crossposted at
unbossed
A little taste of the way the Bush Administration and their network of Theocon Brownshirts (who else would have called the Secret Service?) are using our government to harrass the opposition, from the The Progressive
McCarthyism Watch
Renee Jensen of Elkins, West Virginia, likes to express herself.
She has put up as many as a dozen signs in her yard over the past year, protesting the war in Iraq, Bush and Cheney, and the crackdown on civil liberties.
Some of her signs have said:
"Mr. Bush, You're Fired."
"Mr. Ashcroft, We Prefer Our America Remain the Home of the Free and the Brave."
"Mr. Cheney, What You Sow You Shall Reap. Those Who Destroy the Earth Will Be Destroyed."
keep going to see what happened next ...
In the fall, the Secret Service gave her a call.
"They said they wanted to ask me some questions," she recalls. "I said sure. They said someone called them and said I had signs up in my yard that were threatening the President. I said I did have some signs in my yard, but I wasn't threatening the President. The worst I've ever said was that he's an Evildoer. And this Secret Service man specifically asked me about the sign about Mr. Cheney. He said, "That's from revelations." I said, "Yes, I have no desire to destroy anybody. I'm just quoting out of the Bible." His name, she said, was Agent Brian Atkins.
Then on January 11, she had some unexpected visitors.
"I was actually taking a nap, and there was a knock on my door, there was a West Virginia State Trooper and a Secret Service agent," she says, identifying them as Trooper R. J. Boggs and Agent James Lanham. "They asked to come in. And I let them. And they started interviewing me."
Now, there have been numerous reports of such visits. It's this next part that drives me nuts:
"They conducted an extensive interview about my background, my family, and any political organizations I belonged to," she says. "I told them I belong to the ACLU and that's about it."
NONE OF THIS IS ANY OF THEIR DAMNED BUSINESS!
They continued to pry, she says.
Agent Lanham "asked me several times to sign a form about releasing my medical records, and I refused," she says. "That was kind of annoying. And he asked to search my house. He didn't have a search warrant, but I said go ahead(?!?!?!). And they took some pictures of me and some pictures of my signs."
Before they left, she says, "I had to sign a statement that I never threatened the Presidentís life."
Why do people say yes?!?! These tactics will continue if people keep giving in, thinking "I've got nothing to hide." Asking to look around is a fishing expedition. If they have something for you to sign, tell them you won't until you have a lawyer. They will threaten you with greater scutiny, but you will also have documentation of their tactics.
JUST SAY NO!
oh, after you take the poll.