There has been considerable controversy over BP preventing journalists and activists to film in public areas — showing the damage of the recent spill on animals and the environment. BP has no authority to do so, but it continues (as in this video) to prevent filming at various locations.
The video shows Drew Wheelan, the conservation coordinator for the American Birding Association, was filming himself across the street from the BP building/Deepwater Horizon response command in Houma, Louisiana. He is approached by an officer (who we learn later is working for BP):
Wheelan: “Am I violating any laws or anything like that?”
Officer: “Um…not particularly. BP doesn’t want people filming.”
Wheelan: “Well, I’m not on their property so BP doesn’t have anything to say about what I do right now.”
Officer: “Let me explain: BP doesn’t want any filming. So all I can really do is strongly suggest that you not film anything right now. If that makes any sense.”
Wheelan says that he was later pulled over by the same officer and another officer named Kenneth Thomas with a badge reading “Chief BP Security.” He was allegedly questioned and Thomas confiscated his Audubon volunteer badge.
The deputy was off-duty at the time and the story below reports that Major Malcolm Wolfe of the sheriff’s office insisted that there was nothing wrong in an officer working for a private company to use his police car to pull over citizens. The story says Wolfe thought it was a proper use of a vehicle because Wheelan could be a “terrorist.” He should rest assured. With the possible exception of the 9-11 attacks, no terrorist in history has caused the type of property and environmental damage as BP.
If BP contests these facts, it should do so clearly and publicly. As it stands, this is a truly frightening story.
Source: Mother Jones
mespo,
There is nothing untrue or irresponsible in what I wrote. First I would like to address the use of the words “forcefully and peacefully” in the same sentence. This is not an exhortation to violence. The word forceful means vigorous, strong, passionate. I have never advocated the use of violence. I consider violence wrong as well as counterproductive in opposing injustice. In the non-violent resistance movement it means you will not harm others to achieve social justice. It does mean you are willing to put yourself in harm’s way should that be necessary. The civil rights movement was a forceful, vigorous, passionate call to right injustice. This is what I have always advocated. We must be strong, vigorous and forceful in opposing injustice. Peaceful action takes great courage. It is a moral will, a moral forcefulness.
There are many types of fascism. This govt. is one. It most closely resembles the rule of Mussolini and Peron. Fascism occurs when the state works on behalf of corporations. Now let us look at the example in the original post. Although the officer was off duty, he used public property to deny the civil rights of a citizen on behalf of a private corporation. Our legally constituted civil authorities, who are sworn to uphold our civil rights, not only failed in this duty, but justified the deprivation of civil rights in the name of protecting a corporation. This is fascism.
If you read further into my post I give a further example of the govt. hiring a private contractor in conjunction with BP to “guard” the people from knowing or reporting accurate information of what is happening in the Gulf. Again, the govt. has worked with, in this case, two corporations to deprive US citizens of our right to know the truth. The right to a free press is in our Constitution. Yet this right is being abridged by the govt. in conjunction with corporations.
With regards to nationalism. I must disgree again. The US clearly feels we are an exceptional nation. We have broken international and national law by both committing and refusing to prosecute those in our govt. who have committed war crimes. Our leaders clearly feel they and the US are above the law. We have past leaders who tortured and a present leader who not only will not prosecute, but also continues to torture. This is called American Exceptionalism. It is definitely a form of nationalism where horrifying behavior is acceptable because it is done by the US. It is the same behavior the US condemns in other nations.
I feel it is irresponsible to not clearly state what is happening in our nation. Our Constitution is at stake. If it is radical to defend the rule of law, count me as a radical.
Remember when the “Cattle Baron” ruled the town? Then came the “Railroad Barons” followed closely by the “Steel and Rubber Barons” … I guess I’m trying to point out the proclivity of Americans to give ground to corporations and titles to corporate executives. We never seem to learn.
