All my friends have FBI files: Policing prisoner support networks.

This "heads up" to prisoner support networks came today by way of the Freedom Archives' Political Prisoner Newsletter. I lost track of all the watch lists my friends and I should be on by now, but this might be an added motive behind anyone feeling particularly surveilled, harassed, or abusively prosecuted. Apparently if the feds really have it in for the prisoner we correspond with (like Marilyn Buck, whom one likely cop left me a disturbing comment about recently) - they'll just send the local and state police after us, wherever we may be in the world.

It all smacks of COINTELPRO and is probably legitimized under the Patriot Act.
Ironic that anyone would be so worried about our kind of "extremists" in this state - it's the ones holding office who really threaten public safety, not the Anarchists.

I shouldn't really have to say this, but no matter how "innocent" you think are, don't let anyone in uninvited without a proper warrant. And check out the link below to request your FBI file; I bet you have have one, if you've read this blog more than once.

---------------------------------

From: sacprisonersupport@riseup.net
Date: Sun, September 12, 2010 4:16 am

Recently we began receiving documents in response to a FOIA request we filed with the FBI about Eric McDavid. The documents have uncovered a few alarming pieces of information, but one in particular we felt it necessary to share with the public as soon as possible. For years people have been speculating that writing political prisoners would result in a person being “put on a list.” Unfortunately, it seems that those speculations were not unfounded.

We have received perhaps hundreds of pages documenting Eric's correspondence with other people. These letters are not just kept on file ­ the Sacramento County Main Jail forwarded all of these letters to the Sacramento FBI field office, which then forwarded them to local field offices around the country (and to law enforcement internationally) to warn the FBI in other cities of a “possible environmental/ animal rights extremist” or “a possible anarchist extremist” in their community.

Originally, the FBI's communications included a statement that “Sacramento is forwarding this communication for information purposes only.” But later, they began including a much longer statement which read, in part: “this information has been determined to be of such a nature that some follow-up as to the possibility of criminal activity is warranted...” These statements were included no matter what was the content of the letter ­ often the documents include the statement that the letter was “benign in nature.”

It is unclear whether or not the FBI is still forwarding Eric's correspondence to local field offices. We have not received any documents dated after his move to a federal facility. It is also unknown whether or not all correspondence with political prisoners is treated in the same
manner. What we do know is that if a person sent Eric a letter to the Sacramento County Main Jail with their full name and address on it, the local FBI field office more than likely now has that information.

We are not sharing this information to raise alarm or spread fear. We have every intention of continuing to write political prisoners, and we urge others to do the same. That said, we hope to expose the FBI's politically motivated investigations and, unlike the FBI, we believe people have a right to know when they have been spied on. This kind of government intrusion could cause the “chilling effect” so often thrown about in conversations about 1st amendment activities. But when we give in to those fears, political prisoners are the ones who suffer. And this is exactly what the government wants.

The state is constantly trying to expand its reach by gathering information about social movements and those who participate in them. Instead of letting this new information scare us
into silence, we should use it to make informed decisions about how we support and prioritize political prisoners. This kind of repression has implications for more than just people involved in “activism.” Millions of people are incarcerated in this country. It is possible that the government uses similar tactics to investigate other communities that they actively repress. Writing our friends, family members and comrades should not be a justified excuse for investigation ­ no matter who our friends are.

If you would like to view some of these documents, you may do so at:
http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2010/09/12/18658489.php

If you would like to find out if the FBI has been collecting information on you, here is a website that explains how to request information underthe freedom of information act.

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/press/information/topic.aspx?topic=how_to_FOIA

Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org

Questions and comments may be sent to claude@freedomarchives.org

Fascists, White Supremacists dominate AZ Republican Primaries.

The Fascists all but swept the Republican Primaries here last night, and in most of their strongholds the Democrats won't have much chance come November. We're still holding out hope that the corrupt Andrew Thomas loses to the incompetent Tom Horne, but overall, it's a bleak Wednesday morning in Phoenix.


Having no tv is a good excuse to get out and about on a night like last night, so I brought my "Bury Hep C..." signs with me to the AZ GOP Party HQ to witness the tragedy unfold. It was far worse than I expected. It looks like many of my friends took one step closer to spending the next few years in an Arizona state prison, all for the love of Food Not Bombs, music under the bridge, and sidewalk chalk. Freedom of expression and human rights will soon be tossed out of the back seat by Thomas' Law and Arpaio's disorder.


I was pleading more than protesting with my signs to fight Hep C , standing quietly across the street. When I saw what was happening on their big screen - and in the audience of small people - I thought it would be foolish to be caught disrupting the occasion without my own witnesses. The media was out in full force, of course, but seemed to be thoroughly co-opted. With the exception of a few words of encouragement from parting celebrants, I was virtually ignored.

from Monday morning's demonstration,
the message I brought to the Republicans Tuesday night.

The scene at the Republican's party - ringed by MCSO deputies - was truly disturbing. I had to close my eyes and imagine that it was just a bloodbath between klansmen and skinheads, as whomever was left standing would likely still go on to try to destroy the rest of us.


Huppenthal - chair of the Senate Education Committee that brutalized teachers and children last year - may be the next State Superintendent. They're moving in for the kill with the kids.


Unless there's a Libertarian coup in November, the Maricopa County Attorney's office is actually losing Romley to Arpaio's buddy, Bill Montgomery. I never thought I'd be sorry to see that guy go so quickly, but I think darker days are ahead.


Whoever went up against Russ Pearce didn't stand a chance in hell, of course - I haven't even trolled the internet to find out if there was some miraculous upset in his race. He wasn't to be seen in Phoenix, as far as I could tell - I suspected he was celebrating in Mesa with Tea Partiers, Neo-Nazis, and the other white supremacists out there.


Most troubling, perhaps, is that last nights winners didn't come out of far right field without a lot of help from the "center". These people were the official nominees of their party. The crowd unabashedly cheered Arpaio and Thomas (whose race remains too close to call) as they slapped each other's backs and smiled for the cameras without another protester in sight.


The list goes on and will be verified and complete to be pondered over by pundits soon enough. Suffice it to say, it looks like it's about to get a whole lot worse in this state before it gets better, so watch each other's backs out there, my friends. SB 1070 is what brought these people their victories last night. This may have been the Summer of Human Rights, but this fall will undoubtedly see some ethnic and political cleansing in a Season of Hate as this Republican slate solidifies their base by doing what they do best: demonizing unions and immigrants, incarcerating the poor for profit, and dismembering the traitors in their own ranks.


We can certainly hope that the legions of registered Republicans who voted for the lesser of their many evils will join the Democrats and the independent voters in an upset in November - it would suggest that we finally have a more progressive electorate, if nothing else.


