THIS IS AN URGENT ACTION ALERT:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

S 1959 "Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007" must be stopped at all costs.

Pick up your phone today and contact your US Senator's office to instruct them to vote "NO" on S.1959.

Click here for your Senators contact info:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Full PDF text of the bill:

http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/bills.text/110/s/s1959.p...

If this bill is passed, and becomes law, your words and actions could be considered terrorism. S 1959 EVISCERATES FREE SPEECH, and empowers the govt. to declare ANYTHING they deem an "extremist belief system", instantly make you a terrorist, resulting in stripping of US citizenship, torture, and/or execution, with no habeas corpus rights, no ability to challenge even in the US Supreme Court.

Contact your Senator and let them know they will be looking for another job if they vote yes on this bill, which is now introduced into the Senate as S.1959 THIS BILL **MUST NOT** BECOME LAW, PERIOD.

HR 1955
Track S 1959

If this becomes law, your words could be considered "promoting an extremist belief system", and all they have to say is that you are using PLANNED OR THREATENED *FORCE* (DOES NOT HAVE TO BE VIOLENCE) --FORCE by exposing CORRUPTION, CRIMINALITY against "THE CIVILIAN POPULATION OF THE UNITED STATES, *****OR ANY SEGMENT THEREOF" READ THE BILL MANY TIMES AND VERY CAREFULLY--YOU ARE THE TERRORIST (WHICH MEANS THEY CAN STRIP YOUR CITIZENSHIP, AND HAVE YOU TORTURED AND EXECUTED).

Senate is back in session today, do not hesitate, call, fax, email your Senator ASAP.

Click here for your Senators contact info:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

[blm]

1. thanks for bringing it, E_D.

.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

16. pdf link here.......

http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/bills.text/110/s/s1959.pdf

[Progressive Friend]

39. Democracy Now! has covered it:

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/11/20/1458214

[Progressive Friend]

48. National Lawyers Guild has denounced it

http://www.commondreams.org/news2007/1127-06.htm

[tekisui]

2. This bill is very very very bad for democracy and Us.

It is a big step in Fascist Shift.

[PDJane]

3. PDF link that works...........

http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/bills.text/110/s/s1959.pdf

[ElsewheresDaughter]

5. thank you

[99th_Monkey]

4. Gee, I'm sure glad we elected a "Democratic" Congress in '06

oh wait, virtually every Democrat in the House voted for this piece of unconstitutional crap.

This bill is the best case I've seen for a strong vibrant THIRD PARTY NOW!!

If this passed the House with a strong Dem. majority, how in blazes do you think it won't pass the Senate,
regardless of how many irate phone calls and letters they get?

I'll do what I can in terms of calls and emails, but man-oh-man this makes me very glad my passport is up-to-date.

[gateley]

6. Any suggestions on who we should contact in ADDITION to our Senators?

I don't have any faith that mine (Burr, Dole) would pay such a plea any heed.

I'm thinking all the Prez candidates - in the Senate or not - so they can use it as a talking point and bring awareness to this.

Any other ideas? Media?

[rockybelt]

35. How about

Countdown with Keith Olbermann?

[BadgerKid]

7. I was curious how McCarthyism ended

since it was before my time.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism#The_decline_of_McCarthyism

Ugh, the Supreme Court had to get involved.

Yes, this bill must be defeated!

[formercia]

8. Who is looking out for the Constitution in Congress?

Dennis is. Anybody else, or have they all sold out?


How about taking names?

[asdjrocky]

9. Thanks for the heads up! Will do.

I'm voting Edwards.

[seafan]

10. "Ideologically based violence"... like McVeigh, Eric Rudolph, Paul Hill, Pat Robertson.....?

...Or groups like Quakers, Raging Grannies, environmentalists, voting rights activists, civil rights activists, Code Pink, MoveOn, legal watchdogs, corruption whistleblowers and other angry-as-hell citizens?



Call your Congress members and demand they vote this down.



S. 1959: Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007

Introduced: Aug 2, 2007
Sponsor: Sen. Susan Collins

.....

SEC. 899A. DEFINITIONS.

`In this subtitle:

`(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission' means the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism established under section 899C.

`(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.

`(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism' means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

`(4) IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE- The term `ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs.

.....

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s110-1959




'Jus' a few more pieces a'this *conshtitushun* an' it'll be outta here, heh, heh, heh.'

[Progressive Friend]

36. Both the founding fathers and the abolitionist movement would have been targeted by this too

Because they were both more than willing to promote and use violence to accomplish their political and social goals.

