Chilling Free Speech- From The Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) And The Smedley Butler Brigade Of Veterans For Peace (VFP)- "Big Brother" Is Watching

Chilling Free Speech- From The Massachusetts American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) And The Smedley Butler Brigade Of Veterans For Peace (VFP)- "Big Brother" Is Watching

Markin comment:

Just in case anyone thought the National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA) provisions for extensive detention, etc. were a fluke listen up-Big Brother is watching! Watching closely We are NOT paranoid.
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Meeting at ACLU offices regarding surveillance of peace groups
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From : Pat Scanlon
Subject : Meeting at ACLU offices regarding surveillance of peace groups
Reply To : Pat Scanlon
Wed, Mar 28, 2012 12:08 PM

Hi Smedleys,

Yesterday a small group of us met with Kade Crockford at the ACLU offices to review surveillance video tapes taken by the Boston police of area peace groups and Occupy Boston. The ACLU requested information on surveillance, including these tapes of four peace groups in the boston area, MFSO, Code Pink, UJP and VFP. There was one more related to a demonstration at the Israeli consolate. As it turned out a lot of what we saw had to do with OB. We (VFP) were there but several tapes were clearly of OB.

The videos were taken by a uniformed police officer at many events, marches and gatherings of peace groups and OB. There were many that we watched that had to do with Occupy Boston and marches originating from Dewey Square or having to do with OB. The arrests in October were extensively filmed. We suspect that just like the seventeen minutes missing from the Nixon Watergate tapes, there was editing going on prior to the ACLU receiving the tapes. Some seem to cut out, just at a crucial moment, ie. actual hands on arrests being made. Regardless, though interesting and at times quite boring the tapes signify a certain degree of surveillance by the BPD. What is important is what was the purpose and what were those tapes used for.

The person taking these tapes was very visible, was in uniform, was in plain sight, everyone there clearly saw him and knew he was filming for the police. My question is where there others taking photos or filming, maybe from the FBI or Home Land Security that were not so obvious. The big question, what is being done with these films? Were there still photos also being taken?

As many of you know, when I was in the service I was in Military Intelligence (I know the great Oxymoron). When I got back from Vietnam I was stationed at Fort Holabird, in Dundalk Maryland, Headquarters US Army Intelligence. For a year and a half I worked in what was known as records repository. This was a huge single floor building that contained the dossiers (files) that were Army investigations on individuals, groups, companies etc. The vast majority of the investigations we saw were of military personal. But there were a significant number of investigations of non-military individuals, groups and companies.

This was the Army investigating these individuals, groups and companies. That was supposed to be illegal for the Army to be spying on civilians, but there it was. Most reports were accompanied by 8 X 10 glossy photos. For example, on college campuses there would be a demonstration, there would be a picture of a group at the demonstration, each head had a number above it. On the back of the photo was the number and a dossier file number relating to that individual. Keep in mind these were college students protesting the war. There would be an investigation on each person identified and that information would be in a file. I could tell you many stories related to this but I won't bore you, I think one is enough, you get the picture.

If they were doing that then, what do you think the FBI, Home Land Security and who knows who else is doing now. It is not the video tapes taken by the BPD that concerns me, it is more what is being done with those tapes and or pictures, and why? It is not the uniformed BPD officer taking the videos that are of much concern, it is those we could not identify, taking photos or films that result in investigations of individuals supposingly exercising their constitutional right to freedom of assembly.

Did the BPD follow up and conduct investigations of individuals identified in those films and photos? If they did, for what reason? I think these are the questions that the ACLU are trying to uncover and expose. I would suspect that what they received from the BPD may be the tip of the iceberg.


They also filmed their tactical planning session prior to the raid at Dewey Square's second site. I don't think they intended to send this video, but they did. This is interesting because it shows the behind the scene planning for the raid in October.

If anyone connected with OB wants to pass this information along to maybe the legal team at OB, they might be interested in viewing these films as well.

