Whitehead- Looking Beyond Election Day: The Issues That Threaten to Derail the Nation

Looking Beyond Election Day: The Issues That Threaten to Derail the Nation October 31, 2012 By John W. Whitehead While it may be months before the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy can be fully resolved, Americans cannot afford to lose sight of the very real and pressing issues that threaten to derail the nation. What follows is an overview of the major issues that both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, despite their respective billion dollar war chests, have failed to mention during their extensive campaign trail stumping and televised debates. These are issues that aren’t going away anytime soon. Indeed, unless we take a proactive approach to the problems that loom large before us, especially as they relate to America’s ongoing transformation into a police state, we may find that they are here to stay. Militarized police. Thanks to federal grant programs allowing the Pentagon to transfer surplus military supplies and weapons to local law enforcement agencies without charge, police forces are being transformed from peace officers to heavily armed extensions of the military, complete with jackboots, helmets, shields, batons, pepper-spray, stun guns, assault rifles, body armor, miniature tanks and weaponized drones. As Paul Craig Roberts, former Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, observed, “Today, 17,000 local police forces are equipped with such military equipment as Blackhawk helicopters, machine guns, grenade launchers, battering rams, explosives, chemical sprays, body armor, night vision, rappelling gear and armored vehicles. Some have tanks.” In other words, what we are witnessing is an inversion of the police-civilian relationship. Drones. As mandated by Congress, there will be 30,000 drones crisscrossing the skies of America by 2020, all part of an industry that could be worth as much as $30 billion per year. These machines will be able to record all activities, using video feeds, heat sensors and radar. Some drones are capable of hijacking Wi-Fi networks and intercepting electronic communications such as text messages. SWAT team raids. With more than 50,000 SWAT team raids carried out every year on unsuspecting Americans for relatively routine police matters and federal agencies laying claim to their own law enforcement divisions, the incidence of botched raids and related casualties is on the rise. Nationwide, SWAT teams have been employed to address an astonishingly trivial array of criminal activity or mere community nuisances including angry dogs, domestic disputes, improper paperwork filed by an orchid farmer, and misdemeanor marijuana possession, to give a brief sampling. Suspect society. Due in large part to rapid advances in technology and a heightened surveillance culture, the burden of proof has been shifted so that the right to be considered innocent until proven guilty has been usurped by a new norm in which all citizens are suspects. This is exemplified by police practices of stopping and frisking people who are merely walking down the street and where there is no evidence of wrongdoing. Making matters worse are Terrorism Liaison Officers (firefighters, police officers, and even corporate employees) who have been trained to spy on their fellow citizens and report “suspicious activity,” which includes taking pictures with no apparent aesthetic value, making measurements and drawings, taking notes, conversing in code, espousing radical beliefs and buying items in bulk. TLOs report back to “fusion centers,” which are a driving force behind the government’s quest to collect, analyze, and disseminate information on American citizens. VIPR Strikes. Under the pretext of protecting the nation’s infrastructure (roads, mass transit systems, water and power supplies, telecommunications systems and so on) against criminal or terrorist attacks, VIPR task forces (comprised of federal air marshals, surface transportation security inspectors, transportation security officers, behavior detection officers and explosive detection canine teams) are being deployed to do random security sweeps of nexuses of transportation, including ports, railway and bus stations, airports, ferries and subways. VIPR teams are also being deployed to elevate the security presence at certain special events such as political conventions, baseball games and music concerts. Sweep tactics include the use of x-ray technology, pat-downs and drug-sniffing dogs, among other things. These stings inculcate and condition citizens to a culture of submissiveness towards authority and regularize intrusive, suspicionless searches as a facet of everyday life. Invasive surveillance technology. Police have been outfitted with a litany of surveillance gear, from license plate readers and cell phone tracking devices to biometric data recorders. Technology now makes it possible for the police to scan passersby in order to detect the contents of their pockets, purses, briefcases, etc. Full-body scanners, which perform virtual strip-searches of Americans traveling by plane, have gone mobile, with roving police vans that peer into vehicles and buildings alike—including homes. Coupled with the nation’s growing network of real-time surveillance cameras and facial recognition software, soon there really will be nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. USA Patriot Act, NDAA. America’s so-called war on terror, which it has relentlessly