Diverse and Contradictory: Sedition in America

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Wednesday, May 03, 2006

Sedition in America

Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer will be pardoning nearly seven dozen Montana residents convicted of sedition.

Many of those being pardoned were overheard in bars criticizing the president and his wealthy supporters, and were immediately arrested and sentenced for up to 20 years for expressing opinions contrary to the government or one of it's agencies.

Sound Scary? It is. These were ordinary Americans talking, in public, to friends.

This happened about 90 years ago during the last part of World War I. The pardons are the result of the work of a Montana journalism professor and a number of UM law students. See The Montana Sedition Project for details on their efforts and the victims.

Congratulations should go to the people who worked on this project, and to Gov. Schweitzer for rectifying the injustice. The lesson is to never let it happen again.

But I'm afraid.

With the consolidation of power to the executive branch, a president who doesn't believe he needs to follow any law contrary to his agenda, and an expanding domestic spying program - the next step will be arrests for sedition.

The difference this time is that the power that would be exercised requires no warrant, no trial, no legal representation, and no acknowledgement a prisoner is being held. It merely requires the assertion that the person was engaged in suspicious activities.

I find hope in the fact that we can recognize the injustices of nearly a century ago. If we are vigilant against those injustices now, perhaps we can keep history from repeating itself.

History has hard lessons for us, and a tendency to repeat until we learn them.

Let's hope we learned this one.

Peace,

Matt

Tags: sedition, politics, freedom, liberty, injustice, history, individualism, Montana, bush, president, government

1 Comments:

At 11:24 PM, Anonymous said...: unbelievable...

Name: Matt Parker

View my complete profile

That personal privacy is the most fundamental human right.
That having power does not mean you should use it.
That compassion is a value, not a political position.
That respect for life has no room in it for hate.
That every human being should own a weapon and be trained how to use it safely.
That no one should be punished for trying to feed their family.
That the land you take care of is yours and you have the right and responsibility to defend it to the death.
That pacifists should be well armed.
That those who don’t want to work should not be legally protected from those who do.
That deficit spending is not fiscally conservative.
That any budget that requires additional funding is not balanced.
That personal responsibility is part of basic human nature, and losing it requires deliberate training.
That no person, organization, department, office, or role is above the law.
That a law with exceptions is not legitimate.
That anyone who speaks in my name should check with me first.
That it is the height of arrogance to start a sentence with, 'The American People want [believe] [are]…'.
That stupidity is the only human handicap.
That organizations should not be anthropomorphized.
That a good conspiracy theory can provide hours of entertainment.
That declaring war on an adjective shouldn’t invoke the War Powers Act.
That anyone who takes some of my liberty in order to protect it is not working in my best interests.
That the good of society starts with the good of the individual.
That no one person has the right to decide what the greater good is, unless they are the only one who has to sacrifice for it.
That someone who has “paid their debt to society” should be welcomed back.
That a business culture that does not value its people isn’t a culture.
That looking for responsibility is not the same as looking for blame.
That an apology goes a long way towards fixing the problem.
That giving people what they need is not necessarily the same as giving them what they want.
That anyone who wants to hold a political office is automatically unqualified.
That bargaining away one value for another is not a bargain.
That your personal integrity is the one commodity that no one can take from you.
That declaring your opponent “evil” doesn’t make it so.
That silence is not necessarily assent, but it’s often functional assent.

Additions, Changes, and Clarifications are Welcomed.

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