They can contact Kade Crodkford at the ACLU offices at 617-482-3170.
Have a great day,

Pat

From #Occupied Boston (#TomemonosBoston)-General Assembly-The Embryo Of An Alternate Government-Learn The Lessons Of History

Click on the headline to link to updates from the Occupy Boston website. Occupy Boston started at 6:00 PM, September 30, 2011. I will post important updates as they appear on that site.
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An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers! Drop All Charges Against All Protesters Everywhere!

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Fight-Don’t Starve-We Created The Wealth, Let's Take It Back! Labor And The Oppressed Must Rule!
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A Five-Point Program As Talking Points

*Jobs For All Now!-“30 For 40”- A historic demand of the labor movement. Thirty hours work for forty hours pay to spread the available work around. Organize the unorganized- Organize the South- Organize Wal-mart- Defend the right for public and private workers to unionize.

* Defend the working classes! No union dues for Democratic (or the stray Republican) candidates. Spent the dough on organizing the unorganized and other labor-specific causes (example, the November, 2011 anti-union recall referendum in Ohio).

*End the endless wars!- Immediate, Unconditional Withdrawal Of All U.S./Allied Troops (And Mercenaries) From Afghanistan! Hands Off Pakistan! Hands Off Iran! Hands Off The World!

*Fight for a social agenda for working people!. Quality Healthcare For All! Nationalize the colleges and universities under student-teacher-campus worker control! Forgive student debt! Stop housing foreclosures!

*We created the wealth, let’s take it back. Take the struggle for our daily bread off the historic agenda. Build a workers party that fights for a workers government to unite all the oppressed. Labor and the oppressed must rule!
******
Below I am posting, occasionally, comments on the Occupy movement as I see or hear things of interest, or that cause alarm bells to ring in my head. The first comment directly below from October 1, which represented my first impressions of Occupy Boston, is the lead for all further postings.
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Markin comment October 1, 2011:

There is a lot of naiveté expressed about the nature of capitalism, capitalists, and the way to win in the class struggle by various participants in this occupation. Many also have attempted to make a virtue out of that naiveté, particularly around the issues of effective democratic organization and relationships with the police (they are not our friends, no way, when the deal goes down). However, their spirit is refreshing, they are acting out of good subjective anti-capitalist motives and, most importantly, even those of us who call themselves "reds" (communists), including this writer, started out from liberal premises as naive, if not more so, than those encountered at the occupation site. We can all learn something but in the meantime we must defend the "occupation" and the occupiers. More later as the occupation continues.
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Markin comment October 22, 2011

As part of my comment, dated October 20, 2011, I noted the following:

“… The idea of the General Assembly with each individual attendee acting as a “tribune of the people” is interesting and important. And, of course, it represents, for today anyway, the embryo of what the “new world” we need to create might look like at the governmental level.”

A couple of the people that I have talked to were not quite sure what to make of that idea. The idea that what is going on in Occupy Boston at the governmental level could, should, would be a possible form of governing this society in the “new world aborning” with the rise of the Occupy movement. Part of the problem is that there was some confusion on the part of the listeners that one of the possible aims of this movement is to create an alternative government, or at least provide a model for such a government. I will argue here now, and in the future, that it should be one the goals. In short, we need to take power away from the Democrats and Republicans and their tired old congressional/executive/judicial form of governing and place it at the grassroots level and work upward from there rather than, as now, have power devolve from the top. (And stop well short of the bottom.)

I will leave aside the question (the problem really) of what it would take to create such a possibility. Of course a revolutionary solution would, of necessity, have be on the table since there is no way that the current powerful interests, Democratic, Republican or those having no politics, is going to give up power without a fight. What I want to pose now is the use of the General Assembly as a deliberative executive, legislative, and judicial body all rolled into one. In that sense previous historical models come to mind; the short-lived but heroic Paris Commune of 1871 that Karl Marx tirelessly defended against the reactionaries of Europe as the prototype of a workers government; the early heroic days of the Russian October Revolution of 1917 when the workers councils (soviets in Russian parlance) acted as a true workers' government; and the period in the Spanish Revolution of 1936-39 where the Central Committee of the Anti-Fascist Militias acted, de facto, as a workers government. All the just mentioned examples had their problems and flaws, no question. However, merely mentioning the General Assembly concept in the same paragraph as these great historic examples should signal that thoughtful leftists and other militants need to investigate and study these examples.