The US is too ethnically diverse to be nationalistic. The tea party folks would qualify as nationalists except they hate President Obama and love corporations. The situation is more complicated and defies simple labeling.
mespo,
The only ingredient missing is the rabid nationalism. The “trans-class” populist movement is the part corporotists are having a problem with because we have better information dissemination now. Or we did until the Prez got his Chinese style “Internet kill switch” approved (http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/105377-senate-homeland-security-committee-approves-cybersecurity-bill-) and is now seeking the digital equivalent of “papers, please” (http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/06/25/national-strategy-trusted-identities-cyberspace).
It’s not fascism proper yet.
But it’s close enough when corporations get to make the laws.
It’s fascism lite. All the corporotism with none of the nationalism. This is what fascism looks like when corporations are multi-national.
I heard a story on NPR last night about how a captain of one of the wildlife rescue ships saw some baby Kemp Ridley turtles in the middle of an oil slick which was about to be set on fire. When he tried to intervene to save the baby turtles he was turned away by the BP oil burners.
Ah yes Mespo,
“There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.
~Napoleon Bonaparte”
Elba comes to mind and was it Custer of Napoleon that said we should be through about noon…..
“The US is definitely a fascist state.
(…)
I strongly urge citizens to unite and peacefully but forcefully confront the police state the US has become.”
**************
These are incredibly irresponsible statements. This story does not establish that the US is a fascist state under any known definition. Oxford Professor Roger Griffith gives us the best definition of the system:
[F]ascism is best defined as a revolutionary form of nationalism, one that sets out to be a political, social and ethical revolution, welding the ‘people’ into a dynamic national community under new elites infused with heroic values. The core myth that inspires this project is that only a populist, trans-class movement of purifying, cathartic national rebirth (palingenesis) can stem the tide of decadence.
The components of the system include:
* Organicist conceptions of community;
* Philosophical idealism;
* Idealization of “manly” (usually peasant or village) virtues;
* A resentment of mass democracy;
* Elitist conceptions of political and social leadership;
* Racism (and usually, though not necessarily, anti-Semitism);
* Militarism;
* Imperialism.
(John Weiss, a professor of history at Wayne State University)
BP is expressing none of these components by shooing away lawful observers of its folly. While BP may be authoritarian in its approach to censoring information, it is by no means fascist. Likewise, the off-duty police officer (and his shallow thinking commander) are exhibiting tactics of intimidation but none of the uber-nationalism or philosophic idealism. It appears to me to be more centered around the cops protecting a source of part-time income. Ultra-capitalist if you ask me.
Your concluding statement is the most obscure and the most troubling, however. How exactly does one “peacefully but forcefully” confront the police? And to what end? This is not the way of a democracy. We have the ability to bring these issues to the political decision makers and seek redress. If they ignore us, we have the right to vote them out — both features unavailable under a fascist regime.
Your political extremism and simplistic answers to all of the nation’s ills do not serve you well. As Professor John Gardner observed:
Political extremism involves two prime ingredients: an excessively simple diagnosis of the world’s ills, and a conviction that there are identifiable villains back of it all.
I suspect this applies to fascists as well as their detractors.
Vague calls for insurrection make one look radical. We are continually confronted with choices between conversation and violence. I find it anti-intellectual to subtly call for the latter course without exploring the former.
There are only two forces in the world, the sword and the spirit. In the long run the sword will always be conquered by the spirit.
~Napoleon Bonaparte
BIL:
I’m glad you make the party here too, thanks!
Nice catch on the Maddow segment. Will JT be Co-council for the Honorable Judge Feldman when the time comes? Does the law even apply to Judge Feldman?
Glad you could make it to the party Buddha. Where ya been all day?
Rachel Maddow cuts to the bone on “Judge” Martin Feldman.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/37936669#37936669
It’s even more damning than the info from his 2008 disclosure statements.
BUDDHA:
Even I can smell whats cookin’ now, and it dont smell so good.
Byron,
There’s a difference between a living document and purposefully killing it. But at least you’re starting to smell what’s cookin’.