For my part, though, even with a Democratic sweep I don't expect the oppressed to be liberated by any part of this political machine. Instead, I pray for revolution. Perhaps this blatant horror will be precisely what we need in order to unshackle our own feet, free our own neighbors, and take back both the land and the resources for the people and other living beings whose ancestors long pre-dated the Anglo invasion.


Until the next time we meet dancing in the streets, comrades - be strong, and remember the power of song. There remains a hell of a battle ahead, which will come to us if we don't go out and meet it full on.


With my utmost respect to the Resistance -


In solidarity, forever.


Peg

Signs of Resistance: SB 1070 and Arpaio.

Phoenix Police Department
Cesar Chavez Plaza
(Across the street from the Wells Fargo Building)
Phoenix, AZ
July 29,2010

("Deport Arpaio" is in yellow)

Candidates to Vote Down: The Pearce Endorsements

Candidates to Vote Down: The Pearce Endorsements

Here's the latest from the Russell Pearce Campaign. Anyone who embraces that man's endorsements right now should be considered by the People to be armed and dangerous and not to be trusted with our tax dollars, much less our laws, lives and liberties. Those who voted for SB 1070 despite not supporting it fully are just as bad, if not worse. They voted from a place of fear, rather than their value base. That means they can't be trusted even if they sound like they might be enlightened.

Note how many of the candidates he endorses have issues with their "constitutionals". That should tell us something. Also note the line of BS he spews about lefty "special interests" (like the poor, the hungry, undocumented immigrants, and peace activists, I suppose?) having "deeper pockets" than his crowd. He feeds that to his own people, you know. They have no idea what the truth is anymore. Perhaps they don't really care.

We've seen your money, Pearce, and we know that your strategy has always been to win by having the biggest bankroll and excluding your opposition from running or even voting in the primaries - it has certainly not been by building a constituency that's authentically dedicated to true democracy. Real Republicans like my grandfather would be ashamed to be seen in the same party with the likes of you - too bad so many of the brave ones are now dead, and the cowards are in hiding, fearing for their political lives.

The typos are all his, as usual. He writes most of his own stuff.

------------------from senatorpearce@russellpearce.com -----------------------

Friends,

Many of you have asked me who I support and have endorsed for the upcoming republican Primaries.

Further below is a list of candidates and incumbents that I support and ask you to support also. However, before I share those with you I want you to know that there are several Republican incumbents who worked against the passage of SB1070. If you go to www.azleg.govhttp://www.azleg.gov/> and watch the archived video a nd listen to the vote in both the House and Senate you will hear some very telling things about certain Republicans who did not support the passage of SB1070 but voted for it only because they knew if they didn’t you would have voted them out of office. Now those same members are campaigning saying that they were a sponsor of the bill and they were a supporter of SB1070 all through the bill’s legislative process. So with that said, if you don’t see a Republican incumbent’s name on this list then you may want to do a little research of your own.

See the links below for the video of the House and Senate vote on SB1070. Pay special attention to when someone says “I would like to explain my vote”. House of Representatives Caucus of the Whole video. This vote occurs before the final vote and is very telling. http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=7467http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=7467>

House of Representatives 3rd and final vote. Again, very telling of who are true conservatives are and are not. This video has 2 other bills being voted on before the vote on SB1070. The vote for SB1070 starts 7 minutes into the video so you will have to fast forward 7 minutes. http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=7469 http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=7469< /span>>

Senate Final vote. Again, this vote is telling of who our true constitutional leaders really are. The Bill vote does not start until 19 min and 20 seconds into the video so fast forward. http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=7519 http://azleg.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=13&clip_id=7519>
Please cut and paste the following and send to your lists. - Russell

Candidates Senator Russell Pearce supports:

Governor:
Jan Brewer
US Senate.
JD Hayworth
US Congress:
Rusty Bowers CD1
Trent Franks CD2
Sam Crump and Pamela Gorman CD3 (Senator Pearce supports both equally)
Janet Contreas CD4
David Schweikert CD5
Jeff Smith CD6
Robert Wilson CD7
Jesse Kelly & Jonathon Paton CD8 (Senator Pearce supports both equally)
State Treasurer
Thayer Verschoor
State Attorney General
Andrew Thomas
State School Superintendent
John Huppenthal
Corporation Commission
Brenda Burns
Gary Pierce
Maricopa County Attorney
Bill Montgomery


STATE SENATE

LD1: Steve Pierce - a solid fiscal and social conservative. Senate Majority Whip “A good friend” – Senator Pearce.

LD2: Sylvia Laughter - ( A Conservative Democrat that votes with us on 90% of the issues, pro life, pro 2nd Amendment, pro SB1070) This is an unusually endorsement

LD3: Ron Gould - a Constitutional Conservative

LD4: Scott Bundgaard - Former conservative legislator running against Tony Bouie. Enough said. Don’t know why? Google Tony Bouie. Bundgaard for Senate - 21424 N 78th Dr, Peoria AZ 85382 - www.ScottBundgaard.com

LD5: Sen. Sylvia Allen - Current Champion of the Taxpayer being challenged by Rep. Bill Konopnicki, the most liberal House Republican in the Legislature. Allen is endorsed by Arpaio, Pearce, Bowers, and others. Konopnicki was one of the Republicans helping to raise money for Democrat candidates. Committee to Elect Sylvia T Allen 2010 - PO Box 952, Snowflake AZ 85937 - No Website Found

LD6: Lori Klein - Longtime conservative activist. Klein has been endorsed by Sheriff Arpaio among others. Klein for Senate - 3637 W Medinah Ct, Anthem AZ 85086 - www.KleinforSenate.nethttp://www.KleinforSenate.net>

LD7: Ray Barnes - a strong supporter for SB1070 and enforcement of all of our laws.

LD8: Michele Reagan - Supported SB1070 and a strong supporter of small business

LD9: Rick Murphy - A good Conservative and supporter of SB1070 and for lower taxes and less regulation on business

LD10: Linda Gray – “A good Conservative and friend” – Senator Pearce

LD11: Rich Davis - Being challenged by Rep. Adam Driggs. Driggs is one of the “Sanctuary Six” and HELPED to raise money for Democrat candidates running against conservative Republicans. Davis is endorsed by Arpaio, Pearce, etc. Rich Davis for Arizona - PO Box 44045, Phoenix AZ 85064 - www.RichDavisForArizona.comhttp://www.RichDavisForArizona.com>

LD15: Bob Thomas - A Conservative in strong support of SB1070, endorsed by Phoenix Law Enforcement Association, Sheriff Joe, Senator Russell Pearce and others.

LD17: Wendy Rogers - Retired Air Force Pilot and great American. Good choice to take back LD17.