pursued since 9/11, has chipped away at our freedoms, unraveled our Constitution and transformed our nation into a battlefield, thanks in large part to such subversive legislation as the USA Patriot Act and National Defense Authorization Act of 2012. These laws completely circumvent the rule of law and the constitutional rights of American citizens, re-orienting our legal landscape in such a way as to ensure that martial law, rather than the rule of law—our U.S. Constitution—becomes the map by which we navigate life in the United States. Schoolhouse to jailhouse track. The paradigm of abject compliance to the state is being taught by example in the schools, through school lockdowns where police and drug-sniffing dogs enter the classroom, and zero tolerance policies that punish all offenses equally and result in young people being expelled for childish behavior. As a consequence, school districts are increasingly teaming up with law enforcement to create what some are calling the “schoolhouse to jailhouse track” by imposing a “double dose” of punishment: suspension or expulsion from school, accompanied by an arrest by the police and a trip to juvenile court. In this way, young people find themselves in an environment where they have no true rights and government authorities have near total power over them and can violate their constitutional rights whenever they see fit. Overcriminalization. In the face of a government bureaucracy consumed with churning out laws, statutes, codes and regulations that reinforce its powers and value systems and those of the police state and its corporate allies, we are all petty criminals, guilty of violating some minor law. In fact, the average American now unknowingly commits three felonies a day, thanks to an overabundance of vague laws that render otherwise innocent activity illegal and an inclination on the part of prosecutors to reject the idea that there can’t be a crime without criminal intent. Consequently, we now find ourselves operating in a strange new world where small farmers who dare to make unpasteurized goat cheese and share it with members of their community are finding their farms raided, while home gardeners face jail time for daring to cultivate their own varieties of orchids without having completed sufficient paperwork. This frightening state of affairs—where a person can actually be arrested and incarcerated for the most innocent and inane activities, including feeding a whale and collecting rainwater on their own property—is due to what law scholars refer to as overcriminalization. Privatized Prisons. At one time, the American penal system operated under the idea that dangerous criminals needed to be put under lock and key in order to protect society. Today, as states attempt to save money by outsourcing prisons to private corporations, imprisoning Americans in private prisons run by mega-corporations has turned into a cash cow for big business. In exchange for corporations buying and managing public prisons across the country at a supposed savings to the states, the states have to agree to maintain a 90% occupancy rate in the privately run prisons for at least 20 years. Such a scheme simply encourages incarceration for the sake of profits, while causing millions of Americans, most of them minor, nonviolent criminals, to be handed over to corporations for lengthy prison sentences which do nothing to protect society or prevent recidivism. Endless wars. Having been co-opted by greedy defense contractors, corrupt politicians and incompetent government officials, America’s expanding military empire is bleeding the country dry at a rate of more than $15 billion a month (or $20 million an hour)—and that’s just what the government spends on foreign wars. That does not include the cost of maintaining and staffing the 1000-plus U.S. military bases spread around the globe. Incredibly, although the U.S. constitutes only 5% of the world's population, America boasts almost 50% of the world's total military expenditure, spending more on the military than the next 19 biggest spending nations combined. In fact, the Pentagon spends more on war than all 50 states combined spend on health, education, welfare, and safety. Yet what most Americans fail to recognize is that these ongoing wars have little to do with keeping the country safe and everything to do with enriching the military industrial complex at taxpayer expense. Rise of the Imperial President. During his two terms in office, George W. Bush stepped outside the boundaries of the Constitution and assembled an amazing toolbox of powers that greatly increased the authority of the Executive branch and the reach of the federal government. Bush expanded presidential power to, among other things, allow government agents to secretly open the private mail of American citizens; authorize government agents to secretly, and illegally, listen in on the phone calls of American citizens and read our e-mails; assume control of the federal government following a “catastrophic event”; and declare martial law. Thus, the groundwork was laid for an imperial presidency, a state of affairs that continued after Barack Obama’s ascension to the Oval Office and one that will likely not improve, no matter who wins on Election Day, unless something is done to restore the balance between government and its citizens. WC: 1639 SHARE WITH A FRIEND CLICK HERE TO READ THIS COMMENTARY ONLINE Please visit www.rutherford.org/OnTarget to view Whitehead's weekly video commentaries.

