Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) recently sponsored H.R. 1955, the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007, which reads in part:
“(1) Examine and report upon the facts and causes of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States, including United States connections to non-United States persons and networks, violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in prison, individual or `lone wolf’ violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence, and other faces of the phenomena of violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence that the Commission considers important.”
State control of the internet and restricting the First Amendment are favorite pastimes of radical, pro-Iraq war lawmakers like Rep. Jane Harman.However,if Harman were truly concerned with protecting America, first she would’ve done research into the subject of homegrown terrorism and the government’s response to it. If she had, Harman would’ve discovered the U.S. already has extensive laws on the books that address criminal conspiracy and since the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the Justice Department has been applying broadly (many civil liberty advocates say far too broadly), in President Bush’s so-called war on terror.
The definitions in H.R.1955 swerve dangerously into thought crime territory.
Do you have a “I Love my Country, It’s the Government I Hate” bumper sticker on your car? Under H.R. 1955, you’re automatically a homegrown terrorist. Do you wear a “Proud Anarchist” of a “Che Guevara” T-shirt? Under H.R. 1955, you’re become an enemy of the state. Or maybe you fly a “Bring the Troops Home” flag in your frontyard? Or you have an “Impeach Bush” button on your backpack? Under H.R. 1955, you’re a homegrown terrorist.
Lawmakers like Rep. Jane Harman have intentional fuzzy memories. The people who carried out the terrorist attacks of 9/11 weren’t Americans — they were Saudi nationals. Yet, H.R. 1955 does nothing to protect Americans from foreigners who wish to harm us. Instead, H.R. 1955 is a cynical attack on the United States Constitution and the Bill of Rights. H.R. 1955 shoots an arrow into the heart of the America’s soul.
9 Comments
+ at 2:37 pm
Why am I not surprised at this?
Harman represents California’s 36th district, which includes Torrance and El Segundo. Cities whose local economies depend on the military, industrial complex and the Iraq war.
Harman is a piece of work. She now claims she’s against the Iraq war and wants to troops deployed our of Iraq, yet her voting record is quite the opposite of this new stance. Not once has Harman opposed Bush on the war or voted against further funding to keep it going. She’s very much cut from the same clothe as Dianne Feinstein.
+ at 2:51 pm
Everytime I see Jane Harman on TV I think I’m looking at Cloris Leachmann. Is she Harman’s mother? Anyway, Harman is a nutcase who has a lot more in common with Joe Lieberman than Maxine Waters.
+ at 3:29 pm
Harman is an ass…period
always has been
+ at 3:46 pm
Everytime I see Jane Harman on TV I think I’m looking at Cloris Leachmann.
ROFL!
Or Cloris Leachman’s tampon. Jane Harman is a moron.
+ at 4:44 pm
A primer for Rep. Jane Harman to consider before she uses her position as a Congresswoman to overstep the boundaries of her job.
The United States Constitution
The Bill of Rights, the first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution, enumerates our basic civil rights:
First: Provides for freedom of worship, of speech, of the press, of assembly, and of petition to the government for redress of grievances.
Second: Grants the right to bear arms.
Third: Grants freedom from quartering soldiers in a house without the owner’s consent.
Fourth: Protects people against unreasonable search and seizure, a safeguard only recently extended to the states.
Fifth: Provides that no person shall be held for “a capital or otherwise infamous crime” without indictment, be twice put in “jeopardy of life or limb” for the same offense, be compelled to testify against himself, or “be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law.”
Sixth: Guarantees the right of speedy and public trial by an impartial jury in all criminal proceedings.
Seventh: Guarantees the right of trial by jury in almost all common-law suits.
Eighth: Prohibits excessive bail, fines and “cruel and unusual” punishment.
Ninth: “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.”
Tenth: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry?id=11484
+ at 5:03 pm
When Democratic members of congress act and behave like their Republican counterparts, I fear the final days of the USA are upon us.
+ at 6:27 pm
This is not a surprise but still angers and disappoints me.
+ at 8:06 am
I saw Jane Harman on CSPAN a few weeks ago and she looked like a junkie. Face drawn, jittery, nervous and very short tempered. I wondered what the hell was her problem? Diet pills? Coffee? Something more serious? Anyway, she gave me the creeps.
+ at 6:49 pm
There is hope that “Thought Crime Prevention Bill” will face a challenge by the people themselves; there’s a grassroots campaign going with several sites participating that could effectively shut-down Washington’s email and phone systems until the Bill is declared dead. The momentum is building, and everyday, more sites are joining in to pas this message along to others so they will know how to participate! You can find it at Op-Ed News at this link: http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_william__071202_how_to_make_a_grassr.htm