LD18: Senator Russell Pearce – a Consistent Constitutional Conservative, Author of SB1070, SB1108 (Freedom Carry Act), Prop 200, Employer Sanctions for hiring illegal aliens, Taxpayer Bill of Rights, etc.

LD22: Andy Biggs - A Constitutional Conservative and fiscal, social conservative. Senator Russell Pearce calls him “A great friend”.

LD23: Steve Smith, a solid Constitutional Republican. A chance to remove Rebecca Rios who is a tax and spend liberal, who opposed ever single effort to secure our borders and enforce our laws, including a no vote on SB1070.

LD24: Don Shooter - a strong Tea Party Candidate from Yuma. Former Farmer and a Constitutional Republican. Running against Amanda Aguirre who opposed SB1070 and worked hard against a balanced budget and fiscally sound policies.

LD25: Gail Griffin - A real chance to take back this district with a common sense conservative.

LD26: Al Melvin - Retired military, a great Patriot and solid conservative on fiscal and social issues. A border Hawk!!

LD28: Greg Krino - for Senate against liberal, liberal Sen. Aboud. Sen. Aboud has fought us on every effort to secure our borders, balance our budget, control spending and fought hard to kill SB1070.

LD30: Sen. Frank Antenori - Facing a primary challenge from former RINO legislator Marian McClure. McClure’s record was weak on virtually every core issue while Antenori is one of the most conservative in the Senate. Antenori for Arizona - 10595 East Ravenswood Street, Tucson, AZ 85747 - www.VoteForFrank.comhttp://www.VoteForFrank.com>

STATE HOUSE

LD1: Andy Tobin - Strong pro business, 2nd Amendment, fiscal and social conservative.

LD3: Nancy Mclain & Doris Goodale

LD4: Judy Burges & Jack Harper - Two great Constitutional conservatives

LD5: Chester Crandell & Brenda Burton - Both fiscal and social conservatives - Great Americans

LD6: Carl Seel & David Fitzgerald III - Both Constitutional conservatives and strong pro-business and fiscal and social conservatives. One of their opponents was Amanda Reeve, one of the Republicans helping to raise money for the Democrats.

LD7: David Smith & Howard Sprague - Both Constitutional conservatives

LD8: Michelle Ugenti & Rep. John Kavanagh - both great Americans and Constitutional conservatives

LD9: Diane Douglas & Debbie Lesko - both strong Conservatives, both fiscal and social conservatives

LD10: Kimberly Yee & Jim Weiers - Running as a team against school board member Bill Adams. Kimberly Yee 2010 - PO Box 83561, Phoenix AZ 85071 – www.kimberlyyee.com

LD11: Shawnna Bolick - Constitutional Conservative & great American

LD12: Steve Montenegro & Jerry Weiers – “Both strong Conservatives and good friends” – Senator Pearce

LD15: Paul Yoder & Caroline Condit

LD18: Cecil Ash & Steve Court

LD19: Justin Olson & Kirk Adams - fiscal and social conservatives (Justin is endorsed by Sheriff Arpaio also)

LD20: Bob Robson & Jeff Dial - A chance to add a strong voice to the House on border security and enforcement.

LD21: Tom Forese and J.D. Mesnard - Both have been endorsed by outgoing Reps Yarbrough and Nichols. Third candidate is educrat Vanessa Whitener, a Rich Crandall Republican. What more needs to be said? Vote Forese -6836 S Birdie Way, Gilbert AZ 85298 - www.TomForese.com and Elect J.D. Mesnard - 1427 W Homestead Ct, Chandler AZ 85286 - JDMesnard.com

LD22: Eddie Farnsworth & Laurin Hendrix – “Eddie is probably the most Constitutional qualified candidate I have ever worked with” – Senator Pearce. (endorsed by Sheriff Joe and Law Enforcement)

LD23: John Fillmore and Frank Pratt - both strong fiscal and social conservatives

LD25: David Stevens & Peggy Judd - great “Americans who we desperately need in the House” – Senator Pearce.

LD26: Terri Proud - In a three-way primary for two spots with Rep. Vic Williams and Wade McLean. Terri is the only conservative in the race and certainly needs the financial help to compete. Vote4Proud - PO Box 90004, Tucson AZ 85752 - www.Vote4Proud.comhttp://www.Vote4Proud.comLD30>

LD30: Rep. Ted Vogt & David Gowan - Solid conservatives running against Doug Sposito, an open-borders RINO who was one of the Republicans helping to raise money for Democrat candidates. Vogt For Arizona - 10031 E Falcon Point Dr, Tucson AZ 85730 - www.Vogt4Arizona.com

A Conservative Call To Arms!
Our State Legislative Races

Every two years, self-described moderates, open-border groups, and liberal big-spending interest groups join together to raise a lot of money to support center-left candidates for legislative office. Recently, one big fundraising event raised a reported $275,000 for a group of 12 Republican and Democrat candidates. The fact that these Republicans and Democrats were similar enough in their ideology and records that they were willing to campaign together, or that donors found them all equally attractive, is a serious warning about how far left they will go if elected or re-elected. So this handy list has been prepared to help conservatives all over Arizona learn about conservatives running in key races. We have also included their mailing addresses and committee names so that you can make your own contributions. While our pockets are not as deep as the special interests we are up against, we have the advantage of numbers. Get involved, as donors or volunteers, and let’s keep our Arizona State Legislature conservative!

NOTE: These are just primary contests. We can help out our general election races later in the year!

To help candidates identify our contributions, add one penny to your amount, so if you were going to give $25, give $25.01 instead!

SB 1070: We will resist this police state.

Call to Action for Human Rights!

Join us in Arizona July 23-30, 2010!

Summer of Human Rights
Alto Arizona

National Week Against Criminalization!

Stop SB1070! Stop 287g! Stop Arpaio!

From Selma to Phoenix, From Civil Rights to Human Rights, and the Rights of Mother Earth!

Resistance has sparked across the state of Arizona and the country to defeat SB1070 and all racist policies that further criminalize our people and separate families. Knowing that if SB1070 is not stopped now similar laws will spread throughout the country:

We demand that the Obama Administration take decisive action and not comply with Arizona’s SB1070. It can only terrorize our communities if the federal government cooperates with it.

We demand that all ICE ACCESS programs such as 287(g), Secure Communities, and the CAP programs be suspended.

We demand Arizona institutions such as Cities, Towns, Police Jurisdictions, Universities, Colleges, K-12 Schools, School Districts and Businesses to publically state that they will not comply and will not cooperate with SB1070.

We call on people from around the country to come to Phoenix and stand in solidarity with the communities of Arizona to stop the implementation of SB1070!

