National Security State

How We Got a National-Security Police State, Part 3

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 10, 2023

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 On February 26, 1993, terrorists detonated a truck bomb in the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York City. While the bombing did not bring down the Twin Towers, as the terrorists intended, it did kill six people and injured over a thousand. That terrorist attack was no different in ...

How Police Use Public-Private Partnerships to Spy on Americans

by John W. Whitehead January 20, 2023

“We live in a surveillance state founded on a partnership between government and the technology industry.”— Law Professor Avidan Y. Cover In this age of ubiquitous surveillance, there are no private lives: everything is public. Surveillance cameras mounted on utility poles, traffic lights, businesses, and homes. License plate readers. Ring doorbells. GPS devices. Dash cameras. Drones. Store security ...

The Surveillance State Is Making a List, and You’re On It

by John W. Whitehead December 14, 2022

He sees you when you’re sleeping He knows when you’re awake He knows when you’ve been bad or good So be good for goodness’ sake! —“Santa Claus Is Coming to Town” You’d better watch out—you’d better not pout—you’d better not cry—‘cos I’m telling you why: this Christmas, it’s the Surveillance State that’s making a list and checking it twice, and it won’t matter whether ...

How We Got a National-Security Police State, Part 2

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 2022

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The coin of the realm in any national-security state is fear. In order to induce people to surrender their rights and freedoms, officials have to inculcate deep fear within them. Thus, national-security officials are constantly coming up with official foreign enemies, opponents, rivals, and adversaries, as well as crises, to ...

Techno-Authoritarianism Is Here to Stay

by John W. Whitehead November 16, 2022

“If this government ever became a tyranny, if a dictator ever took charge in this country, the technological capacity that the intelligence community has given the government could enable it to impose total tyranny, and there would be no way to fight back.” — Senator Frank Church The votes are in. No matter who runs for office, no matter who controls ...

How We Got a National-Security Police State, Part 1

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 2022

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 The biggest mistake America has ever made since the inception of our country was the conversion of the federal government from a limited-government republic to a national-security state. It is the reason that all of us have been born and raised under what can only be called a national-security police ...

The U.S. Government Is Waging Psychological Warfare on the Nation

by John W. Whitehead June 8, 2022

“Have you ever wondered who’s pulling the strings? … Anything we touch is a weapon. We can deceive, persuade, change, influence, inspire. We come in many forms. We are everywhere.”— U.S. Army Psychological Operations recruitment video The U.S. government is waging psychological warfare on the American people. No, this is not a conspiracy theory.

The Power to Assassinate

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 1, 2022

The power to assassinate has become so deeply entrenched within the national-security branch of the federal government that hardly anyone gives it a second thought. State-sponsored assassinations now occur on a regular basis, especially in the Middle East. Most everyone, especially the mainstream press, treats them in a nonchalant, ho-hum way. Hardly anyone questions where this extraordinary power to ...

The Surveillance State Has a Naughty List, and You’re On It

by John W. Whitehead December 8, 2021

Santa’s got a new helper. No longer does the all-knowing, all-seeing, jolly Old St. Nick need to rely on antiquated elves on shelves and other seasonal snitches in order to know when you’re sleeping or awake, and if you’ve been naughty or nice. Thanks to the government’s almost limitless powers made possible by a domestic army of techno-tyrants, fusion centers and ...

The Empire of Lies Breaks Down

by John W. Whitehead October 22, 2021

“The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look on and do nothing.”—Albert Einstein America is breaking down. This breakdown—triggered by polarizing circus politics, media-fed mass hysteria, racism, classism, fascism, fear-mongering, political correctness, cultural sanitation, virtue signaling, a sense of hopelessness and powerlessness in the face of growing government corruption and ...

The Rise of the Security-Industrial Complex from 9/11 to COVID-19

by John W. Whitehead September 10, 2021

“I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in — and the West in general — into an unbearable hell and a choking life.”—Osama bin Laden (October 2001), as reported by CNN What a strange and harrowing road we’ve walked since September 11, 2001, littered with ...

The Deep State Defeat of Donald Trump

by James Bovard May 1, 2021

“The Trump–Deep State clash is a showdown between a presidency that is far too powerful versus federal agencies that have become fiefdoms with immunity for almost any and all abuses,” I wrote in an FFF article a year ago. Since then, Donald Trump lost the 2020 election by fewer than 50,000 votes in a handful of swing states that ...