And as always-everybody, young or old, needs to stand by this slogan - An Injury To One Is An Injury To All!-Defend All The Occupation Sites And All The Occupiers Everywhere! Hands Off Occupy Boston !

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Markin comment October 26, 2011:

Recently (see October 22, 2011 comment above) I noted the following while arguing for the General Assembly concept as a form of alternate government using historic examples like the Paris Commune (1871), the early Soviets in Russia (1905 and 1917), and early antifascist militias in the Spanish Civil War (1936-37:

“However, merely mentioning the General Assembly concept in the same paragraph as these great historic examples should signal that thoughtful leftists and other militants need to investigate and study these examples.”

In order to facilitate the investigation and study of those examples I will, occasionally, post works in this space that deal with these forbears from several leftist perspectives (rightist perspectives were clear-crush all the above examples ruthlessly, and with no mercy- so we need not look at them now). I started with Karl Marx’s classic defense and critique of the Paris Commune, The Civil War In France.
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Reflections from the Quantico War-Zone – The Rally for Private Bradley Manning-March 20th 2011.

Click on the headline to link to a YouTube film clip of the rally at Quantico Marine Base in Virginia on March 20, 2011 in support of alleged Army whistleblower Private Bradley Manning.

Markin comment:

Quantico was like a war-zone with more police than you could shake a stick at. All in order to show that old-time radicals, Veterans for Peace, codepink women, assorted Quakers, little old ladies in tennis sneakers, little old men in tennis sneakers and others out to protest the outrageous treatment of alleged whistleblower Private Bradley Manning were some threat to civilized society. Damn Obama and his crowd. Free Bradley Manning!

Support The Saint Patrick's Day Parade Veterans For Peace Efforts To March- March 20th In South Boston

Click on the headline to link to a Smedley Butler Brigade of the Veterans For Peace Website entry concerning the efforts to join the 2011 South Boston Saint Patrick's Day Parade on March 20th.

When: Sunday, March 20, 2011, 2:00 pm

Where: Broadway MBTA Station - Look for VFP Flags • Dorchester Ave. & Broadway • do not attempt to drive - come by T • South Boston

Start: 2011 Mar 20 - 2:00pm

Themes for the Day:
· How is the War Economy Working for You
· Bring the Troops Home, Take Care of Them When They Get Here
· Cut Military Spending, Save Jobs: Teachers, Fireman, Police
· Peace is Patriotic! “Not a Dirty Word”

Please join Veterans For Peace and other peace and social justice organizations for this historic alternative “people’s parade” following the official Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.

Background: Veterans for Peace were denied permission to walk in the “Official Saint Patrick’s Day Parade”. The stated reason was because the Allied War Veterans Council (War Council) did not want the word “peace” associated with the word “veteran”. They also stated that Veterans For Peace were too political for the parade. As if all the politicians, military formations and bands in the parade are not political?


The City of Boston has issued a permit to Veterans For Peace to have The Saint Patrick’s Day Peace Parade, immediately following the “official parade”. Our parade is a “people’s parade for peace and justice”.

We invite all progressive groups (peace, environmental, women’s rights, civil rights, labor, GLBT etc.) in the greater Boston area to please join us as we follow behind the official parade. The South Boston parade is the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the country and is estimated to draw one million spectators. This is a huge opportunity for us to get our message out!

