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midnight

(26,624 posts) Mon Mar 19, 2012, 08:32 AM Mar 2012

tactics developed for use against terrorists may have been unleashed against American citizens.

As we also noted some weeks ago, Eggen reports, "The companies proposed forming a 'corporate information reconnaissance cell' and discussed tactics such as creating online personas to infiltrate activist Web sites; planting false information to embarrass U.S. Chamber Watch and other groups; and trolling for personal information using powerful computer software."

Those "other groups" would include the non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization VelvetRevolution.us, as co-founded by The BRAD BLOG, in response to VR's StopTheChamber.com campaign launched in late 2009 to help expose the U.S. Chamber's perfidy and mafia-like tactics in their extremist Rightwing corporate "advocacy". The U.S. Chamber of Commerce is the nation's largest corporate lobbying firm and has spent millions in disinformation campaigns fighting against clean energy legislation and health care insurance reform, just to name two of their recent projects.

While a Congressional investigation would normally be a no-brainer in a plot as pernicious as the one exposed here --- revealed by the release of tens of thousands of emails detailing highly dubious, and most likely illegal, schemes of this sort --- the fact that the U.S. Chamber and its member corporations also spent millions as the top funders of Republican Congressional campaigns in 2010 makes the likelihood of such hearings questionable in the now-GOP-controlled House.

A letter to Attorney General Eric Holder at the Department of Justice, demanding a special prosecutor be assigned to this case would be equally, if not more appropriate. Unfortunately, the DoJ is also compromised in this affair, having been the ones, incredibly enough, to refer the Chamber's law firm Hunton & Williams to the Bank of America for a parallel plot with the same three private security firms, in order to target WikiLeaks with a focus on discrediting their perceived supporters such as Salon journalist Glenn Greenwald. Given the DoJ's dubious involvement here, it seems similarly unlikely that they would take up such an investigation themselves either, but a letter calling for same from Congressional members might help.http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8376

12 replies

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tactics developed for use against terrorists may have been unleashed against American citizens. (Original Post) midnight Mar 2012 OP

Du rec. Nt xchrom Mar 2012 #1

Wow...no way. I am SHOCKED. BlueIris Mar 2012 #2

The corruption in the US government is so dangerously out of control loudsue Mar 2012 #6

rec. KG Mar 2012 #3

The smear campaign against Greenwald often seems coordinated. This could be why. leveymg Mar 2012 #4

That REALLY makes me sick. loudsue Mar 2012 #7

That "coordination" you speak of... Oilwellian Mar 2012 #11

K&R. nt OnyxCollie Mar 2012 #5

Wake the fuck up, your slumber and excuse making are killing our future. TheKentuckian Mar 2012 #8

EXCUSE ME? Reagan promised this, the Bushes did it, Obama continues it, Holder REEKED of corruption. saras Mar 2012 #9

This Brad Blog story is from a year ago starroute Mar 2012 #10

Classic blast from the past. It cuts to the heart of it all. napoleon_in_rags Mar 2012 #12

xchrom

(108,903 posts)

1. Du rec. Nt

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 08:38 AM

Mar 2012

BlueIris

(29,135 posts)

2. Wow...no way. I am SHOCKED.

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 08:49 AM

Mar 2012

Not.

"A letter to Attorney General Eric Holder at the Department of Justice, demanding a special prosecutor be assigned to this case would be equally, if not more appropriate. Unfortunately, the DoJ is also compromised in this affair, having been the ones, incredibly enough, to refer the Chamber's law firm Hunton & Williams to the Bank of America for a parallel plot with the same three private security firms."

loudsue

(14,087 posts)

6. The corruption in the US government is so dangerously out of control

Reply to BlueIris (Reply #2)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:21 AM

Mar 2012

I really don't know what can be done at this point.

KG

(28,751 posts)

3. rec.

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 08:51 AM

Mar 2012

leveymg

(36,418 posts)

4. The smear campaign against Greenwald often seems coordinated. This could be why.

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 09:30 AM

Mar 2012

Last edited Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:16 AM - Edit history (1)

Unfortunately, the DoJ is also compromised in this affair, having been the ones, incredibly enough, to refer the Chamber's law firm Hunton & Williams to the Bank of America for a parallel plot with the same three private security firms, in order to target WikiLeaks with a focus on discrediting their perceived supporters such as Salon journalist Glenn Greenwald.

loudsue

(14,087 posts)

7. That REALLY makes me sick.

Reply to leveymg (Reply #4)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:25 AM

Mar 2012

Oilwellian

(12,647 posts)

11. That "coordination" you speak of...

Reply to leveymg (Reply #4)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 01:44 PM

Mar 2012

can be witnessed right here on DU.

OnyxCollie

(9,958 posts)

5. K&R. nt

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:18 AM

Mar 2012

TheKentuckian

(25,026 posts)

8. Wake the fuck up, your slumber and excuse making are killing our future.

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:27 AM

Mar 2012

saras

(6,670 posts)

9. EXCUSE ME? Reagan promised this, the Bushes did it, Obama continues it, Holder REEKED of corruption.

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 10:42 AM

Mar 2012

... acting surprised is just bad theater at this point - it's two acts too late. Domestic protests are terrorism, whenever they feel like saying so. And that's the law. it may not be good law, but the law says it's their decision. And in practice, it only applies to left-wing demonstrations. The right get a ration of murders before anyone gets upset at them.

Holder needs to be in prison for a lot of reasons, and Obama isn't going to be able to fix anything without doing this. They'll just give him nice theater of the economy moving up and down nicely until they get the rest of what they want out of him.

A STRONGLY worded letter from the ENTIRE FUNCTIONAL PORTION of Congress calling for a FUNCTIONAL DOJ would be really helpful at this point - there's a whole list of stupid the DOJ is wasting its time on, and a whole pile of seriously damaging crime they're not paying any attention to. Oh, and repeal the Patriot act while they're at it, lock, stock and barrel. It failed, and it has outlived whatever usefulness it might have had, had it not been a corrupt power takeover from its original design. And it would save us a lot of trouble having to fight it one piece at a time. ...ah, fuck it. It's like trying to repair a car after it's been through the car crusher.

OK, I'll start over.

The United States Chamber of Commerce is a member of a vast right-wing conspiracy that attacks people who rant on the internet. Seriously.

Excuse me, we are living in a goddamned Robert Anton Wilson novel. Maybe we should fight back like we're in one. There's a reason the founder of Discordianism who wasn't a crazy conspiracy theorist joined the Bank of America that mere mortals will never understand.

starroute

(12,977 posts)

10. This Brad Blog story is from a year ago

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Mon Mar 19, 2012, 01:04 PM

Mar 2012

Not that it's any less relevant today. Anonymous recently released files indicating that some of the same people are now coordinating with the Breitbart crew to smear and undermine the left. But it should be understood that it's hardly the last word on the subject.

napoleon_in_rags

(3,991 posts)

12. Classic blast from the past. It cuts to the heart of it all.

Reply to midnight (Original post)

Tue Mar 20, 2012, 12:23 AM

Mar 2012

in which I am personally highlighted, with photograph, along with my wife "Martha" and "2 boys, James and John Friedman" at our "home at 1055 Raywood Ln, Silver Springs, MD".

Of course, I'm not married and have no children and don't live in MD

Yes, because who you are doesn't ACTUALLY matter. That's what the "If I don't do anything wrong why should I worry" crowd doesn't understand. They don't go to war with you, they go to war with a constructed perception of you that they themselves have built. You don't use this to discover and fight your enemies, that would be dangerous business. You use this to have fake enemies constructed, that can be knocked down without any real risk to you.

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