We call that all those in that cannot come to Arizona, have solidarity actions in their home communities.

July 29th 2010

Don’t Work! Don’t buy! Don’t comply!

If individuals or groups are planning Non-violent civil disobedience or direct action against the racist laws targeting migrant communities in Arizona, below are suggestions on how to best direct your energy.

Suggested Areas include:

• ICE Headquarters

• Wells Fargo building/Joe Arpaio's office

• Detention Centers

• Jails

• Arizona State Capitol

• Areas related to Russell Pearce, Joe Arpaio and Jan Brewer

• Boycott Targets:
o Diamondbacks
o Fiesta Bowl

• School Districts who have not publically stated that they will not comply

• Police Jurisdictions who have not publically stated that they will not comply

• Cities and towns who have not publically stated that they will not comply

In recognition of the past and on going organizing and resistance happening in Arizona we ask that groups or individuals coming to please respect the following guidelines.

Guidelines:

• Participants will not inflict harm/injury to persons

• Participants will not inflict harm/damage to property

• We encourage people to think about how their actions can communicate to a broad audience and invite people to learn more about what is going on

• We encourage people to use creative and positive tactics

• Participants will not carry drugs/weapons

• Participants to not carry ID on July 29th and moving forward.

• Participants will come as self-organized action teams and affinity groups.

Please contact: actionforhumanrights@gmail.com.

G20 activists and SB 1070 protests: be careful out there.

Guess Canada's not as laid back as they claim to be - this might as well have been in Maricopa County. Listen and learn, folks. And be careful out there - the people can be even scarier than the cops. My politics helped get me assaulted in my home and have my car vandalized after that candlelight vigil in May. From the ADC to the nativists and everyday racists, these are not nice folks we're pissing off.

See you in the streets.

--------------------------

Activist surrenders to face G20 charges

July 06, 2010

Antonia Zerbisias

Social justice activist Jaggi Singh surrendered to Toronto police early Tuesday morning to comply with a warrant following June’s G20 protests.

The Montreal-based community organizer faces several counts of criminal conspiracy, including alleged conspiracies to commit mischief to property, assault police, and obstruct justice.

Singh, 39, joins 16 other people known to be in detention 10 days after 1,090 were arrested during the G20 weekend.

Just a few hours before he voluntary walked into custody in the company of his lawyer, Singh told the Star that he could not comment on the charges because he had not yet seen what evidence police have against him.

But he did dismiss the notion of any criminal conspiracy.

“I helped people find housing and get transportation to come to a demonstration. That’s my conspiracy,” he said. “But give the police enough money and resources and they’ll transform protesters and organizers into criminals.’’

Currently a fulltime staffer of the Quebec Public Interest Research Group at Concordia University, Singh has also worked with activist organizations Solidarity Across Borders and Anti-Capitalist Convergence.

Because he was not picked up from the streets like hundreds of other citizens were, he feels that he is speaking from a “position of relative privilege.”

“I don’t even know everybody else (arrested), but I want to at least strike a note of caution that there should be an extreme amount of vigilance, vis-à-vis what the Crown and the police are putting out, especially given the misinformation the police put out in the aftermath of the G20,” he said.

According to a statement by No One is Illegal, which represents refugee claimants and is one of the community organizations with which Singh is affiliated, “He is currently in custody along with other G20 political prisoners who are awaiting bail hearings.

“Jaggi’s situation is still unclear. We hope he’ll be released immediately. He could remain in custody for some time.”

It would not be the first time.

Singh’s Wiki entry reads like a long rap sheet of incarcerations during summit protests. Charges are always dropped or he is later acquitted.

“I’m notorious for this whether I like it or not – and I don’t like it,” he laughed.

Singh first came to national prominence during the1997 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Vancouver, where he was arrested even before the summit began. A subsequent formal inquiry into RCMP actions found that he “was arrested on a warrant based on a spurious charge; the manner of his arrest was inappropriate in the circumstances; the timing of the arrest was calculated to prevent him from attending protests on ... the bail conditions sought were overly restrictive.”

Singh insists that such pre-emptive police moves are designed to stifle dissent – and that what happened at the G20 in Toronto was no different. Pre-dawn police raids into private homes, during which protest organizers were dragged from their beds, are just one example he named.

“You charge people for what they do, not what they look like or what they might do, right?’’ he said.

“I have sort of been through this story before in other ways, facing charges, been taken off the streets. It’s the escalation of the legal apparatus against protesters and it’s a criminalization of protest basically.’’

At least 14 G20-related prisoners are expected to appear in court Tuesday.

It’s not known if Singh will be one of them.

SB 1070 Resistance: Solidarity with Pei Wei Workers.

Boycott Pei Wei & PF Chang's!

This in from the Phoenix IWW. This is an important piece of our larger struggle - please don't neglect it if you have the time. You can even just drive by and wave and honk (then go write a quick letter to the AZ Republic expressing your plan to boycott!). Just show these folks some kind of support tonight; we can make it fun - and beautiful. I'll bring the chalk (I'll probably be at a Phoenix location just because I know the "criminal damage" laws better there...).

- Peg

--------------from Phoenix IWW------------

Friends, Companeros, y Companeras,

Just a reminder to come and show your support for the 12 Pei Wei workers who were unjustly fired for skipping a day of work to march for their survival in this country. These brave workers attended the historic May 29th Demonstration against SB 1070 and were immediately fired by PF Chang's management. Workers have a right to protest and we will stand with these workers.

Boycott Pei Wei & PF Chang's!

Sólo un recordatorio para venir y mostrar su apoyo a los 12 trabajadores de Pei Wei que fueron despedidos injustamente por saltarse un día de trabajo para marchar para su supervivencia en este país. Estos trabajadores valientes asistieron a la histórica 29 de mayo Manifestación en contra de la SB 1070 y fueron despedidos de inmediato por la gestión de PF Chang's. Los trabajadores tienen derecho a protestar y tenemos que respaldar a estos trabajadores.

Boicot Pei Wei y PF Chang's!

Today - Hoy

Friday June 25 6pm

Viernes 25 junio 6pm

Pickets at 4 locations! - Piquetes en 4 puntos!

Pei Wei Central Phoenix

1.) 7th St. & Glendale

2.) 7th Ave. & McDowell

Pei Wei Chandler

3.) 54th St. & Ray Rd.

Pei Wei Tempe

4.) McClintock & Guadalupe

Bring your water bottle, your friends & family, and your spirit!

Also - The police and PF Chang's are aware of the pickets so stay safe!

Traiga su botella de agua, sus amigos y familia, y tu espíritu!

También - La policía y PF Chang's son conscientes de los piquetes entonces mantenerse a salvo!