For more information please go to: Smedleyvfp.org or email ujpcoalition@gmail.com

For information on how your group can participate, contact:

Pat Scanlon, Veterans For Peace: 978-475-1776
United for Justice with Peace: 617-383-4857
American Friends Service Committee: 617-497-5273
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Markin comment:

Normally the efforts of anybody, individually or as an organization, trying to take part into the annual South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade would be a yawner for this writer. Having grown up in a Irish working class neighborhood in suburban Boston and having about ten thousand roots to South Boston back to the “famine ships” of the 1840s when they embarked there with some forebears and now through various second and third cousins I, at least since I have come of leftist political age, have avoided the drunken brawls and other sham Irish stuff associated with Saint Patrick’s Day like the plague.

This situation though is different. This is about defending the public square (even though the august United States Supreme Court has already declared this specific parade a private affair and no subject to free speech guarantees). This is about political exclusion of the Veterans For Peace (as opposed to plenty of space for pro-war veterans and their associations) as was that attempt previously by various Irish gays and lesbians and their supporters to march in this parade that was the subject of the Supreme Court legal decision. That is where our fight is. And that is why this struggle is supportable and why it deserves space here. Although really when we talk about the Irish and Ireland I say the hell with the spirit of Saint Patrick. Rather think of the spirit of the fighters of Easter 1916. That is the real Irish deal. No question.

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Activists add second St. Patrick parade
Will follow older S. Boston event
By Billy Baker
Globe Staff / March 10, 2011

South Boston will play host to two St. Patrick’s Day parades this year — the traditional one and, right behind it, an alternative parade that is billing itself as the St. Patrick’s Peace Parade.

The second parade, which will be required to remain one mile behind the main parade, is being organized by an antiwar group, Veterans for Peace. The Peace Parade will include marchers from a gay rights organization, 16 years after the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council went to the US Supreme Court to win the right to block gay groups from marching in the traditional St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Veterans for Peace, which has clashed with parade organizers in the past, had applied to march in the main parade, but was denied by organizers. The antiwar group then won city approval for its own parade along the same route on March 20, the date of the main parade.

“We’re not that type of parade,’’ Philip Wuschke Jr., the organizer of the main parade, said of the antiwar group, which had proposed holding signs that said, “How is the war economy working for you?’’ and “Bring the troops home and take care of them when they get here.’’

“We’ve got military units in the parade, and people that are on the side of the streets have probably been in the military and would be offended,’’ Wuschke said. “We’re not protesting nothing. It’s just a parade.’’

Wuschke took over the parade last year from longtime organizer John “Wacko’’ Hurley, who led the fight to bar gay groups. But Wuschke, a 45-year-old who lives in Stoughton, said there would be no change in policy as a result of the change in leadership.

The Supreme Court decision said private parade organizers could not be required to admit groups that convey a message contrary to that of the organizers.

“We don’t ban gays and lesbians from the parade,’’ Wuschke said. “Just no outright signs. This is not a gay pride parade.’’

Patrick Scanlon, the coordinator for the Greater Boston chapter of Veterans for Peace, said his organization, which has 130 chapters nationwide, was criticized as “too political.’’

“We’re too political because we’re interested in peace?’’ Scanlon asked rhetorically. “This is a parade that features every politician that can walk, and everyone who can’t walk is riding.’’

In 2003, Scanlon’s group was denied permission to march in the parade, but was allowed to march behind it by Boston Police. Parade organizers sued police, arguing they had violated the Supreme Court decision, and won again. A US magistrate judge ruled that if any group wants to participate in the parade without the permission of the Allied War Veterans Council, it must follow the same parade application process to the city as any group would but would need to remain one mile behind to make clear the two parades were separate. This is the first time anyone has applied for a parade permit under that provision.

Scanlon said it’s unclear how many people will march with the Veterans for Peace parade. They were notified of approval on Feb. 26, and Scanlon said they’ve already generated a lot of interest from people associated with the Honk! Festival of Activist Street Bands that takes place in Somerville and Cambridge each fall.

