Patriot Act/Shmatriot act ... Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act)

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Thu, 21 Oct 2004 01:42:47 -0000

Subject:Patriot Act/Shmatriot act ... Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz

(Enabling Act)

 

Patriot Act Shmatriot act ... Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling

Act)

 

I was doing a search about Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals and the Patriot

Act that stops law suits against this Pharmaceutical company for any

damages in their use of mercury in vaccinations when IO found this

" nice " comparison of the Patriot Act to Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz

(Enabling Act).

 

anyway here is a " nice " look at the Patriot Act:

 

 

Everthing you need to know about how the USA Patriot Act...

 

This page contains the followign articles on The USA Patriot Act:

1) How the Patriot Act Compares to the Ermächtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act)

2) A 21st Century Comparison of The Enabling Act and The Patriot Act

3) Ten Key Dangers of the Patriot Act

4) Bill Moyer's NOW Comments on the Patriot Act

5) The USA Patriot Act, A Legal Analysis by Charles Doyle (link to PDA

document)

 

Also: Read Alex Jones' breakdown of the USA Patriot Act

on the Rickie Lee Jones website CLICK HERE

 

1) How the Patriot Act Compares to Hitler's Ermächtigungsgesetz

(Enabling Act)

 

On March 23, 1933, the newly elected members of the Reichstag met in

the Kroll Opera House in Berlin to consider passing Hitler's

" Ermächtigungsgesetz " . The " Enabling Act " was officially called the

'Law for Removing the Distress of the People and the Reich.'

 

Opponents to the bill argued that if it was passed, it would end

democracy in Germany and establish a legal dictatorship of Adolf

Hitler. To soften resistance to the passing of the Enabling Act, the

Nazis secretly caused confusion in order to create an atmosphere in

which the law seem necessary to restore order.

 

On February 27, 1933, Nazis burned the Reichstag building, and a seat

of the German government, causing frenzy and outrage. They

successfully blamed the fire on the Communists, and claimed it marked

the beginning of a widespread terrorism and unrest threatening the

safety of the German " Homeland. " On the day of the vote, Nazi storm

troopers gathered around the opera house chanting, " Full powers - or

else! We want the bill - or fire and murder! "

 

The Nazis used the opportunity to arrest 4,000 communists. Not only

did the Nazis use the incident as a propaganda against communists but

they also arrested additional 40,000 members of the opposition.

Consequently, the Nazis had achieved their objective of eliminating

democracy and ensuring their majority in the parliament.

 

After the fire on February 28, 1933, president Hindenburg and Hitler

invoked Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution, which permitted the

suspension of civil liberties during national emergencies. Some

examples of this Decree of the Reich President for the Protection of

the People and State abrogated the following constitutional

protections: Freedom of the press, free _expression of opinion,

individual property rights, right of assembly and association, right

to privacy of postal and electronic communications, states´ rights of

self-government, and protection against unlawful searches and seizures.

 

Before the vote, Hitler made a speech to the Reichstag in which he

pledged to use restraint. He also promised to end unemployment and

promote multilateral peace with France, Great Britain and the Soviet

Union.

 

In order to accomplish all this, Hitler said, he first needed the

Enabling Act. Since this act would alter the German constitution, a

two-thirds majority was necessary. Hitler needed 31 non-Nazi votes to

pass it. The Center Party provided these votes after Hitler made a

false promise to them. Four hundred and forty votes were registered

for the Enabling Act, while a mere 84 votes were opposed – the social

Democrats. In glory the Nazi Party stood to their feet and sang the

Nazi anthem, the Hörst Wessel song. The German Democratic party had

finally been eliminated, and Hitler's dream for Nazi command became

closer to reality.

 

The Enabling Act granted Hitler the power he craved and could use

without objection from the Reichstag. Shortly after the passing of The

Enabling Act all other political parties were dissolved. Trade unions

were liquidated and opposition clergy were arrested. The Nazi party

had, as Hitler said, become the state. By August 1934, Hitler became

commander-in-chief of the armed forces. This was in addition to being

President and Führer of the German Reich, to whom every individual in

the armed forces pledged unconditional obedience. The Reichstag was no

longer a place for debate, but rather a cheering squad in favor of

whatever Hitler might say.

 

2) A 21st Century Comparison of The Enabling Act and The Patriot Act

 

Last September, German Justice Minister Herta Daeubler-Gmelin pointed

out that George Bush is using Iraq to distract the American public

from his failed domestic policies. She capped her statement by

reminding her audience: " That's a popular method. Even Hitler did

that. " What was lost in the reactions to Ms. Daeubler-Gmelin's

comments was that she wasn't comparing Bush to the Hitler of the late

1930s and early 1940s; but to the Hitler of the late 1920s and early

1930s.