Solidaridad,

J. Pierce

Phoenix IWW

Arizona Travel Advisory: State under seige by Fascists.

I like this travel advisory idea - we can do so much with that: mock road signs, mock press releases, mock "know your rights" cards just for Arizona visitors (we can even hand them out at visitor centers) - I love it.

----------------------------

California Legislature to hear Resolution to Boycott Arizona

June 22, 11:08 AM
Sacramento Liberal Examiner
Elizabeth Fehr

One week after the the Sacramento city council voted to boycott Arizona, The California Legislature is about to jump into the game. This week, 40 state lawmakers plan to introduce a resolution supporting an economic boycott of our fair neighbor to the southeast. Don't expect any Republicans to vote for it.

This boycott, not unlike the ones that cities like San Francisco and Sacramento have implemented, calls for a total disinvestment in Arizona. Unlike other boycotts, it also calls for Major League Baseball to reconsider hosting the 2011 All-Star game in Arizona. That's important. Incredibly though,this resolution also contains a travel advisory warning about being picked up by Arizona authorities.

A travel advisory against another state in America. A state California has significant economic ties with. It's like part of our country has become the Third World. Whatever motivation Arizona had in passing this absurd immigration law, it's clear that this wasn't the sort of response it expected from it's neighbor. The laws regarding immigration and ethnic studies passed by Arizona are suspect at best and bigotry of the darkest kind at worst, but have relations in this country gotten to the point where states boycotting each other is an acceptable reality? At this point, the best outcome may be if the federal government wins its lawsuit against Arizona. God bless America.

Brewer's new charitable cause: Defending racism and fascism.

Watch the money pour in to defend this racist, fascist law, then tell me there's not enough money for children's mental health care in this state. There's plenty of money - people just don't have their priorities straight...

--------------------------------

S1070 legal defense fund reaches $48,000

By Jim Small - jim.small@azcapitoltimes.com

Published: June 18, 2010 at 7:41 am

Arizona Capitol Times

The Governor’s Office has collected more than $48,000 in the past six weeks to help defend the nation’s toughest immigration law and hopes to collect more with the launch of a new website designed to streamline the collection of more donations.

“It’s amazing to see just how many folks across the country are supportive of Arizona’s passage and signing of SB 1070,” Gov. Jan Brewer said in a statement. “The pouring in of hundreds of unsolicited donations since the end of April speaks volumes about how important securing our border is to citizens across America.”

Brewer also announced the creation of a website, www.keepazsafe.com, which allows people to use a credit card to donate to the legal defense fund.

The money, which a spokesman for Brewer said was given unsolicited by supporters of the law, will be used to defray the state’s cost to defend the law in federal court. Opponents of S1070, which requires police officers to verify the citizenship of people they stop if they suspect the person may be in the country illegally, have filed five separate lawsuits challenging the law’s constitutionality.

Brewer has hired attorney John Bouma, the chairman of law firm Snell & Wilmer, to defend the law. She is also fighting to keep Attorney General Terry Goddard, who is running for the Democratic nomination for governor, off the defense team. Goddard opposed the immigration law earlier this year when it was considered by lawmakers and told Arizona Capitol Times in April he expected his actions would prevent him from defending the law.

“If it does pass, and it’s signed by the governor, I will be screened because of my personal opposition to it,” Goddard said in April, adding that he thought the bill was “confusing” and raises “serious legal liabilities” for local governments. Instead, he said the duty of defending the measure would fall to Solicitor General Mary O’Grady or one of his deputy attorneys.

The donations to defend the law began arriving April 27, only four days after Brewer signed the bill. The first came from Sandra Esterline of Kentucky, who gave $15. Through June 10, there were 437 donations, totaling $19,754. But last week, her office received another $29,000, most of it after the governor publicized the fund on June 16.

Donations came from 46 states, plus the District of Columbia – only Montana, North Dakota, Vermont and Wyoming were not represented on the donation list. The largest donation was $2,000 from a Louisiana man.

The story about the donations was first reported by the Yellow Sheet Report, a sister publication of Arizona Capitol Times.

Boycott Racism: Boycott Arizona.

In solidarity with people of color everywhere, 

and in opposition to racism, fascism, colonialism, and SB 1070 (to begin with).

Russell Pearce Still Threatening Another Term.

Straight from the horse's mouth (apparently we're still on his email list of "supporters"). The typos are all his, by the way. 

I'm not sure which Constitution he's referring to defending, since he's responsible for some of the most aggregious, fascist legislation I've ever seen. It must be the same Constitution that codified slavery he loves so much...he seems to have missed that there have been a few amendments and legal rulings to give the rest of us rights, since it was originally written for white propertied men like him. The "Founders original intent," remember, was to keep most of the rest of us subservient as sub-citizens. He definitely champions that!


---------------------------------------from senatorpearce@russellpearce.com-----------------------------------

Friends,

I have been vigilant in the defense of freedom and our Constitutional principles at the legislature as well as my entire life.  I have worked as a Maricopa County Deputy for 23 years and I am the former Chief Deputy. I have been shot at and missed and shot at and hit, as I was critically shot by gang members while in the line of duty while serving our community.  I created "tent" city for inmates and saved millions in the cost for the taxpayer.  I have worked as the Director of the Motor Vehicle Department and reduced Government waist and long wait times at MVD, and cut administrative cost by $10 million. I served as your Judge in the North Mesa Justice Court, as pro-tem Judge in Maricopa County's court system and I have ruled on cases being mindful to make sure each ruling was based on the Founders original intent from Arizona Constitution, the law and the US Constitution.

I have worked to protect private property rights, protect the unborn, 2nd Amendment freedoms, quality education including school choice, safer neighborhoods, parental rights, tort reform, taxpayers bill of rights, and including sponsoring some of the most comprehensive immigration enforcement bills in the nation and 2nd Amendment issues such as the Freedom to Carry legislation, as well as the elimination of all Affirmative Action policies in government hiring and contracts.   www.russellpearce.com

For 10 years now, I have served the people at the state legislature. 8 years with the State House of Representatives and for the last 2 years as a Senator. I am the current Chairman of the Senator Appropriations Committee and served 6 years as the Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. As your Appropriations Chairman my motto is; “I am the gate keeper, not the gift giver of the people’s money”.

It is now election time and I am running for re-election for my 2^nd term as State Senator and I really need and would be very grateful to have your help!

I need volunteers to help me collect signatures to put my name on the ballot for this next primary election, August 24^th. I must turn in all the collected signatures by May 26^th. That is only 15 days from now. I really need your help in getting those signatures.  If you can and are willing to help me, please respond.

