHS needs some enforcement authority to ensure firms beef up their network protections.

In essence, this is just an updated version of COINTELPRO…back in my day there were NO PCs that could be monitored for content, they had to depend on snitches, writings, speeches, etc….but now they can go in an edit what you quote, sites visited, and virtually freeze out ALL dissent…..

Basically, your freedoms…like association, privacy and speech will be at the mercy of the people you elect…and you have done a shitty job of electing people in the past…if you do NOT fit in some “American” mold…you WILL be monitored and edited….how you like your democracy now?