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Dissent Definition, Violating the First Amendment

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Passage of the Patriot Act and the Military Commissions Act have made it very easy for the government to circumvent the Constitution in order to suppress the rights of freedom of speech, expression and assemblage.

Dissent definition takes on new meaning when looked at through the prisms of these new laws.

The Military Commissions Act abolished Posse Comitatus which, since 1878 had prevented the government from using the US military in policing actions against citizens.

Last October, the government stationed the first of three battalions inside American borders that will be used in the event of trouble, which will be defined by the government.

Buried in the Patriot Act are clauses that make it easier for the president to declare martial law and now that he’s got the troops stationed on American soil, martial law may one become a reality.

Dissent definition has taken a number of forms in America 

During the Bush administration, news reporters were jailed, political protestors-the peaceful ones were forced to protest inside holding pens blocks away from their targets, out of sight and hearing.

More active protestors were simply jailed and put on watch lists and probably spied upon by the FBI, although the administration denies this.

Since FISA was amended to protect the giant telecoms, no one really knows how much spying is going on with government approval. 

The giant telecoms which aided the Bush Administration in its covert tactics against Americans were granted retroactive immunity.

For all we know they may still be spying. It’s early but Obama has made no mention of repealing these harmful laws.

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Religion as Dissent Definition

Some experts speculate that the rise of the religious right is just another form of dissent definition.

The thinking is that the more religious a person, the easier it is to shape his/her thinking and to control him/her physically. 

The common word used today to describe these religious people is “sheeple”- they are easily led and contained by government.

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Mind Control Media

Government deregulation of the industry has allowed corporate America to take over and to mold the messages being presented by the mainstream media.

Independent thinking and or reporting has basically been done away with.

The days of the segregated newsrooms have returned with the downturn in the economy.

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Last Hired First Fired

The old term of last hired/first fired becomes a form of control because minority voices are taken out of the mix when an economic downturn forces job cutbacks in the public sector.

Thousands of reporters lost their jobs last year, most of them young whites, women, blacks and other minorities.

The metro desk is back in the hands of old white men. 

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Freedom of Speech

The function of our right to free speech is to invite dispute or opposition under our form of government.

Government is better when it is questioned by its citizens who may be dissatisfied with the surrounding status of events.

Dissent is the right to question. Dissent definition is probably the most un-American activity in which the government can engage.

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