I have petitions forms ready to go. Please reply to this e-mail letting me know that you are ready and willing to help.  The opportune time would be May 18th to work just a couple of hours at one of the polling places in LD18.  If that does not work any week night or Saturday for a couple of hours walking the neighborhood would be great.  Thank you so much.

For Arizona,
Russell

The Cost of War Resistance.

Kent State University. May 4, 1970.

"Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming,
we're finally on our own,
this summer I hear the drumming,

4 Dead in Ohio...

What if you knew her and found her dead on the ground?

How can you run when you know?"

Excerpts from the 1970 DOJ investigation into the Kent State Massacre:

"...Most persons estimate that about 200-300 students were gathered around the Victory Bell on the commons with another 1,000 or so students gathered on the hill directly behind them."

"...the crowd apparently was initially peaceful and relatively quiet."

"...96 men of Companies A and C, 145th Infantry and of Troop G, 107th Armored Cavalry were ordered to advance. Bayonets were fixed and their weapons were "locked and loaded", with one round in the chamber...all wore gas masks. Some carried .45 pistols, most carried M-1 rifles, and a few carried shotguns loaded with 7 1/2 birdshot and double-ought buckshot."

"...the combination of the advancing troops and the teargas forced the students to retreat."

"...fifty-three members of Company A, 18 members of Troop G and two members of Company C, all commanded by General Canterbury and Lt. Col. Fassinger moved...pursuing the main body of students who retreated..."

"...one group of students retreated to a paved parking lot south of Prentice Hall..."

"...the Guard then moved...onto the field where it took up a position..."

"...some of the students...then returned to within range of the Guard and began to pelt them with objects..."

"...four Guardsmen claim they were hit with rocks at this time..."

"...some rocks were thrown back at the students by the Guard."

"...just prior to the time the Guard left its position on the practice field, members of Troop G were ordered to kneel and aim their weapons at the students in the parking lot south of Prentice Hall. They did so, but did not fire."

"...the Guard was then ordered to regroup and move back up the hill past Taylor Hall."

"...when the Guard reached the crest of Blanket Hill by the southeast corner of Taylor Hall at about 12:25pm, they faced the students following them and fired their weapons. Four students were killed and nine were wounded."

"...the few moments immediately prior to the shootings are shrouded in confusion and highly conflicting statements. Many Guardsmen claim that they felt their lives were in danger from the students for a variety of reasons...because they were 'surrounded'...because a sniper fired at them...stones...the students 'advanced upon them in a threatening manner'..."

"...we [the FBI] have some reason to believe that the claim by the National Guard that their lives were endangered by the students was fabricated subsequent to the event..."

"...[a Guardsman] admitted that his life was not in danger and that he fired indiscriminantly into the crowd. He further stated that the Guardsmen had gotten together after the shooting and decided to fabricate the story that they were in danger of serious bodily harm or death from the students...the guys have been saying that we got to get together and stick to the same story, that it was our lives or them, a matter of survival. I told them I would tell the truth and couldn't get in trouble that way."

"...also, a chaplain of Troop G spoke with many members of the National Guard and stated that they were unable to explain to him why they fired their weapons."

"...available photographs indicate that the nearest student was 60 feet away" [at time of shootings].

"...no verbal warning was given to the students immediately prior to the time the Guardsmen fired."

"...one Guardsman, Sgt. McManus, stated that after the firing began, he gave an order to 'fire over their heads'".

"...the Guardsmen were not surrounded...they could easily have continued going in the direction in which they had been going."

"...no Guardsman claims he was hit with rocks immediately prior to the firing..."

"...only one Guardsman, Lawrence Shafer, was injured on May 4, 1970, seriously enough to require any kind of medical treatment. He admits his injury was received some 10 to 15 minutes before the fatal volley was fired."

"...there was no sniper."

"...the great majority of Guards do not state that they were under sniper fire and many specifically state that the first shots came from the National Guardsmen."

"...the FBI has conducted an extensive search and has found nothing to indicate that any person other than a Guardsman fired a weapon."

"...at the time of the shooting, the National Guard clearly did not believe that they were being fired upon."

"...in addition, no Guardsman claims he fired at a sniper or even that he fired in the direction from which he believed the sniper shot."

"...a minimum of 54 shots were fired by a minimum of 29 of the 78 members of the National Guard at Taylor Hall in the space of approximately 13 seconds."

"...seven members of Troop G admit firing their weapons, but claim they did not fire at the students. Five persons interviewed in Troop G, the group of Guardsmen closest to Taylor Hall, admit firing a total of eight shots into the crowd or at a specific student."

"...some Guardsmen had to be physically restrained from continuing to fire their weapons."

"...Sergeant Richard Love of Company C...asserted he 'could not believe' that the others were shooting into the crowd so he lowered his weapon."

"...when the firing began, many students began running; others hit the ground."

"...in all, only two [student victims] were shot from the front. Seven students were shot from the side and four were shot from the rear."

"...of the 13 students shot, none, so far as we know, were associated with either the disruption in Kent on Friday night, May 1, 1970, or the burning of the ROTC building on Saturday, May 2, 1970."

Still Dead in Ohio.

SB 1070: Still A Bad Law.

Patchwork changes to immigration law came in waning hours of session

By Evan Wyloge - evan.wyloge@azcapitoltimes.com

Published: April 27, 2010 at 7:24 pm

Arizona Capitol Times

One week after Gov. Jan Brewer gave Arizona the toughest immigration law in the U.S., state lawmakers added changes that would limit the scope of the law and protect local governments from lawsuits.

The changes were sought by lawmakers who voted for Arizona’s new immigration law after striking a deal with immigration hawk Sen. Russell Pearce.

Rep. Russ Jones, who was one of three Republican lawmakers to vote against a similar bill in 2009, said he agreed to vote for S1070 this year in exchange for Pearce’s promise to make changes to it in follow-up legislation.

The resulting bill, H2162, was approved on April 29, just hours before the end of the session.

H2162 prescribes a few key changes to the new immigration law, clarifying both the definition of lawful contact and guidelines for municipalities, as well as lowering the minimum — not the maximum — fine that can be assessed to cities that have so-called “sanctuary city” policies. It also restructured some of the punitive actions that a court would apply to those charged under the new law.

Representatives of the law enforcement community say the changes significantly alter the way police would have to enforce the law and the way they would be accountable for doing so.

Lyle Mann, who runs the day-to-day operations of the Arizona Peace Officers Safety and Training Board (AZPOST), said the fine points of the trailer bill are vital to the street-level execution of the new law. His group, incidentally, has been tasked by the governor with turning the provisions of the new law into a specific and manageable training rubric for police agencies across the state.

One of the changes to S1070 removes the word “solely” from the description of the new law’s lawful contact, when it comes to race. So, now race, color or ethnicity simply cannot be used as part of reasonable suspicion.