 

Most Americans have forgotten that Hitler came to power legally. He

and the Nazi Party were elected democratically in a time of great

national turmoil and crisis. They themselves had done much to cause

the turmoil, of course, but that's what makes the Bush comparison so

compelling.

 

Similar to the Bush administration, the Nazis were funded and

ultimately ushered into power by wealthy industrialists looking for

government favors in the form of tax breaks, big subsidies, and laws

to weaken the rights of workers. When the Reichstag (Germany's

Parliament building) was set ablaze in 1933 (probably by Nazis), the

Nazis framed their political rivals for it. In the general panic that

followed, the German Parliament was purged of all left-wing

representatives who might be soft on communists and foreigners, and

the few who remained then VOTED to grant Chancellor Hitler dictatorial

powers. A long, hideous nightmare had begun.

 

History teaches us that it is shockingly easy to separate reasonable

and intelligent people from their rights. A legally elected leader and

party can easily manipulate national events to whip up fear, crucify

scapegoats, gag dissenters, and convince the masses that their

liberties must be suspended (temporarily, of course) in the name of

restoring order. Consider the following two statements, and see if you

can identify the authors.

 

Statement Number One: " The people can always be brought to the bidding

of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are

being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and

exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. "

 

Statement Number Two: " To those who scare peace-loving people with

phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid

terrorists, for they erode our national unity and diminish our resolve. "

 

The first statement is a quote from Hitler's right hand man, Hermann

Goering, explaining at his war crimes trial how easily he and his

fellow Nazis hijacked Germany's democratic government. The second

statement is a quote from Bush's right hand man, John Ashcroft,

defending the Patriot Act and explaining why dissent will no longer be

tolerated in the age of terrorism. If that doesn't send chills down

your spine, nothing will.

 

When the shooting started at Lexington Green in 1775, those calling

themselves patriots were the men and women who refused to yield their

rights to an increasingly oppressive government. Today, according to

John Ashcroft and his Patriot Act of 2001, a patriot is someone who

kneels down in fear, and hands over his or her rights to the

government in the name of fighting terrorism. Isn't the hypocrisy of

this all too obvious? The Bush administration wants us to fight in

Afghanistan, to fight in Iraq, and to fight wherever terrorists may be

hiding. And what, pray tell, are we fighting for? Well, according to

the White House, we're fighting for freedom. Yet freedom is exactly

what the White House is demanding that we now SURRENDER in the name of

fighting terrorism.

 

So what's really going on? Well, it's all a lie, of course. The Bush

administration isn't any more interested in protecting our freedom

from terrorists than Hitler was in protecting Germans from communists,

Jews, and all the other groups he scapegoated. The Bush administration

is fighting only to protect itself and its corporate sponsors. It

hides behind a veil of national security and behind non-stop war

headlines of its own creation. And behind that smokescreen, Bush, Inc.

is pursuing Hitler's old agenda from the 1920s and 1930s: serving the

interests of the corporate industrialists who brought it to power.

 

There is a name for governments that serve the interests of Big

Business at the expense of their own citizens: fascist. Here's a short

list of the rights we've already surrendered since the September 11

attacks. Most of these abuses are from a single piece of legislation

called the Patriot Act of 2001, which was rushed through Congress with

no debate in the aftermath of the attacks. Many of the Congressmen who

voted for it later admitted that they hadn't even read it at the time.

 

 

3) Ten Key Dangers of The Patriot Act

That Every American Should Know

 

No. 1: The government can conduct " sneak and peek " searches in which

agents enter your home or business and search your belongings without

informing you until long after.

 

No. 2: Government agents can force libraries and bookstores to hand

over the titles of books that you1ve purchased or borrowed and can

demand the identity of anyone who has purchased or borrowed certain

books. The government can also prosecute libraries and bookstores for

informing you that the search occurred or even for informing you that

an inquiry was made. According to ACLU staff attorney Jameel Jaffer,

such " searches could extend to doctors offices, banks and other

institutions which, like libraries, were previously off-limits under

the law. " Chris Finan, President of the American Booksellers group

adds: " The refusal of the Justice Department to tell Congress how many

times it has used its powers is even more unsettling because it

naturally leads to the suspicion that it is using them a lot. "

 

No. 3: Federal agents are authorized to use hidden devices to trace

the telephone calls or emails of people who are not even suspected of

a crime. The FBI is also permitted to use its Magic Lantern technology

to monitor everything you do on your computer--recording not just the

websites you visit but EVERY SINGLE KEYSTROKE as well.

