The Squelching of Dissent

Here are some case studies in the homogenization of political views in this country.

Case #1: Mr. Brian Frank is kicked out of his position as the Republican chairman of his precinct for posting pro-Gary Johnson comments on his Facebook. Behold the authority of a sternly worded letter:

link

Shame on Mr. Frank for rooting for a candidate that actually wants to repeal all of Obamacare and not replace it with Mittcare. The audacity of someone who is against a Massachusetts liberal like Mitt who simultaneously considers themselves a Republican. You can package up Mitt anyway you like, but at the end of the day, his record as a grown-man politician is the same--a statist, authoritarian tool. Moving along....

Case #2  Justin Hallman, a high school student did a video for his American Government class that got him a visit from the FBI. See if you can spot the subversion and threat this posed:

Hi, my name is Justin Hallman. I made this video for a project I had to do for my American Government class, my teacher, Mr. Sparks liked it so much that he gave it a score of 45/35 points or 128%! I'd like to share this video with you to see how other people like it. So please enjoy the video and remember to rate it if you can :).

If you don't go upvote his video, you're some sort of commie, by the way. Here's the families story via Infowars:

About a month later, Hallman was shocked to receive a knock on the door of his family’s home from two FBI agents, including Special Agent Matthew Bowman. Hallman provided us with images of Bowman’s FBI card which he left at the property when Hallman decided not to answer the door.
When Hallman’s mother called the number on the card she was told by Bowman, “We need to talk to your son.”
The two FBI agents returned to the house and began to talk to Hallman about his interests and hobbies, a tactic Hallman saw as the FBI agents attempting to gain his trust.
The FBI agents then attempted to recruit Hallman to spy on Anonymous. “They wanted me to be an informant, to possibly put my life in danger, to help them arrest and gain intel on occupy protesters and hackers,” he writes.
The agents then began to question Hallman about his support for Ron Paul’s presidential campaign as well as a conversation he had conducted with his teacher about the Illuminati secret society.
They also asked me why I had talked to my teacher about the Illuminati,” writes Hallman. “I told them it was just harmless talk about the 1776 Illuminati that formed from the enlightenment era. I said my teacher said they are/were terrorists and not to talk about them (this caused the FBI agents to look puzzled and they changed the subject very fast to Anonymous). In the end they finally left for an “important meeting.”
The fact that the FBI men knew about Hallman’s conversation with his teacher clearly suggests that it was the teacher or another official at the school who reported Hallman to the FBI in the first place.
Hallman concluded his email by expressing concern the incident could hamper his future career prospects.

“So that’s my story, a teen from the suburbs who was questioned by the FBI about a harmless free speech protected video I made for school. My record forever scarred with the truth that the FBI questioned me. When getting a job they will see that, when getting a passport they will see that, when going to college they will see that,” he writes.

Now I would tend to disbelief this story, which seems to have been sent in by the Hallman family, if I did not personally know someone with a similar story. Because of a Facebook like, a girl I know personally was interrogated by Homeland Security. The subject was a boy on her friend list who was planning to subvert the US government (as if it needed any help). Prior to coming to the school, the agent had spoken to her neighbors and had left a note on her door. For weeks afterward, she was terrifed to drive home alone and went to her grands house instead. The boy in question was a friend of the family who had been to church with them a few times, he wasn't even her boyfriend. He probably posted some off the wall stuff, or heck maybe it was just Ron Paul stuff, I don't know, but the school located right behind my subdivision allowed this agent access the minor without the parent's permission and then acted like nothing happened. So this stuff is going on. 

Case #3: Mitt Romney moving to get Gary Johnson knocked off the ballot wherever possible. Now there's a lot of division among constitutional types on whether Johnson is worthy of the vote. But I think that Mitt is going all Locutus of Borg on Johnson is very telling. We will have the Hegelian Dialectic whether you proles like it or not. And when you get a central banking statist as your leader, just remember: you voted for it!

The attempt was made in Virginia:

Efforts by GOP attorneys to keep Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson off of the November 2012 presidential ballot in Virginia have failed.
The Virginia Board of Elections rejected an appeal by the Republican Party of Virginia this week that sought to challenge Johnson’s petition signatures – paving the way for the former New Mexico Governor to appear on the ballot alongside GOP nominee Mitt Romney and Democrat Barack Obama.

And in Iowa:

The national Republican Party may not want to publicly acknowledge the presence of a true fiscal conservative in this race, but they are certainly taking Gov. Johnson seriously enough to engage in a concerted campaign to get his name off ballots in key states before voters even get a chance to vote.
Jay Kramer, a Mitt Romney campaign supporter from Washington, D.C., filed a challenge on Friday to keep Libertarian candidate for President, Gov. Gary Johnson, from appearing on the Iowa ballot in November. The Romney campaign hired the Des Moines-based Nyemaster Goode PC for the challenge, which will be heard by Iowa Secretary of State Matt Schultz on Monday at 3 p.m.
"This is clearly a setup," said the Johnson campaign's attorney, Alicia Dearn. "The Libertarian Party had 2,000 petition signatures and should have been on the ballot without challenge, as they have always done in the past. 

And in Ohio:

With word Friday that a challenge has been lodged in Ohio to try to remove Libertarian Party presidential candidate and former New Mexico Governor Gary Johnson's name from the November ballot in Ohio, a senior advisor to Johnson's campaign is charging that the national Republican Party is mounting a concerted effort to "deny citizens the right to vote for the candidate of their choice."
In recent weeks, with the full support and legal assistance of the Republican Party, Johnson's ballot status has been challenged in Michigan, Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, Iowa and now Ohio. 

The Johnson press release pretty much sums it up:

"The national Republican Party may not want to publicly acknowledge the presence of a true fiscal conservative in this race, but they are certainly taking Gov. Johnson seriously enough to engage in a concerted campaign to get his name off ballots in key states before voters even get a chance to vote.

"In states across the nation, Republican operatives, lawyers, and in some cases, elected officials, are filing frivolous challenges to Governor Johnson's ballot status. They know that even if their challenges fail, fending them off is a drain on our resources and a distraction from the real issues in this campaign. We don't have hundreds of millions of dollars to throw around, nor do we have the Republicans' endless supply of lawyers.

"We have dealt with many challenges in this campaign from the major parties, who clearly don't want voters to have a viable third option in this election, but this attack on voting rights and democracy is over the top.

"Governor Johnson has made it clear that we will fight every one of these challenges and do everything in our power to be on the ballot in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The prospect of a successful two-term governor who is a proven fiscal conservative and champion of social tolerance may be a thorn in the sides of the two so-called major parties, but Governor Johnson will not be deterred in his effort to give voters a real choice in November." 

Governor Johnson has a great track record compared to Obamney. He actually did reduce government in New Mexico, and isn't that what this country really needs. But, but, he'll never win! Correction: we'll never win doing the same *#$*# thing over and over, sheep. Look how we've got the lawyer-slime on the ooze because people of conscience are bailing from both parties like rats from the sinking ship. More people vote for American Idol than for president for a reason--at least that vote counts for something.