~v»c_¢~c-.-v.—v.: Good legal advice can make all the difierence. V Langrock Sperry & Wool takes PRIDE in contributing to the advance in civil rights for gay and lesbian citizens, and to making our state a better place for all Vermonters. Langrock Sperry & Wool offers the services of 22 lawyers with over 300 years combined experience in all areas of the law including two lesbian attorneys with special expertise serving the legal needs of the g/I/b/t/q community Roiifivson With ollices in Middlebury and Burlington Middlebury (802) 388-6356 Burlington (802)864-0217 smurray@langrockcom brobinson@langrock.com Langrock Sperry & Wool, LLP Arronuns AT Law out in the mo lam slmlutu, Iln Ivllutlorulst 802-345-2948 or 453-5411 Sleep better, ‘Lose Weight, Conquer Fears and Phobias, Control Habits, Manage Stress A Q3!-‘I “- n 5 Views: Here We Go Again the USA PATRIOT Act was passed, without having ever been read by any Congressman or Senator. the first step to the pro- gressive dismantling of the US Constitution was under way. Rights of personal privacy gone. the freedom of the corporate- owned press was under tight scnitiny. various books considered unpatriotic were banned from libraries and schools across the country. Meanwhile. the spindoc- tors from DC have much of the public so paralyzed with fear that they are willing to give up their rights in order to “be protected." I realize that I'm not the only person to see how ludicrous our government has become. But I‘m tenified to think that I‘m still in the minority. Since the I860s it has been a requirement in the United States to teach history in public schools. However. history was not added to the curriculum to teach factual knowledge of past events. it was added to teach patriotism. So it comes as no surprise that so few people look at what direction the US is headed without becoming painfully aware that all these events have happened before. For example. as a result of the US entering WWI. in I9I7 Congress passed and Woodrow Wilson signed the Espionage Act. which was sold to the public as a protection for the US from foreign spies. The provisions under the Espionage Act were identical to the PATRIOT Act, with just a few time-appropriate adjustments to allow wire tapping and invading personal email. And just like now, in WW1 the public as a whole sat complacently by feeling “protect- ed” from foreign spies. Those who did speak out about the egregious violations of Constitutional rights were jailed for an average of 20 years, and in some cases for life. A similar act was also imposed during WWII. the Korean and Vietnam Wars, and of course, now. No threats from foreign spies or terrorists have ever been thwart- ed by enacting such laws. And indeed, the PATRIOT Act has also done absolutely nothing to protect the average citizen from terrorism. In October of 2001. right after In fact “homeland security“ has resulted in a huge loss of police throughout the nation. because many police officers also serve in the guard and have been sent to the Middle East to kill innocent Iraqis for oil and, of course. Jesus In one chapter of Mein Kampf (My StruggIe).Adolf Hitler described how to control the heans and minds ofa society as "quite simple“: “One must create a propa- ganda campaign that is simplistic enough for the masses to compre- hend. and it must be repeated con- tinuously until it is believed as fact. Truth is merely secondary. When the masses are in syn- chronicity. the leader must single out an enemy and dehumanize them in order for the masses to focus their hatred towards them." Sound familiar? Many may not be aware of this but Hitler used Christianity to incite hatred for the Jews. much like Bush is using Christianity to incite fear and hatred towards Muslims. The similarities get even more disturbing. In order to gain full control of the Gennan govem- ment, the NAZI party burned the Reichstag on February 27, I933. They blamed the fire on the com- munist party, and Hitler pressured Hindenburg into appointing him Chancellor. Hitler and the Nazi party consequently passed the Enabling Act. an exact parallel to the USA PATROIT Act. All civil rights were suspended, freedom of the press was abolished, personal privacy ceased to exist, and anyone who opposed the act was guilty of treason. And the Enabling Act was sold to the German public as a “protection from any further terror- ist acts.” We all know how that story ends. In October of 200] I had some bumper stickers printed: "Mao. Stalin. Hitler. Bush — Will we ever learn?" Although some people have purchased them. many others reacted with extreme anger. I was screamed at. called a traitor. seditious. had my car windows broken. etc. What is most shocking to me is that some of those who took the time to calmly register a verbal compliant. accused me of. among other things. being para- noid and insane. Of course many feel that my refusal to bow down to the new King George eliminated my constitutional rights. I was now a traitor to my country because I refuse to support the actions of a murderous Texan. The tmly shocking and disturbing thing is that we live in a country where we'll try to impeach a president for lying about a blow- job. but a president who lies about a cause for war. and is responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people in a sovereign nation is considered perfectly acceptable. And in fact he is suspi- ciously reelected. If there was ever a time for a national outcry for impeach- ment. it‘s now. Or are we just des- tined by pure ignorance and stu- pidity to just keep recreating the past? All dictators throughout history with a quest for world domination ended in total failure with massive loss of lives. We're once again headed in the same direction. The only difference is. in past wars the madman at the helm didn't have nuclear weapons at his disposal. If there was ever a time to get involved. it's now! V Paul Cook is an activist / writer / comedian and a contributor to Frontiers Magazine and The Progressive. He lives in Burlington.