Mann said this is a huge simplification for his organization’s task, and should settle at least some of the fear over racial profiling. Now, his organization will simply be able to tell police agencies to have their officers understand that race is not a reason to initiate contact.

“It should quell the fears that a lot of people have vocalized,” Mann said. “This will make the training and policymaking much clearer and simpler.”

H2162 also narrows what is banned at the county, city and municipality level, changing it from a “policy or practice” to just a “policy” preventing police officers from using the new immigration law to its fullest extent.

With the independence that police officers rely on, Mann said, management of their activities is nearly impossible. So their “practices” are made at the officers’ discretion. The officers are trained, though, to rely on the “policies” their agency set.

“A ‘policy’ is the written instruction that tells officers how a task is to get done. ‘Practice’ is the actual activity carried out in support of that policy,” Mann said. “So the city of Phoenix might have 3,000 officers on the street. It’s much more difficult to control how those officers carry out their practices.”

Removing the words “or practices” from the new law goes a long way in protecting police agencies from lawsuits and fines, Mann said, because AZPOST will give guidelines, cities will turn those guidelines into “policy,” and the cities then would not be at the mercy of litigation coming from any resident who feels like the police agency isn’t enforcing the law to the fullest extent.

In addition, Jones said Pearce agreed to lower the fines assessed to local governments that violate the law. In S1070, a local government or agency initially could have been fined between $1,000 and $5,000 per day if an Arizona resident filed suit against them in Superior Court.

Jones wanted the fines cut in half, because he thought those numbers were arbitrary. Pearce only met him part of the way.

Instead of lowering both the maximum and minimum per-day fines, Pearce kept the $5,000 maximum and changed language in H2162 that would lower the minimum fines to $500 per day from $1,000 per day.

“Pearce says he thinks it’s important to have a sanction,” Mann said. “So you have to say, ‘OK, what’s a reasonable sanction? Do you get a better outcome with a bigger sanction?’ And you have to remember, if the city of Phoenix gets fined $1 million, they can’t open parks, they can’t operate their libraries, they take that money from schools. (Jones) is saying you can get the same compliance with half those numbers.”

Nancy Jo Merritt, who has 32 years of experience as an immigration attorney, said she understands why Jones and the law enforcement agencies would be so concerned over these small changes.

“This law is going to be so hard to comply with, so why make the punishments so harsh?” she said. “It’s like the assumption is the only way to get cities to follow this law is by threatening them with the death sentence.”

The last change outlined in H2162 concerned a phrase that said lawful contact can include an officer’s use of the new immigration law “in the enforcement of any other law or ordinance of a county, city or town or this state.”

Rep. Kyrsten Sinema, a Democrat from Phoenix, harped on this new phrase, saying it will mean that law officers will be able and compelled to check the status of a person, even if the police officer were responding to some sort of civil town ordinance, like an overgrown lawn, a fence in disrepair or a barking dog.

Sinema said police officers could previously only use the new immigration law when they encountered someone during the enforcement of a criminal or civil traffic violation, and that this will expand the way police officers could contact, then detain people while checking their federal immigration status.

Pearce denied that this change means much, and said police would already have been able to use the new law when making contact with a person for such civil ordinances. He said this new language was only added to further clarify the way police are authorized to use the new immigration law.

Mann of AZPOST agreed with Pearce, saying police officers would have the ability to use the new immigration law during any type of contact with any person, regardless of this new language.

“Police officers do this every day. It’s called a ‘Terry Stop,’ after the Terry v. Ohio case,” Mann said. “Let’s say there are some guys playing basketball in a park. The officer walks up and says, ‘Hey guys. How’s it going?’ That’s lawful contact. It’s a standard voluntary stop.”

Pearce said the changes in H2162 were something he agreed to, in order to get the votes he needed, and that he thinks he lived up to his bargain.

“I wasn’t excited about it, but we did it,” Pearce said. “(Jones) ought to be happy with the changes, I kept my word.”

Brewer Signs SB 1070; most fascist in nation.

Thus begins 90 days of mass civil disobedience in protest...Arizona's Freedom Summer. Jan Brewer just became our George Wallace. Once school is out, this state becomes ground zero for the biggest civil rights demonstrations in a generation...

ROCK ON!! 


DEFY SB 1070!!!

--------------------------------------------------

Brewer signs far-reaching immigration bill; thousands protest

By Arizona Capitol Times Staff

Published: April 23, 2010 at 1:39 pm

Gov. Jan Brewer today signed a sweeping immigration bill that would make it a crime under state law to be in the country illegally.

Her announcement punctuated the tension at the state Capitol and as far away as Tucson, where thousands protested S1070, regarded as one of the country’s toughest anti-illegal immigration bills.

Earlier in the day, President Barack Obama president called the bill “misguided,” saying it could violate people’s civil rights and said the federal government must step up immigration reform to avoid states passing what he called similar irresponsible bills.

Brewer said the bill will make Arizonans safer and stressed that it mirrors provisions in federal immigration law that ensure civil rights.

“I will not tolerate racial discrimination or racial profiling in the state of Arizona,” she said. “My signature today represents my steadfast support for enforcing the law.”

Romley to Brewer: VETO SB 1070.

This is remarkable. 

This takes courage, Mr. Romley. 

Thank you.

-----------------------------

Rick Romley to Governor: Veto Immigration Bill; Interim County Attorney Says He'll Enforce Law as Obligated

By Ray Stern,  

Phoenix New Times

Thursday, Apr. 22 2010 @ 11:11AM

 

The harsh anti-illegal-immigrant law before Governor Jan Brewer is "tearing our community apart" and should be vetoed, Interim Maricopa County Attorney Rick Romley said today.

Romley, in his first major news conference since replacing Andrew Thomas, said that besides the negative consequences in Valley neighborhoods, he also has "significant" legal and policy concerns about the bill, which would make being in the country illegally a state crime.

Romley referred to his office's aggressive prosecution of Frank Roque, who shot a Sikh Indian store owner in Mesa back in 2001 after the 9/11 attacks. Community members' emotions ran high after the terror attacks, but putting Roque behind bars sent a strong statement that violence wasn't the way to respond. Similarly, the harsh proposal passed by the Arizona Legislature is the wrong way to address the problem of illegal immigration, he said.


If the bill becomes law, Romley acknowledged, he's "obligated" to enforce it. But he's worried it represents an unfunded mandate from the state and that it has the potential to generate abuses of civil rights.

For instance, he said, the bill requires someone who's arrested to be detained until their immigration status is determined.

"What if the computers break?" he wondered.

Romley also said he's still deciding whether his office will prosecute anyone for smuggling themselves into the United States.

