by Michael Smith (Veshengro)
The US Congress, according to the way it was put recently in mainstream media reports, has now passed laws that, basically, nullify the First Amendment to the US Constitution and thus, itself, has become unconstitutional.
The once bastion of liberties of the individual, the United States of America, has become a repressive state where the Constitution is being trodden underfoot by the law enfarcement agencies, other agencies, and especially Congress and the President.
Not that things are any or much different in Britain where the current Prime Minister David Cameron said in 2011 that that “Free speech is an outdated concept and should be eradicated whenever the government deems necessary for however long the government deems necessary”. And the Right to Peaceable Assembly is equally coming under threat with many protests now deemed “terrorist activities”.
Activists and journalists are being threatened and arrested and filming any police action is, in the UK, now a felony. And the same goes for still photography and can be extended to journalists also.
The right of members of the media to report freely is being curtailed at every opportunity and the mainstream media have become often nothing more than the mouthpiece of the government and this includes especially in recent months, and it began already in the last couple of years, the BBC. The only newspaper that still defies the government, or so it would seem, is The (Manchester) Guardian.
The public, however, remains apathetic towards this as the people seem to have absolutely no understanding of what is going on and believe every word coming out of the government's spin doctor service.
The anti-terror laws enacted in the UK in the first decade of the 21st century are not being used against terrorist but are being used to instill terror into the hearts of the public and those reporting on the goings-on. Instead of combating terrorism they have become terror laws terrorizing all who wish to make the shenanigans public.
The police in the US and Britain have become, it would appear, a law unto themselves such as in the case of the arrest of the partner of the Guardian journalist at the heart of the Snowden affair who was held for nine hours in the transit area of Heathrow airport by officers of the Metropolitan Police under those (anti)terror laws. His electronic devices were seized and he was threatened with jail if he refused to cooperate.
Under the British terror laws noncooperation with the police can lead to immediate arrest as it is a felony. In that case you do not have the right to remain silent nor the right of legal representation. Tell me again that that are not NKVD methods. And things are not much better in America either but still the two countries want to bring democrazy tot he world. They must really be deluded.
© 2013
