they disclosed the truth about the U.S. national-security state's lies, crimes, and secret surveillance schemes --- It's called treason. Bradley Manning's father said as much to Anderson Cooper on national tv. He should be doing hard labor 6 days a week. No work ... no food or water.
On Monday, August 5, 2013 5:52:53 PM UTC-5, MJ wrote: > > > *Truth as Treason > *by Jacob G. Hornberger <http://fff.org/author/jacob-hornberger-2/>August 1, > 2013 > > If I were to use the phrase “When Truth Was Treason,” you might think that > I was referring to the cases of Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden. Your > assumption, of course, would be entirely reasonable given that that’s what > they did they disclosed the truth about the U.S. national-security > state’s lies, crimes, and secret surveillance schemes, for which they have > been labeled as criminals and traitors. > > But actually the phrase is the title of a fascinating book about a group > of teenagers in Hamburg, Germany, who disclosed the truth about the > operations of their government during the midst of World War II and who > were labeled criminal and traitors for having done so. > > The group was led by a 16-year-old boy named Helmuth Hubener, who had > achieved the same type of “breakthrough” that characterizes American > libertarians today. Possessing an independent, analytical mind, he refused > to defer to authority and to comply with what he considered to be wrongful > laws enacted by the government. (Click here for a photograph of Hubener and > an article about him.) > > Among the many laws that governed the Nazi state was one that made it a > grave criminal offense to reveal to the German people what was being > broadcast by the BBC. In fact, it was a criminal offense to even listen to > BBC broadcasts. The German people were expected to get their information > about the war was going only from their own government officials, who could > be trusted to tell them the truth as to the progress of the war. > > Hubener decided that such laws were immoral and ridiculous and, therefore, > declined to comply with them. He began secretly listening to BBC broadcasts > and concluded that Hitler and his cohorts were lying to the German people > about the progress of the war. They also began questioning the moral > legitimacy of the Nazi regime itself. > > So, Hubener began preparing fliers that disclosed the truth to the German > people. He and his friends began surreptitiously distributing the fliers at > various locations in Hamburg. > > Make no mistake about it: Hubener and his friends knew the risk they were > taking in revealing the truth to the German people. They fully understood > that if they got caught, they would be condemned as criminals and traitors > and that they would be facing long prison terms at best and a death > sentence at worst. > > It’s not difficult to understand the reaction of German officials to > Hubener’s fliers. Consider, for example, the following excerpt from one of > them: > > German boys! Do you know the country without freedom, the country of > terror and tyranny? Yes, you know it well, but are afraid to talk about it. > They have intimidated you to such an extent that you don’t dare talk for > fear of reprisals. Yes you are right; it is Germany Hitler Germany! > Through their unscrupulous terror tactics against young and old, men and > women, they have succeeded in making you spineless puppets to do their > bidding. > > One of the most fascinating aspects of the book was the similarity of the > mindsets of the Germans who criticized and condemned Hubener and those > Americans who condemn Manning and Snowden. No, I’m not equating Nazi > Germany and the United States. What I am equating is the mindsets of those > Germans who condemned Hubener with the mindsets of those Americans who > condemn Manning and Snowden. There really isn’t any difference between the > two mindsets. > > German officials, and their supporters, took the position that the law was > the law and, therefore, Hubener should have followed the law, whether he > agreed with it or not. Releasing information that indicated that German > officials were lying about the progress of the war or that questioned the > policies and practices of the government, especially during war, were > reprehensible acts, according to Nazi officials. Hubener needed to be > punished severely, they said, in order to send a message that would > discourage others from blowing the whistle on the German government by > revealing the truth to the German people. Hubener was a traitor, they said, > because he turned against the German government by revealing its lies and > crimes to the German people. > > Does that not describe precisely the mindset of those who criticize > Manning and Snowden? Don’t U.S. officials and their supporters condemn and > vilify Manning and Snowden for revealing the truth about U.S. government > operations to the American people? Don’t they say that they are traitors > who are helping America’s enemies by disclosing the truth to the American > people about the lies and crimes of the U.S. national-security state? Don’t > they say that the law is the law and, therefore, must be obeyed even when > it’s wrong? Don’t they say that Manning and Snowden need to be punished > severely in order to discourage others from doing the same thing? In their > minds, doesn’t the truth that Manning and Snowden revealed constitute > treason? > > Why was it so important to German officials to go after people like > Hubener? The answer lies in the words of Dr. Joseph M. Goebbels, Hitler’s > propaganda minister: > > The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the > people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the > lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its > powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, > and thus by extension, the TRUTH becomes the greatest ENEMY OF THE STATE. > > Hubener and his friends were caught, arrested, prosecuted, and convicted. > Interestingly, they were caught as a result of the Nazi regime’s massive > surveillance scheme on the German people. No, it wasn’t a > super-technological marvel, like the NSA’s surveillance scheme on the > American people, but it was extensive nonetheless. It relied on an informal > army of good little German citizens those who deferred to authority > whose job it was to report suspicious activity by other German citizens to > the Gestapo. > > One of these good little citizens noticed a member of the Hubener group > engaged in suspicious activity. He reported it to the Gestapo, which > quickly unraveled the entire scheme. > > Two of Hubener’s friends, aged 18 and 16, were sentenced to 4 and 5 years > in jail. Hubener, as the leader of the group, received the death penalty. > The boy was guillotined within a couple of months after the verdict. > Shortly before they killed him, Hubener stated, “My Father in heaven knows > that I have done nothing wrong. I know that God lives and He will be the > proper judge of this matter.” > > Of course, Hubener and his friends weren’t the only Germans who paid a > high price for speaking the truth about the Nazi regime. Around a year > later, the White Rose group, headed by siblings Hans and Sophie Scholl, > would be arrested, convicted, and sentenced for distributing leaflets > exhorting Germans to oppose their own government, even in the middle of > war. Like Hubener, they were considered criminals and traitors. (See my > article, “The White Rose: A Lesson in Dissent.) > > It is stories like these that inspire and provide courage to others. I > can’t help but wonder whether Bradley Manning and Edward Snowden were > familiar with the stories of Helmuth Hubener and the White Rose when they > decided to reveal the truth about the U.S. national-security state to the > American people and the people of the world. > > http://fff.org/2013/08/01/when-truth-is-treason/ > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. 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