Thomas put more than 1,000 immigrants in jail for about three months each under his court-sanctioned interpretation of the state's human smuggling law.

Click here for more about Romley's announcements today.

AZ Most Racist, Fascist in Nation?

One of several postcards that went out to the Governor today - I know it won't change her mind, but I thought she should know how we felt, anyway. I asked her to save us from the fascists taking over the Republican party. She may be our only hope.


Did everyone hear that Russ Pearce would like to be Sheriff if Arpaio steps down?

Thank god for the young people of this state. Sooner or later they're going to get those kinds of people out of power and set things here straight.

Chomsky on Fascism; VETO SB 1070.

I will have more on yesterday's Capitol protest later; this seemed relevant, though. Chomsky describes the Tea Party contingent well. They were there yesterday - indistinguishable from JD supporters, hundreds of ranchers, and rabid anti-immigrant forces. Hundreds of them, all told. And maybe 25 of us, mostly youth of color. Our opposition has no foundation for their claims, so they just called us names ("losers", "idiots") and told us to "go back to Mexico" (I'm a direct descendant of the first Pilgrim Governor, actually, and carry Brigham Young's genes in my blood). 

Actually, I'm surprised I wasn't assaulted by one of the anti-immigrant  people, because they were so agitated that a few of the women chased after me screaming when I went by them with DREAM Act fliers ("how about the 'Go Home Act'?"). Terrified people are easily exploited by men like Pearce and Thomas, and they turn into vicious, vindictive, brutal, entitled, racist, fascist beings. 


Just watch what they do to us next - to both the migrants and their sympathizers. After yesterday's event, I wouldn't be surprised if Joe Arpaio was elected as a Human Rights commissioner or something by AZ voters. As for us - I think we'll see lynching come back soon - or at least a surge in vigilantism/hate crime, police harassment, and abusive prosecutions against racial and political minorities in this state.


Boy, was there a lot of hate and fear on the State House lawns yesterday, and it wasn't coming from us. We know the arc of the universe bends towards justice - our kind, not theirs. We will work with her timeline. The Pearce/JD/Tea Party/White Supremacist crowd are the ones who are so afraid of the world out here that they have to carry guns everywhere - even though we're really the ones (the poor) who get gunned down the most.

SB 1070 passed the House and goes to the governor now, by the way.


This will be a dark era in Arizona's history. We might as well have segregated bathrooms and Jim Crow laws...


Actually, I guess we do. 


We are already the most fascist state in the country, and the lemmings here - all caught up in their own self-interest and privilege and fear - have no idea what has just been done to democracy...having forfeited the rights of others, we have forfeited our own.

All out of fear.

More people - US veterans, even - have been killed by the lack of health insurance this year than those killed by every single possible nuance of illegal immigration that can be milked from crime statistics. So, this has nothing to do with public safety or welfare, or Russ Pearce would have led the charge for health care reform and other things that really could save a lot of American lives. He's destroying the fabric of our Constitution instead - and the Republican Party is bending over backwards to help the likes of him. 

They're doing it because they know that under a true democracy they would have to share power. These people are convinced that not only do they not have to share anything, but that asking them to share any kind of resource, even in a  recession, is a direct assault on their liberty, livelihood, and even family. Thus the violent reaction to health care reform from this small segment of the community. They have intimidated their own party members into bowing down to fascism in the legislature.


That's pretty troubling, because that means that people like my grandpa and my dad, who are anti-racist at heart, despite being Republican white men, are being taken in by the flag-waving rhetoric and exploited to support things they would give their lives to fight against if they had even a clue of where we are heading. Hell, Dad already spent his life fighting this.

But even good people led astray can be capable of horrible things...there is nothing my dad wouldn't do to protect his family if we were under attack. We have to somehow make it harder for Pearce et al to turn our resistance to them into attacks on our neighbors, or we are all doomed.

--------------

Chomsky Warns of Risk of Fascism in America

By Matthew Rothschild, 

The Progressive 

April 12, 2010 

Noam Chomsky, the leading leftwing intellectual, warned last week that fascism may be coming to the United States.

“I’m just old enough to have heard a number of Hitler’s speeches on the radio,” he said, “and I have a memory of the texture and the tone of the cheering mobs, and I have the dread sense of the dark clouds of fascism gathering” here at home.

Chomsky was speaking to more than 1,000 people at the Orpheum Theatre in Madison, Wisconsin, where he received the University of Wisconsin’s A.E. Havens Center’s award for lifetime contribution to critical scholarship.

“The level of anger and fear is like nothing I can compare in my lifetime,” he said.

He cited a statistic from a recent poll showing that half the unaffiliated voters say the average tea party member is closer to them than anyone else.

“Ridiculing the tea party shenanigans is a serious error,” Chomsky said.

Their attitudes “are understandable,” he said. “For over 30 years, real incomes have stagnated or declined. This is in large part the consequence of the decision in the 1970s to financialize the economy.”

There is class resentment, he noted. “The bankers, who are primarily responsible for the crisis, are now reveling in record bonuses while official unemployment is around 10 percent and unemployment in the manufacturing sector is at Depression-era levels,” he said.

And Obama is linked to the bankers, Chomsky explained.

“The financial industry preferred Obama to McCain,” he said. “They expected to be rewarded and they were. Then Obama began to criticize greedy bankers and proposed measures to regulate them.

And the punishment for this was very swift: They were going to shift their money to the Republicans. So Obama said bankers are “fine guys” and assured the business world: ‘I, like most of the American people, don't begrudge people success or wealth. That is part of the free-market system.’

People see that and are not happy about it.”

He said “the colossal toll of the institutional crimes of state capitalism” is what is fueling “the indignation and rage of those cast aside.”

“People want some answers,” Chomsky said. “They are hearing answers from only one place: Fox, talk radio, and Sarah Palin.”

Chomsky invoked Germany during the Weimar Republic, and drew a parallel between it and the United States. “The Weimar Republic was the peak of Western civilization and was regarded as a model of democracy,” he said.

And he stressed how quickly things deteriorated there.

“In 1928 the Nazis had less than 2 percent of the vote,” he said. “Two years later, millions supported them. The public got tired of the incessant wrangling, and the service to the powerful, and the failure of those in power to deal with their grievances.”

He said the German people were susceptible to appeals about “the greatness of the nation, and defending it against threats, and carrying out the will of eternal providence.”

When farmers, the petit bourgeoisie, and Christian organizations joined forces with the Nazis, “the center very quickly collapsed,” Chomsky said.

No analogy is perfect, he said, but the echoes of fascism are “reverberating” today, he said.
“These are lessons to keep in mind.”

Matthew Rothschild is the editor of The Progressive magazine.