[gateley]

11. It's already passed OVERWHELMINGLY in the House

Dennis voted against it (thank you, Dennis!) but I wonder if there's something there we're not seeing or don't understand that it received such strong support? Although admittedly, it's beyond my imagination as to what could be redeeming about this resolution.

EDIT to add - the House vote took place on October 23, FYI.

Current status

This bill has been passed in the House, with a vote of 404 to 6.<4> Twenty-two representatives missed the vote. The only six representative who voted against the bill were:

Jeff Flake, R-Arizona
Dana Rohrabacher, R-California
Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawaii
Jerry Costello, D-Illinois
Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio
John Duncan, R-Tennessee

The bill now goes on to be voted on in the Senate.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_House_Resolution_1955

[ElsewheresDaughter]

12. it was already PASSED by the House and is do for a vote in the Senate this week

[gateley]

13. Thanks - I was trying to find out when the Senate vote was coming up.

I've called my Senators and am going to call other Senators as well, MOST NOTABLY Clinton, Obama, Biden, Dodd.

[DemBones DemBones]

19. That's astounding, that Rohrabacher voted against it,

along with 2 other Republicans. Only three Dems voted against it so we did no better than the GOP.

I suppose the others thought that in voting for the bill, they were voting against violence but I think there are already plenty of laws against violence.

This looks like a way to stop free speech, protests, etc. Holding up a sign will be redefined as an act of violence, perhaps.

[gateley]

20. I can't imagine why so many Dems voted for it - I'm trying, but I'm just not

seeing a reasonable explanation.

[NoFederales]

14. Who is sponsoring/authoring/pushing this POS? nt

NoFederales

[DemBones DemBones]

18. Probably Mucho Federales.

:evilgrin:

[snappyturtle]

15. I couldn't get your PDF link to work so I searched on Thomas.gov

with the bill number: S 1959. I had read it previously and there was something I remembered about the word "political" being in the bill....here it is...it's very scary in my book:

"S.1959
Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007 (Introduced in Senate)

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



`SEC. 899A. DEFINITIONS.

`In this subtitle:

`(1) COMMISSION- The term `Commission' means the National Commission on the Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism established under section 899C.

`(2) VIOLENT RADICALIZATION- The term `violent radicalization' means the process of adopting or promoting an extremist belief system for the purpose of facilitating ideologically based violence to advance political, religious, or social change.

`(3) HOMEGROWN TERRORISM- The term `homegrown terrorism' means the use, planned use, or threatened use, of force or violence by a group or individual born, raised, or based and operating primarily within the United States or any possession of the United States to intimidate or coerce the United States government, the civilian population of the United States, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.

`(4) IDEOLOGICALLY BASED VIOLENCE- The term `ideologically based violence' means the use, planned use, or threatened use of force or violence by a group or individual to promote the group or individual's political, religious, or social beliefs."

Underlining is mine.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

17. here is a working pdf link...

sorry about that and I timed out for edit

http://www.govtrack.us/data/us/bills.text/110/s/s1959.pdf

[Pierogi_Pincher]

21. Left word w/ Biden's office;

called Kucinich's office whereupon a phone answerer could not explain the bill. I stated that I called being as he is a consideration for the Dem nominee and that he was one of only six reps to vote no re: HR 1955. Trying to understand the logic. Will call the other Dem candidates to voice an opinion. (I'm not 'getting' any of this.)

And, yes, THX for the heads-up.

P_P

[ElsewheresDaughter]

22. the House passed this bill last week while the news was totally "Ca's Wildfires"...so they.....

knew we wouldn't hear about it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxEiOrqNHHs

[L0oniX]

23. Nazis

[Progressive Friend]

24. And of course, Kucinich was one of only THREE Democrats in the House to vote against it

There is no real opposition party in this country.

[earth mom]

25. K & R & Done. nt

[ClarkUSA]

26. Done.

Thanks for the heads-up.

[bagrman]

27. Propaganda spuing internet will come under attack.

‘‘(3) The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and
21 the homegrown terrorism process in the United
22 States by providing access to broad and constant
23 streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United
24 States citizens.

[flvegan]

28. Be very mindful of which members of the Senate vote FOR this.

Any presidential campaign would lose my support over this.

Of course, I don't support any of them in the first place (and yeah, my candidate voted against it).

[AnotherDreamWeaver]

29. Webster's definition of "coerce"

I got to the second page, line 25 and went to the dictionary.
So folks, this is what they "DON'T" want us to do:
coerce, 1. to restrain or constrain by force, esp. by legal authority; curb 2. to force or compel to do something 3. to bring about by using force; enforce---

It is their 'legal authority' to impeach the liars who have criminally been placed in office, but they don't want to frog march them out of office... So they want a law to supress us from demanding they perform their job????