ATTENTION NEWSPAPER EDITORS: A shorter version of this commentary is available here. Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His new book The Freedom Wars (TRI Press) is available online at www.amazon.com. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org John W. Whitehead’s weekly commentaries are available for publication to newspapers and web publications at no charge. Please contact marketing@rutherford.org to obtain reprint permission. Click here to download a print quality image of John W. Whitehead. Post Office Box 7482 Charlottesville, VA 22906-7482 Phone: 434-978-3888 Fax: 434-978-1789 Email: General Inquiries Legal Assistance Technical Comments

Copyright © 2012, The Rutherford Institute You are receiving this email because of your interest in the work of The Rutherford Institute. Founded in 1982 by constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead, The Rutherford Institute is a civil liberties organization that provides free legal services to people whose constitutional and human rights have been threatened or violated. The Rutherford Institute is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) tax exempt nonprofit organization. Donations to support The Rutherford Institute’s legal and educational work help to safeguard the constitutional rights and religious freedoms of all Americans. Donations are tax-deductible. In compliance with general industry standards of a nonprofit organization, the Institute is audited annually by an independent accounting firm.

Oppose CRPD in Social Media Today!

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October 31, 2012 Oppose CRPD in Social Media Today! As we alerted you yesterday, we need to oppose the CRPD through social media today. Post messages on your senators’ Facebook fan pages, and post messages (“tweets”) on Twitter as well, using the #CRPD or #UNCRPD hashtags in your message. You can find a list of several senators' Twitter names here. I know this is outside the “comfort zone” of a lot of us, but it is vital we get the message in front of the public and our policy makers today. Please put messages in your own words, but here are a few you can quote or use as a springboard to get you started: The #UNCRPD undermines #parentalrights for those with disabled children. Children are better protected through #parentalrights than the “best interests” principle of the #CRPD. #CRPD destroys parents’ rights and American sovereignty, does nothing for disabled Americans. Parents with disabled kids need support, not new bosses. Reject the #CRPD. US ratifying #CRPD will not force changes abroad or help disabled Americans. American law for Americans! Reject #CRPD. Support #parentalrights for disabled parents and parents with disabled kids. Support our vets: keep the American self-government they fought for. Reject the #CRPD. Thank you for joining us in this important social media campaign! Sincerely, Michael Ramey Director of Communications & Research

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Report on Parents with Disabilities and Their Children

From: Robyn Powell [mailto:RPowell@ncd.gov]
Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 11:04 AM
To: ABA Center on Children and the Law
Subject: Report on Parents with Disabilities and Their Children

Good afternoon,

On Thursday, September 27, the National Council on Disability (NCD), an independent federal agency, released "Rocking the Cradle: Ensuring the Rights of Parents with Disabilities and Their Children," a groundbreaking policy study, infused with real life stories of parents with disabilities, to provide a comprehensive overview of factors that support and obstruct Americans with all kinds of disabilities from exercising their fundamental right to begin and maintain families. If you have already received this, I apologize for the duplication and thank you for your ongoing support.

"Rocking the Cradle" explores the pervasive prejudices faced by parents with disabilities by exposing the disparate treatment often encountered by parents with disabilities and their children within court and service systems and offers draft model state and federal statutory language to correct the discrimination faced by parents with disabilities in the United States.  The full report is available on NCD's website at: http://www.ncd.gov/publications/2012/Sep272012/


Key findings from the report include:

*         Estimates indicate 6.1 million children in the U.S. have parents with disabilities - Nearly 1 in 10, almost 10% of the population.

*         Parents with disabilities are the only distinct community of Americans who struggle to retain custody of their children because of their status.

o   Removal rates of parents with psychiatric disabilities is as high as 70 - 80%

o   Removal rates of parents with intellectual disabilities is as high as 80%

o   Extremely high removal rates and loss of parental rights for parents with sensory or physical disabilities.

*         Parents with disabilities are more likely to lose custody of their children after divorce.

*         Prospective parents with disabilities have more difficulty when it comes to accessing reproductive health care such as assisted reproductive technologies.

*         Prospective parents with disabilities face significant barriers to adopting children.

*         In the face of numerous obstacles, hope remains with several programs that show promise, long-term sustainable impact and potential for replication. With more funding, model programs currently serving American parents with disabilities could easily grow and develop nationwide to better serve this often overlooked population.

In light of your related work with families, I thought you may be interested in this report and hoped you would be able to assist in dissemination.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like to discuss ways that we may collaborate on this important topic.