But a gay rights group has already declared its intention to join the alternative parade. On its Twitter feed yesterday, Join the Impact Massachusetts announced its participation by stating “take back the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.’’ The post contained a link to a Facebook page inviting people to march.

“We would prefer to be in the main parade, but if anybody is being left out we’re going to stand with them because of our history,’’ said Ann Coleman, a Join the Impact Massachusetts cochair and the person behind the initiative to join in the Veterans for Peace parade. Coleman said the group plans to hold signs, including rainbow flags.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who has long boycotted the St. Patrick’s Day Parade because of the ban on gay groups, will not be participating in either parade, according to his spokeswoman, Dot Joyce.

“As always, the city is focused on providing a safe and enjoyable parade day for everyone,’’ was all Joyce would say, “and it sounds like there’s going to be something for everyone in South Boston that day.’’

Billy Baker can be reached at billybaker@globe.com.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

Support The Saint Patrick's Day Parade Veterans For Peace Efforts To March- March 20th In South Boston

Click on the headline to link to a Smedley Butler Brigade of the Veterans For Peace Website entry concerning the efforts to join the 2011 South Boston Saint Patrick's Day Parade on March 20th.

When: Sunday, March 20, 2011, 2:00 pm

Where: Broadway MBTA Station - Look for VFP Flags • Dorchester Ave. & Broadway • do not attempt to drive - come by T • South Boston

Start: 2011 Mar 20 - 2:00pm

Themes for the Day:
· How is the War Economy Working for You
· Bring the Troops Home, Take Care of Them When They Get Here
· Cut Military Spending, Save Jobs: Teachers, Fireman, Police
· Peace is Patriotic! “Not a Dirty Word”

Please join Veterans For Peace and other peace and social justice organizations for this historic alternative “people’s parade” following the official Saint Patrick’s Day Parade.

Background: Veterans for Peace were denied permission to walk in the “Official Saint Patrick’s Day Parade”. The stated reason was because the Allied War Veterans Council (War Council) did not want the word “peace” associated with the word “veteran”. They also stated that Veterans For Peace were too political for the parade. As if all the politicians, military formations and bands in the parade are not political?


The City of Boston has issued a permit to Veterans For Peace to have The Saint Patrick’s Day Peace Parade, immediately following the “official parade”. Our parade is a “people’s parade for peace and justice”.

We invite all progressive groups (peace, environmental, women’s rights, civil rights, labor, GLBT etc.) in the greater Boston area to please join us as we follow behind the official parade. The South Boston parade is the largest St. Patrick's Day parade in the country and is estimated to draw one million spectators. This is a huge opportunity for us to get our message out!

For more information please go to: Smedleyvfp.org or email ujpcoalition@gmail.com

For information on how your group can participate, contact:

Pat Scanlon, Veterans For Peace: 978-475-1776
United for Justice with Peace: 617-383-4857
American Friends Service Committee: 617-497-5273
*******
Markin comment:

Normally the efforts of anybody, individually or as an organization, trying to take part into the annual South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade would be a yawner for this writer. Having grown up in a Irish working class neighborhood in suburban Boston and having about ten thousand roots to South Boston back to the “famine ships” of the 1840s when they embarked there with some forebears and now through various second and third cousins I, at least since I have come of leftist political age, have avoided the drunken brawls and other sham Irish stuff associated with Saint Patrick’s Day like the plague.

This situation though is different. This is about defending the public square (even though the august United States Supreme Court has already declared this specific parade a private affair and no subject to free speech guarantees). This is about political exclusion of the Veterans For Peace (as opposed to plenty of space for pro-war veterans and their associations) as was that attempt previously by various Irish gays and lesbians and their supporters to march in this parade that was the subject of the Supreme Court legal decision. That is where our fight is. And that is why this struggle is supportable and why it deserves space here. Although really when we talk about the Irish and Ireland I say the hell with the spirit of Saint Patrick. Rather think of the spirit of the fighters of Easter 1916. That is the real Irish deal. No question.
*******
Activists add second St. Patrick parade
Will follow older S. Boston event
By Billy Baker
Globe Staff / March 10, 2011

South Boston will play host to two St. Patrick’s Day parades this year — the traditional one and, right behind it, an alternative parade that is billing itself as the St. Patrick’s Peace Parade.

