Big Brother spying on Americans, it's time to abolish DHS

The  Guardian has always been the go-to paper for the group – and exposing the NSA could be its payback for the trial of Bradley Manning, which started this week at Fort Meade in Maryland. Or, it could be somebody in the DHS who sees what a monster Bush created when he borrowed the word "Homeland" from the last generation's Germans and used it to create a huge national security agency. 

Ultimately, however, the biggest question here is, "What have we become as a nation?"

We're supposed to have "checks and balances." But the very branches of government who are supposed to keep the intelligence agencies in check have rubber-stamped their abuses. Caught up in the hysterical spirit of the times, our elected representatives have signed away our most precious Constitutional liberties in the name of "national security." This is an institutional failure of the highest level.

Our nation now finds itself at a crossroads when it comes to Constitutional rights and civil liberties. Even Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, one of the primary authors of the 2001 Patriot Act, is now backing away from a law he helped write and pass, and calling for new restrictions on its use in intelligence gathering.
But we need to go even further.
We need to repeal the Patriot Act altogether and end our obsession with "Homeland Security."
Concentration of responsibility becomes concentration of power – and because most of our intelligence and police power has been concentrated in one agency – the DHS - that agency has become way too powerful, with no checks and balances. In effect, it's created an entire surveillance industry around itself, and it's time to shut it down.
How did this happen? In a way, it was predictable, a replay of Eisenhower's warning.
As Deep Throat famously told Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein – "Follow the money."
Who benefits from our nation's addiction to out-of-control "security"? The military-industrial-security complex. Providing support and equipment and consultants to DHS has now become a trillion-dollar for-profit industry.
This is not good for the United States.
When the worst abuses of the old East German STASI become the standard policies of what Thomas Jefferson once called "the world's last best hope" – it is time for a change.
Because as Jefferson's fellow founder, Benjamin Franklin said, "those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither."
Repeal the PATRIOT Act, dissolve the DHS, and let's return to sanity. http://www.alternet.org/civil-liberties/thom-hartmann-abolish-homeland-security

DHS wants to purchase riot gear:
 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is purchasing hundreds of items of protective gear for its fleet of Federal Protective Service officers in order to prepare for “riot control situations,” increasing concerns that the federal agency is readying for domestic unrest.

A June 10 solicitation posted on the FedBizOpps website seeks to outfit officers working for the DHS’ Federal Protective Service, which is primarily used to guard government buildings but has also been used to spy on protesters.
The items the DHS is looking to acquire include the following;

- 111 Centurion CPX2500 Soft Shell Riot Control System upper body and shoulder protection, which must “effectively protect the torso and shoulders from blunt force trauma.”

- 123 Centurion TPX200 thigh/groin protection systems “designed for blunt trauma protection during riot control situations,” said the solicitation. The gear “protects the thigh area and has an adjustable and removable groin protector.”

- 110 Hatch TS70 Centurion hard shell shin guards, which must provide “substantial protection from flying debris. Non-ballistic weapons, and blows to the leg.”

- 189 MaxPro-Police riot helmets, which have a “high impact molded half shell helmet with integral visor and neck protector.”

The solicitation also includes a request for 116 pairs of tactical gloves and 128 forearm protectors. The contract includes four additional one year option periods. The equipment will be delivered to a Federal Protective Service facility in Alexandria, VA, within 45 days of the award.

The reference to “riot control situations” can be found in the “Statement of Work” file at the bottom of the solicitation.

Fears that the Department of Homeland Security is preparing for civil unrest have intensified ever since the agency began purchasing large quantities of ammunition. Having already committed to purchasing well over 1.6 billion rounds of bullets over the course of the last year, a DHS “request for information” issued last month quizzed bullet manufacturers on how fast they can supply large quantities of ammo.

The request asked ammo companies if they were capable of supplying, “large quantity orders of any training caliber specified with a short turnaround time of 30-60 days.”
https://marketplace.fedbid.com/fbweb/fbobuyDetails.do?token===wBKxmaVGYR9uzR5/Wk%2BJuUQAAAAAHeAAgAgTFCGg/FzzqQbJAAyVXBA0Or