Thank you,
Robyn

Robyn M. Powell
National Council on Disability
1331 F Street NW, Suite 850
Washington, DC 20004
rpowell@ncd.gov <mailto:rpowell@ncd.gov>
202-236-9651

Liberty Quotes

"God grant me the courage not to give up what I think is right even though I think it is hopeless."-- Chester W. Nimitz
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Chester.Nimitz.Quote.B755

"To know what is right and not do it is the worst cowardice."-- Confucius [Kung Fu-tse] (551-479 B.C.)
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Confucius.Quote.2810

"I have found some of the best reasons I ever had for remaining at the bottom simply by looking at the men at the top."-- Frank Moore Colby
http://quotes.liberty-tree.ca/quote_blog/Frank.Colby.Quote.1C83

American Minute with Bill Federer Oct. 30 - "...they may change their rulers...but they will not obtain lasting liberty"- John Adams

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American Minute with Bill Federer Oct. 30 - "...they may change their rulers...but they will not obtain lasting liberty"- John Adams Join Bill Federer on a fact finding trip to Israel. Click Here       John Adams was born OCTOBER 30, 1735. A Harvard graduate, he was admitted to the bar and married Abigail Smith in 1764. When the Revolution started, John Adams recommended that George Washington be the Commander-in-Chief and that Thomas Jefferson pen the Declaration. John Adams authored Massachusetts' 1780 Constitution, and was U.S. Minister to France, where he signed the Treaty of Paris officially ending the Revolutionary War. While U.S. Minister to Britain, John Adams met with King George III, and helped ratify the Constitution by writing Defense of the Constitution of the Government of the United States.  John Adams was the first Vice-President, serving two terms under George Washington. In 1796, John Adams was elected the 2nd U.S. President. He established the Library of Congress and the Department of Navy. His son, John Quincy, became 6th President. In 1765, John Adams wrote A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law: "I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder, as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth." In his Braintree Instructions, John Adams wrote: "The late acts of Parliament...divest us of our most essential rights and liberties... The Stamp Act...a very burdensome, and...unconstitutional tax, is to be laid upon us... We are subjected to...penalties, to be prosecuted, sued for, and recovered, at the option of an informer, in a court of admiralty, without a jury... Business...would be totally impossible... That act...would drain the country of its cash, strip multitudes of all their property, and reduce them to absolute beggary... No freeman should be subject to any tax to which he has not given his own consent... In 1819, John Adams wrote to Jefferson: "Have you ever found in history, one single example of a nation thoroughly corrupted that was afterwards restored to virtue?...  And without virtue, there can be no political liberty... Will you tell me how to prevent luxury from producing effeminacy, intoxication, extravagance, vice and folly?...No effort in favor of virtue is lost." In Paris, John Adams wrote in his diary, June 2, 1778: "In vain are schools, academies, and universities instituted, if loose principles and licentious habits are impressed upon children in their earliest years... How is it possible that children can have any just sense of the sacred obligations of Morality or Religion if, from their earliest infancy...their fathers (are) in as constant infidelity to their mothers?" In Novanglus: A History of the Dispute with America, from its Origin, in 1754, to the Present Time, John Adams wrote: "It is the duty of the clergy...to preach against such sins as are most prevalent, and recommend such virtues as are most wanted... If exorbitant ambition and venality are predominant, ought they not to warn their hearers against those vices? If public spirit is much wanted, should they not inculcate this great virtue? If the rights and duties of Christian magistrates and subjects are disputed, should they not explain them, show their nature, ends, limitations, and restrictions, how much soever it may move the gall of Massachusetts." On June 21, 1776, John Adams wrote: "Statesmen...may plan and speculate for liberty, but it is Religion and Morality alone, which can establish the principles upon which freedom can securely stand. The only foundation of a free Constitution is pure virtue, and if this cannot be inspired into our people in a greater measure, than they have it now, they may change their rulers and the forms of government, but they will not obtain a lasting liberty." News from AmericanMinute.com Join Bill Federer on a fact finding trip to Israel. Click Here Exciting new book MIRACLES IN AMERICAN HISTORY    Receive the daily American Minute on your Facebook wall, Twitter feed, or RSS reader.  Visit the American Minute archive    Watch Bill Federer's TV program Faith in History   Obama's America 2016 Visit our website to download an MP3 version of the American Minute suitable as a radio PSA.   Click here to shop AMERICAN MINUTE store  Daily Reading: http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/readingplans/index.php/2012/10/30 Get a great book and help a great cause: James Nyondo's Absolute Integrity:   The Bridge to Your Destiny http://www.nasaf.net/book/  Please support the American Minute.  Click here to make a donation. Thank you! Use the Send to a Colleague link below to tell others about the American Minute or click Join Our Mailing List to sign up. American Minute is a registered trademark. Permission is granted to forward. reprint or duplicate with acknowledgement to vwww.AmericanMinute.com

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