The second parade, which will be required to remain one mile behind the main parade, is being organized by an antiwar group, Veterans for Peace. The Peace Parade will include marchers from a gay rights organization, 16 years after the South Boston Allied War Veterans Council went to the US Supreme Court to win the right to block gay groups from marching in the traditional St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Veterans for Peace, which has clashed with parade organizers in the past, had applied to march in the main parade, but was denied by organizers. The antiwar group then won city approval for its own parade along the same route on March 20, the date of the main parade.

“We’re not that type of parade,’’ Philip Wuschke Jr., the organizer of the main parade, said of the antiwar group, which had proposed holding signs that said, “How is the war economy working for you?’’ and “Bring the troops home and take care of them when they get here.’’

“We’ve got military units in the parade, and people that are on the side of the streets have probably been in the military and would be offended,’’ Wuschke said. “We’re not protesting nothing. It’s just a parade.’’

Wuschke took over the parade last year from longtime organizer John “Wacko’’ Hurley, who led the fight to bar gay groups. But Wuschke, a 45-year-old who lives in Stoughton, said there would be no change in policy as a result of the change in leadership.

The Supreme Court decision said private parade organizers could not be required to admit groups that convey a message contrary to that of the organizers.

“We don’t ban gays and lesbians from the parade,’’ Wuschke said. “Just no outright signs. This is not a gay pride parade.’’

Patrick Scanlon, the coordinator for the Greater Boston chapter of Veterans for Peace, said his organization, which has 130 chapters nationwide, was criticized as “too political.’’

“We’re too political because we’re interested in peace?’’ Scanlon asked rhetorically. “This is a parade that features every politician that can walk, and everyone who can’t walk is riding.’’

In 2003, Scanlon’s group was denied permission to march in the parade, but was allowed to march behind it by Boston Police. Parade organizers sued police, arguing they had violated the Supreme Court decision, and won again. A US magistrate judge ruled that if any group wants to participate in the parade without the permission of the Allied War Veterans Council, it must follow the same parade application process to the city as any group would but would need to remain one mile behind to make clear the two parades were separate. This is the first time anyone has applied for a parade permit under that provision.

Scanlon said it’s unclear how many people will march with the Veterans for Peace parade. They were notified of approval on Feb. 26, and Scanlon said they’ve already generated a lot of interest from people associated with the Honk! Festival of Activist Street Bands that takes place in Somerville and Cambridge each fall.

But a gay rights group has already declared its intention to join the alternative parade. On its Twitter feed yesterday, Join the Impact Massachusetts announced its participation by stating “take back the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.’’ The post contained a link to a Facebook page inviting people to march.

“We would prefer to be in the main parade, but if anybody is being left out we’re going to stand with them because of our history,’’ said Ann Coleman, a Join the Impact Massachusetts cochair and the person behind the initiative to join in the Veterans for Peace parade. Coleman said the group plans to hold signs, including rainbow flags.

Boston Mayor Thomas Menino, who has long boycotted the St. Patrick’s Day Parade because of the ban on gay groups, will not be participating in either parade, according to his spokeswoman, Dot Joyce.

“As always, the city is focused on providing a safe and enjoyable parade day for everyone,’’ was all Joyce would say, “and it sounds like there’s going to be something for everyone in South Boston that day.’’

Billy Baker can be reached at billybaker@globe.com.

© Copyright 2011 Globe Newspaper Company.

*On The Arizona Shoot-Out, January 8, 2011, And The Defense Of The Public Square- A Short Note

From The Daily Kos diary:

The wraps are off, the masks are off and everyone to the left of Genghis Klan better get ready for a "street fight" to defend the public square.