Using JimH's analogy, this isn't off topic, because it could be
discussed aboard a boat!

FBI files are chilling


BACK IN THE 1960s, under the guise of fighting communism, the FBI
opened thousands of secret files on American citizens whose sole crime
was to protest government policies that they found unjust.

Under COINTELPRO, a covert intelligence program, federal agents bugged
people's homes, sent anonymous letters to their spouses about alleged
marital infidelities and infiltrated pacifist organizations, creating
havoc within their ranks.

The goal was to crush public opposition to the Vietnam War and destroy
an emerging civil rights movement that J. Edgar Hoover feared might
produce a "Black Messiah."

For those old enough to remember those dark times, there is a chilling
sense of d=E9j=E0 vu.

Once again, the FBI is spying on anti-war protesters. Only this time,
agency officials say it is part of the war on terrorism.

One prime FBI target is the American Civil Liberties Union. The ACLU
has been a sharp critic of the USA Patriot Act, which expands law
enforcement's powers of search and seizure at the expense of the
individual protections guaranteed in the Bill of Rights.

The notion that the legal advocacy organization poses a threat to
national security is absurd. The only weapon in its arsenal is the
legal brief. Yet, the FBI has collected more than 1,000 documents on
the ACLU's activities. The secret snooping came to light after the ACLU
filed a Freedom of Information lawsuit against the agency.

As a result of the lawsuit, FBI officials were forced to admit that
they were monitoring the ACLU, Greenpeace and other organizations.

So why is the FBI spending its time spying on these groups? Don't they
have more important things to do? Like looking for the real terrorists?

Therein lies the $64,000 question. FBI officials refuse to elaborate,
saying only that no one has been put under surveillance for merely
practicing their constitutional right to free speech. That assurance
rings hollow.

It all smacks of a disturbing pattern within the administration of
labeling anyone who disagrees with the president as either un-American
or a terrorist.

No one knows what is in the classified files. The FBI has stubbornly
refused to release all but a handful and claims it will need another 10
months to review the ACLU documents before they can be released, which
in our opinion is an unacceptable delay.

If, indeed, the administration is using the FBI to stifle public
dissent, it is a scandalous abuse of power and goes against everything
that our nation stands for.

Thirty years ago, a Senate select committee headed by Sen. Frank
Church, D-Idaho, mandated sweeping changes at the FBI after COINTELPRO
abuses came to light.

It became illegal for FBI agents to spy on U.S. citizens unless they
had reasonable belief that an individual was engaged in criminal
activity.

Said Church: "The American people need to be assured that never again
will an agency of the government be permitted to conduct a secret war
against those citizens it considers a threat to the established order."

It is our collective responsibility as Americans to hold our government
accountable so that those kinds of unchecked abuses don't ever happen
again.

If the FBI has legitimate reasons for collecting data on perfectly
law-abiding U.S. citizens, then agency officials need to stop the snow
job and tell us what they are, lickety-split.

Another thread started by you that has nothing to do with boats.


wrote:

Using JimH's analogy, this isn't off topic, because it could be
discussed aboard a boat!

Kevin Noble wrote:
Another thread started by you that has nothing to do with boats.


wrote:

Using JimH's analogy, this isn't off topic, because it could be
discussed aboard a boat!


Oh, But is DOES, just as much as Jim's gas grill post!

wrote:



Kevin Noble wrote:
Another thread started by you that has nothing to do with boats.


wrote:

Using JimH's analogy, this isn't off topic, because it could be
discussed aboard a boat!


Oh, But is DOES, just as much as Jim's gas grill post!

Never grilled on a boat before, you dumass?

http://www.cabelas.com/products/Cpod0021449.jsp

Why do you use my email address?

Kevin Noble wrote:
wrote:



Kevin Noble wrote:
Another thread started by you that has nothing to do with boats.


wrote:

Using JimH's analogy, this isn't off topic, because it could be
discussed aboard a boat!


Oh, But is DOES, just as much as Jim's gas grill post!

Never grilled on a boat before, you dumass?

http://www.cabelas.com/products/Cpod0021449.jsp

Why do you use my email address?

I take it you don't get it, Smithers. I said, using JimH's analogy,
that ANYTHING could be on topic. Get it, **** stain? I've talked about
politics on my boat, too. SO, again, using JimH's analogy, I'm on
topic.

I will post this as Chuck won't:

Now see there? All the guys who are convinced you aren't even the
tiniest bit interested in boating have to be at least partially wrong.
You are becoming an expert troller. Do you have any original thoughts
you'd care to share, or have you been instructed to repost the
propaganda?

*JimH* wrote:
I will post this as Chuck won't:

Now see there? All the guys who are convinced you aren't even the
tiniest bit interested in boating have to be at least partially wrong.
You are becoming an expert troller. Do you have any original thoughts
you'd care to share, or have you been instructed to repost the
propaganda?

But, Jim, using YOUR analogy, just like your gas grill thread, it could
be discussed on a boat, therefore, it's ON topic.