Jill:
a long slow slide into tyranny. When the Constitution is a living document this is the logical outcome. The first time some judge divined a law based on the political whim of the moment the inevitability of an abusive government, antithetical to individual liberty, was assured.
“We’re bound by duty to protect the people that are going be within that fence line,” said Burrows.
==================================================================
So what’s your duty to them when they venture outside the fenced area … like going to dinner or sight seeing? Are you even going to let them venture outside their fenced area? Best to keep them all corralled inside the fenced area for the duration … like a congenial concentration camp. Arrest anyone who approaches the fence from either side. Do your duty.
Hey George,
A bleak but accurate summary. I am particularly disgusted with Congress’s failure to pass unemployment insurance. They know full well there aren’t enough jobs for people who need them. Even the paid hacks who shill for the govt./MSM say it’s a jobless recovery which they rosily predict won’t pick up until 2013. Hey, but they just passed a bill to insure our economy will never get to the brink again! Right? Because the economy has nothing to do with all the people who are unemployed. And don’t forget to not pay attention to the actual details of what just passed. It’s all good.
I completely agree with you statement about creeping which won’t be creeping soon enough. These are really scary times and so many people are hurting.
Richard, that’s true. We “lesser people” really should get off the quality’s fence!!!
Pete, a good one!
Hey George,
A bleak but accurate summary. I am particularly disgusted with Congress’s failure to pass unemployment insurance. They know full well there aren’t enough jobs for people who need them. Even the paid hacks who shill for the govt./MSM say it’s a jobless recovery which they rosily predict won’t pick up until 2013. Hey, but they just passed a bill to insure our economy will never get to the brink again! Right? Because the economy has nothing to do with all the people who are unemployed. And don’t forget to not pay attention to the actual details of what just passed. It’s all good.
I completely agree with you statement about creeping which won’t be creeping soon enough. These are really scary times and so many people are hurting.
Richard, that’s true. We “lesser people” really should get off the quality’s fence!!!
Blouise,
THAT is disgusting. Thanks for pointing it out.
—
Hi, Jill.
I’m well. Dismayed at the direction our country is headed and disillusioned at the lack of interest by the majority of the populace. We are living a creeping crisis that at some point will no longer be creeping. The federal government is out of control, living at them whim of the global corporations, banks and military industrial complex.
Our police who were accorded so much honor and accord after 9/11, are turning on our people, enjoying the unregulated power at their whim. They claim a moral authority while falsifying documents, lying at will, and justifying brute force by any means necessary.
The banks control the rules by which they operate. The police and judiciary do the same thing. When the executive does something illegal, it is wiped under the carpet in the name of “moving on.” Corporate executives are totally shielded from criminal prosecution, save the occasional sacrificial PR lamb. Meanwhile, while war criminals run free in our streets, regular citizens are sitting in jail for possession of small amounts of drugs for personal use, their lives totally shattered.
The people who live and work in this country, who pay all the taxes to fund the wars, and the new equipment, and their salaries, are becoming the last consideration on the list. I’m afraid the folks in Washington are more concerned with what nice restaurant they are going to go to for dinner or what cocktail party they are going to attend. While working Americans who can’t afford health insurance for their families are eating macaroni and cheese, and going without good nutrition. Some seniors go without critical medication so they can have food and heat.
Some people are responsible for safety and security. Other must have assumed the responsibility of filing complaints when security measures are established.
I see no problem with Canada’s established perimiter. The message is clear. They consider the safety of those attending the summit to be of great importance.
Stay away from the G-D fence, unless you have a valid reason to approach the boundary.
jill
i guess we should be happy they don’t paint a “dead line” in front of the fence.
That is so creepy Blouise! We all know how accurate that testimony will be!!
Who knew the CA constitution could get suspended for a few days, just because? I guess the US and CA Constitutions are like coupons–good for dates….expires after…(to be filled in by the executive!)