[balantz]

30. Why does this thread disappear from the site?

I couldn't find it and had to pull it up on my AOL search record.

[balantz]

31. It has appeared again.

Probably just my eyes.

[balantz]

32. I contacted my Senators again today.

Thanks for posting this. I wish it were getting more attention.

[MindPilot]

33. Oh goody! They can establish "Centers" to study Homegrown Terrorism

(Bolding mine)
Is is just me or does the "Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States" sound like a polite euphemism for "re-education camp" or plain ol' "detention facility"? Nothing to see here, just some experiments being performed on some domestic terrorists.


`SEC. 899D. CENTER OF EXCELLENCE FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENT RADICALIZATION AND HOMEGROWN TERRORISM IN THE UNITED STATES.

`(a) Establishment- The Secretary of Homeland Security shall establish or designate a university-based Center of Excellence for the Study of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism in the United States (hereinafter referred to as `Center') following the merit-review processes and procedures and other limitations that have been previously established for selecting and supporting University Programs Centers of Excellence. The Center shall assist Federal, State, local and tribal homeland security officials through training, education, and research in preventing violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism in the United States. In carrying out this section, the Secretary may choose to either create a new Center designed exclusively for the purpose stated herein or identify and expand an existing Department of Homeland Security Center of Excellence so that a working group is exclusively designated within the existing Center of Excellence to achieve the purpose set forth in subsection (b).

`(b) Purpose- It shall be the purpose of the Center to study the social, criminal, political, psychological, and economic roots of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism in the United States and methods that can be utilized by Federal, State, local, and tribal homeland security officials to mitigate violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism.

`(c) Activities- In carrying out this section, the Center shall--

`(1) contribute to the establishment of training, written materials, information, analytical assistance and professional resources to aid in combating violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism;

`(2) utilize theories, methods and data from the social and behavioral sciences to better understand the origins, dynamics, and social and psychological aspects of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism;

`(3) conduct research on the motivational factors that lead to violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism; and

`(4) coordinate with other academic institutions studying the effects of violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism where appropriate.

[davekriss]

44. Sounds more like they're setting up...

...an internally-facing School of the Americas.

Note "the establishment of training, written materials, information, analytical assistance and professional resources to aid in combating violent radicalization and homegrown terrorism". Are there going to be classes in the basics of waterboarding? Or how to infiltrate, blackmail, discredit, and even murder the leaders of "radical" labor movements? Why not, that's what we were teaching (still teach) at School of the Americas.

When Bush took office in 2001 and appointed people like Elliott Abrams and John Negroponte to positions of power, I wondered out loud how long it would be before they turned their science of terror directly onto U.S. citizens. Looks like those days have come.

[MindPilot]

46. You may be right, and that makes me wonder how closely aligned

these "Centers" would be with Blackwater and other private security firms. I suspect they will be one in the same

[davekriss]

47. And with the Haliburton contingency

The $385 million to build detention camps to house in-rushes of illegal aliens and "other programs", the latter left conveniently undefined. What is that for? And mow this COE to study how best to "combat" internal "violently radicalized" and "homegrown terrorists" -- sure sounds like Bush looks at U.S. citizens as the enemy. What could he be planning, or what does he expect to happen, that he'd need to come down with an iron, jack-booted heel on the necks of the American people?

I'll be soooooooo glad when this petty dictator is out of office.

[rockybelt]

34. Done and done n/t

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

37. Done.

[santamargarita]

38. These criminals are planning more atrocities on the American People!

More Government acts of terrorism are coming our way. In addition, the economy will fall after the first of the year and these fascist pigs think an unconstitutional law will prevent the America people from speaking out. This makes about as much sense as they do!

[sarcasmo]

40. USA, USA, USA, I love the USA, USA, USA,

Just so my Government has it on record.

[Mr_Jefferson_24]

41. When they start rounding people up using this soon to be law...

...as their justification the apprehended will be without ANY rights. If the State's not satisfied with your answers they can just hold you -- INDEFINITELY. Ten years ago I'd have said this won't work here -- I don't say or think that now.

[benld74]

42. done

[ElsewheresDaughter]

43. back to the front page with you

[FREEWILL56]

45. I notified Casey of Pa to vote against this and will also notify Specter

[balantz]

49. Why does this issue of great importance

get so little attention here at DU?