 

No. 4: Government agents are permitted to arrest and detain

individuals " suspected " of terrorist activities and to hold them

INDEFINITELY, WITHOUTCHARGE, and WITHOUT an ATTORNEY. (That could be

you or me for sending or receiving this Email, by the way)

 

No. 5: Federal agents are permitted to conduct full investigations of

American citizens and permanent legal residents simply because they

have participated in activities protected by the First Amendment, such

as writing a letter to the editor or attending a peaceful rally.

 

No. 6: Law enforcement agents are permitted to listen in on

discussions between prisoners and their attorneys, thus denying them

their Constitutional right to confidential legal counsel.

 

No. 7: Terrorism suspects may be tried in secret military tribunals

where defendants have no right to a public trial, no right to trial by

jury, no right to confront the evidence, and no right to appeal to an

independent court. In short, the Constitution does not apply.

 

No. 8: The CIA is granted authority to spy on American citizens, a

power that has previously been denied to this international espionage

organization.

 

No. 9: In addition to the Patriot Act, the Bush administration has

given us Operations TIPS, a government program that encourages

citizens to spy on each other and to report their neighbors activities

to the authorities. It's EXACLTY the kind of thing for which we used

to fault East Germany and the Soviet Union, and for which we currently

fault Red China and North Korea. Fortunately, Operation TIPS (or

AmeriSnitch, as it's known to its many detractors) seems to have been

recalled to the factory--at least for now. (Incidentally, in a clever

variation of " two-can-play-at-that-game " , Brad Templeton has set up a

website at http://www.all-the-other-names-were-taken.com/tipstips.html

where you can report people you suspect of being informants for

Operation TIPS. It's an interesting and amusing site, well worth a look.)

 

No. 10: In the wake of Operation TIPS came something even worse: Total

Information Awareness. TIA is a program of the Defense Department that

when fully operational will link commercial and government databases

so that the DOD can immediately put its finger on any piece of

information about you that it wants. New York Times columnist William

Safire writes: " Every purchase you make with a credit card, every

magazine subscription you buy and medical prescription you fill, every

Web site you visit and e-mail you send or receive, every academic

grade you receive, every bank deposit you make, every trip you book

and every event you attend all these transactions and communications

will go into what the Defense Department describes as a virtual,

centralized grand database. " And that's not all. Who did our president

appoint to head the TIA? Who gets to be Big Brother himself? Why it's

none other than John Poindexter, a man convicted in 1990 on five

counts of lying to Congress, destroying official documents, and

obstructing congressional inquiries into the Iran-contra affair.

Another Hermann Goering, if there ever was one.

 

 

4) BILL MOYERS' NOW COMMENTS On THE PATRIOT ACT

At the same time the Bush administration is probing into your private

life, it is shielding itself from all public scrutiny. It has shredded

the Freedom of Information Act; it has locked away presidential

records not only of the current administration but of administrations

going all the way back to Reagan as well; and it has even locked up

George W. Bush's gubernatorial records so that the people of Texas

can't see what he did to them while serving as their governor.

 

Not surprisingly, the Bush administration is also using anti-terror

legislation and executive orders to protect its corporate sponsors

from scrutiny and from prosecution. The drug company Eli Lilly, for

instance, was recently granted immunity from all cases brought against

it-–even those initiated long before the war on terrorism--related to

a vaccine it manufactured that turned out to cause autism in many

children. (Eli Lilly contributed over $3 million in the last two

election campaigns.) The Bush administration also protected the Bayer

Corporation1s patent on the antibiotic Cipro throughout the anthrax

scare, whereas other countries, such as Canada, broke that patent so

that other companies could make cheaper versions of the drug in case

of emergency.

 

It is interesting to note that during WWII Bayer was part of the I.G.

Farben conglomerate, the top financial contributor to the Nazi Party.

I.G. Farben produced petrol and rubber for the Nazi war machine and it

manufactured the Zyklon B gas that was used to exterminate millions of

Jews and other " enemies of the state. " In exchange for these services,

the Nazis provided Farben (and Bayer) with lucrative government

contracts and with slave labor from concentration camps.

 

Under George W. Bush's kinder, gentler fascism, U.S. corporations are

now allowed to do business with the Homeland Security Department even

if they cheat the government out of vast amounts of tax revenues by

setting up offshore business fronts in the Caribbean Islands. It used

to be that tax-evaders were tracked down and punished. Now they're

rewarded with fat government contracts. Could the slave labor be far

behind?

