The Power of One

"Hitler induced a confused and frightened Hindenburg to sign a decree euphemistically called, 'For the Protection of the People and State,' suspending all of the basic rights of citizens and imposing the death sentence for arson, sabotage, resistance to the decree, and disturbances to public order. Arrests could be made on suspicion, and people could be sentenced to prison without trial or the right of counsel. The suspension was never lifted throughout the entire period of Nazi rule, and the decree of February 28th destroyed fundamental guarantees under the Weimar democracy."

Now why would I bring up this little bit of History?

SEC. 605. THE UNIFORMED DIVISION, UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE.

(a) In General- Chapter 203 of title 18, United States Code, is amended by inserting after section 3056 the following:

`Sec. 3056A. Powers, authorities, and duties of United States Secret Service Uniformed Division

`(a) There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the `United States Secret Service Uniformed Division'. Subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security, the United States Secret Service Uniformed Division shall perform such duties as the Director, United States Secret Service, may prescribe in connection with the protection of the following:"

And there is more:

From the ACLU Overview:

"The Department of Justice (DOJ) has been drafting comprehensive anti-terrorism legislation for the past several months. The draft legislation, dated January 9, 2003, grants sweeping powers to the government, eliminating or weakening many of the checks and balances that remained on government surveillance, wiretapping, detention and criminal prosecution even after passage of the USA PATRIOT Act, Pub. L. No. 107-56, in 2001.

Among its most severe problems, the bill

Diminishes personal privacy by removing checks on government power, specifically by

• Making it easier for the government to initiate surveillance and wiretapping of U.S. citizens under the authority of the shadowy, top-secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. (Sections 101, 102 and 107)
• Permitting the government, under certain circumstances, to bypass the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court altogether and conduct warrantless wiretaps and searches. (Sections 103 and 104)
• Sheltering federal agents engaged in illegal surveillance without a court order from criminal prosecution if they are following orders of high Executive Branch officials. (Section 106)
  

Diminishes public accountability by increasing government secrecy; specifically, by

• Authorizing secret arrests in immigration and other cases, such as material witness warrants, where the detained person is not criminally charged. (Section 201)
• Threatening public health by severely restricting access to crucial information about environmental health risks posed by facilities that use dangerous chemicals. (Section 202)
• Harming fair trial rights for American citizens and other defendants by limiting defense attorneys from challenging the use of secret evidence in criminal cases. (Section 204)
• Gagging grand jury witnesses in terrorism cases to bar them from discussing their testimony with the media or the general public, thus preventing them from defending themselves against rumor-mongering and denying the public information it has a right to receive under the First Amendment. (Section 206)

Diminishes corporate accountability under the pretext of fighting terrorism; specifically, by

• Granting immunity to businesses that provide information to the government in terrorism investigations, even if their actions are taken with disregard for their customers' privacy or other rights and show reckless disregard for the truth. Such immunity could provide an incentive for neighbor to spy on neighbor and pose problems similar to those inherent in Attorney General Ashcroft's "Operation TIPS." (Section 313)"

And so much more. Read the whole thing.Then go read the whole Patriot Act

Now comes the big question of the day... What can one person do about this? What can you do about this? Let us never forget the power of one person.

• One person fired the shot that started WWI.
• One person wrote the Declaration of Independence.
• One person refused to give up her seat on a bus.
• One person resisted British Imperialism in India with a hungerstrike.

A little over a year ago I was arguing with an ex-girlfriend of mine about the state of the Nation and the World. She posed the same question that I pose here.

"What can one person do about it?" I responded, "I don't know, but I am going to find out."

It has been a year. 100's of thousands of people have seen my work in the last year. The videos, banners, and of course, the writings that I have put here have reached a great many people. Have I done anything that has resulted in any real change? I honestly don't know. But a year ago my email was filled with hate letters and insults. Now I get a few thank you's and a lot of tips to information I haven't covered yet. I've done all that you have seen at Blasted Reality
and here at A Post Apocalyptic by myself. One person was able to touch a 100,000+ people in a year and spread the truth to them. Now for the best part. I am only getting started.

What can you do? There is no limit to that question. You can run for office. Get involved in local groups. Set up your own alt media website. Write letters to your local paper. Call your Representatives. The list goes on forever, all that matters is that you do something. It is not too late to fix this country. It is only to late to fix it from your couch while watching tv. If you don't do something now it will be too late to fix it peacefully. MAlcolm X talked about the "Ballot or the Bullet". Well, we are there now and the balllot has become corrupted. We either repair that recourse or we must accept that the alternative is the only option. I hope we can repair rather than revolt. But it isn't up to me... It's up to you.