We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Tuesday, September 13, 2016

What Makes a Hate Group?

Click here to access article by Brian Terrell from ZNet

The article suggests the real answer to the question posed by the headline: it depends on who is defining a "hate group", but it's ruling class authorities who define peaceful protest groups as "hate groups" in order to discredit the latter and to defend their war crimes.

Based on the history of COINTELPRO activities, I think it is reasonable to suspect that one of the ruling class's secret agencies did call in a threat to the sheriff's office and identified him/herself as a member of the protest group. 
The actions of the Juneau County Sheriff’s Department show a disturbing pattern that is reminiscent of the chilling effects of McCarthyism in the 1950s and the COINTELPRO activities of the FBI in the 1960s.