Yesterday on Thom Hartmann’s Air America program, he discussed something called Infragard. I didn’t hear what they were talking about because my focus was split, but the few phrases I could hear made me come back to the computer later so I could find out what that was all about.
Here’s the message on the front page of InfraGard’s website:
InfraGard is an information sharing and analysis effort serving the interests and combining the knowledge base of a wide range of members. At its most basic level, InfraGard is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the private sector. InfraGard is an association of businesses, academic institutions, state and local law enforcement agencies, and other participants dedicated to sharing information and intelligence to prevent hostile acts against the United States. InfraGard Chapters are geographically linked with FBI Field Office territories.
I don’t know about you, but that gave me the creeps.
What are we supposed to think? There are people running our government that are twisted enough to compare the upcoming 9/11 trials with the Nuremberg trials. Now they’re privatizing the FBI. This InfraGard thing is sick. It can morph into just about anything. They have guns and they are authorized to use them.
Blogger Kate Chase at All Things Democrat breaks down the new guard:
Yet, with all these terrific failures comes a report in The Progressive that the Bushies, ever the good friend to the worst corporate offenders – many of the same ones the Bushies offer HUGE tax breaks to in a bizarre new form of corporate welfare at the same time these creeps take jobs elsewhere – launched a program called InfraGard that:
- reports potential threats of an attack to corporations when mere mortals are not allowed to know (you may pay a hell of a much bigger percentage of your income on taxes than Exxon or Halliburton, but you just don’t rate knowing if you’re about to be bombed)
- encourages corporate leaders to “report” “problematic” employees (perhaps union organizers, those who might talk against the Bush Administration over the water cooler?) and others (say, their biggest competitor)
- potentially “rewards” these corps with extra corporate welfare
- makes US as taxpayers foot the bill to supply FBI agents and homeland (in)security folks to “interface” with the companies in the organization.
This is just the short list; because so much is secret about it, we can’t put it to a pull stink test.
(more)
Frankly, I’m surprised they haven’t just seized power outright. I figured there would have been an announcement on that back when the sweaty dude, McClellan, was the Press Secretary.
With just ten months left until Bush supposedly leaves office, the suspense is killing me.