Madisonians Rayburn and Rothschild Break Major Story on Secret US Gov Program

Update: FBI Response to The Progressive Article Alleging the FBI Authorizes InfraGard Members to “Shoot to Kill” [- this is what is called a long non-denial denial -]

Lee Rayburn, one of the most engaging radio hosts in America - The Mic, 92.1 FM (Madison, Wisconsin) - talked to an acquaintance some months back who told him that a U.S. government agency was involved in deputizing businesses' principals in a secret program to be activated in the event of a national emergency.

Rayburn has an ear for a good story; and the source seemed credible, so he mentioned the bare facts on his morning radio show broadcast out of Madison.

Rayburn said he wondered about the facts and treated the matter with due skepticism; but he was disturbed by one aspect: The civilian shoot-to-kill with immunity element of the program. Smells like ... fascism.

Turns out Rayburn is on to something. The program is called InfraGard.

Rayburn also mentioned the story to Matt Rothschild, editor of Madison's The Progressive Magazine.

After a lengthy investigation and rigorous fact checking, Rothschild authored a piece entitled: The FBI Deputizes Business, the March cover story.

Writes Rothschild:

Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does—and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to “shoot to kill” in the event of martial law. InfraGard is “a child of the FBI,” says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.

During a period in American history unsurpassed in secrecy, political vindictiveness, corruption and erosion of civil liberties, I recommend giving Rothschild's piece a good read.

The MAeLstrom

[A scan of news articles and commentary on the internet.]

Surge not Working — Juan Cole at Informed Comment lists the latest disasters in Iraq and notes that Bill O'Reilly does not think any of this is important, or, actually, thinks reporting what goes on in Iraq is a form of treason. Just remember, as Orwell's 1984 reminds us: "War is Peace; Freedom is Slavery; Ignorance is Strength."

U.S. ATTORNEYS - Ex-Justice Dept. lawyer can't recall his role in controversial policies — Greg Gordon of McClatchy Newspapers reports that “Another former Justice Department lawyer went before Congress on Wednesday with few answers for his Democratic interrogators and a spotty memory.”

FBI Terror Watch List 'Out of Control' — ABC News, Justin Rood Reports: “terrorist watch list compiled by the FBI has apparently swelled to include more than half a million names. Privacy and civil liberties advocates say the list is growing uncontrollably, threatening its usefulness in the war on terror.”

Secret UN report condemns US for Middle East failures — Rory McCarthy in Jerusalem and Ian Williams report in The Guardian: “The highest ranking UN official in Israel has warned that American pressure has "pummelled into submission" the UN's role as an impartial Middle East negotiator in a damning confidential report.”

Justice Dept. Reshapes Its Civil Rights Mission — Neil Lewis reports in the New York Times that “In recent years, the Bush administration has recast the federal government’s role in civil rights by aggressively pursuing religion-oriented cases while significantly diminishing its involvement in the traditional area of race. Paralleling concerns of many conservative groups, the Justice Department has successfully argued in a number of cases that government agencies, employers or private organizations have improperly suppressed religious expression in situations that the Constitution’s drafters did not mean to restrict.

Alan Dershowitz and Robert Bork Team-up to Halt Patrick Fitzgerald — Qwerty’s Qoncepts notes that a group of leading lawyers and law professors, among them none other than Alan Dershowitz and Robert Bork, have written an amicus brief, questioning the constitutionality of the appointment of the special prosecutor in the case against Scooter Libby.

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