 

If only this were the extent of the Bush administration's ramble down

the road to fascism. Way back in November of 2001, William Safire

accused the Bush administration of " seizing dictatorial power. " Well,

Mr. Safire, you ain't seen nothing yet. Just when you thought it

couldn't get any worse, just when you thought we can't lose any more

of our liberties and still call ourselves a " free society, " we learn

that the Bush administration wants to take away even more of our

rights. A secret document was just leaked out of John Ashcroft's

Justice Department and turned over to the Center for Public Integrity.

Titled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, this document

turns out to be a draft of new anti-terrorism legislation, a vastly

more muscular sequel to Patriot Act. If passed, it would grant the

executive branch sweeping new powers of domestic surveillance, and it

would eliminate most of the few remaining checks and balances that

protect us from tyranny.

 

It's the Patriot Act on steroids. Charles Lewis of the Center for

Public Integrity shared this document with Bill Moyers, who examined

it on NOW, his weekly PBS program. That episode aired Friday, February

7, yet even now no mainstream news broadcaster has picked up this

incredible story. Read the NOW transcript and see the document itself

online at http://www.pbs.org/now/. You can also read the Center for

Public Integrity's analysis of the document at

http://www.publicintegrity.org/.

 

Dr. David Cole, a Law professor at Georgetown University and author of

Terrorism and the Constitution assessed the document, saying, " I think

this is a quite radical proposal. It authorizes secret arrests. It

would give the Attorney General essentially unchecked authority to

deport anyone who he thought was a danger to our economic interests.

It would strip citizenship from people for lawful political associations. "

 

" Secret arrests " ? Did we hear that right? It seems that the Homeland

Security Department (HSD) is about to become the KGB. The first

Patriot Act already allows for people to be locked up indefinitely

without a lawyer and without being charged with a crime. If Patriot

Act II passes, then arrests would also be secret. That means that

dissenters (or anyone else, for that matter) could disappear without a

trace, just as they did in Nazi Germany, in Stalinist Russia, and in

Pinochet's Chile.

 

Patriot Act II would also grant even more immunity to Big Business. A

corporation could pour toxins into your local river, for instance, and

you wouldn't know about it until all the fish died and your neighbor's

kids were born with missing limbs. And then when you went to court and

demanded to know what

 

the company was dumping in your river, the company could deny you that

information on the grounds that it's a national security secret.

JimHightower put it this way: " All a company has to do to shield

anything it wants to keep from the public eye--say, an embarrassing

chemical spill--is give the documents to the Homeland Security

Department and call them " critical infrastructure information. "

 

Ah, but there's even more to be concerned about here. The document was

created back in early January, but so far it appears that the only

members of Congress who even know of its existence are House Speaker

Dennis Hastert and Vice-president Dick Cheney. (The Vice-president

presides over the Senate, which makes him a member of the legislative

branch as well as the executive branch.) This raises a troubling

question: Why has the White House been sitting on this bill for a

month? If the CEOs down at Bush, Inc. really believe that they need

these broad new powers to protect us from terrorists, why not roll out

that bill and start the debate? The answer is all too plain. In all

likelihood, the Bush administration was planning to avoid debate

entirely by springing this bill on the American people in the midst of

a perceived national crisis. Perhaps during the war with Iraq, for

instance. Or perhaps in the aftermath of the next terrorist attack. Or

perhaps right after the Reichstag fire.

 

Had some courageous soul not leaked this document out of the Justice

Department, the White House might easily have succeeded in passing it

through Congress without debate in the midst of our next perceived

national crisis, much as it did with the first Patriot Act in the

aftermath of the September 11 attacks. A thorough debate of this bill

right now, under fairly stable circumstances, would defuse it and

prevent its passage even under more frightening circumstances later

on. There's just one problem. The debate can't begin until more

Americans know about this bill, but so far the Washington Post is the

only major news outlet to even MENTION this story since Bill Moyers

broke it on Friday night.

 

Here's what you can do to help

First, forward this email to everyone you know. Second, send an email

to the Center for Public Integrity and to the producers of NOW

thanking them for breaking this story. Here's a sample message that

you can use or modify:

 

I am writing to express my heartfelt thanks and admiration to the

Center for Public Integrity, to Bill Moyers, to the producers of NOW,

and especially to the brave unnamed patriot who valued the Bill of

Rights over his or her own personal well-being and, at great personal

risk, leaked a draft of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003

out of the Justice Department.

 

Sincerely,(Your name, city, and state.)

 

Center for Public Integity: feedback.

NOW with Bill Moyers: now.

 

 

http://www.furnitureforthepeople.com/actpat.htm