on dissent in voice and action

[metasilk]

it was time to, once again, come forward with the question of government surveillance, government intimidation, and the right of citizens to vocally dissent. I think that the gasoline of democracy is the right to dissent, because wherever there’s power, wherever there’s privilege, power and privilege are going to try to remove, insofar as they can, from public discourse anything they want to do. That leaves the citizens’ right to dissent as the last line of defense for freedom. Now, that’s what we were faced with back in 1970s. I think that’s what we’re faced with once again today. It should not surprise us. I mean, it should not surprise us that those in power in Washington want to make the decisions that really count off stage, out of sight from the rest of us. But democracy depends upon the rights of citizens to have the information they need in order for them, the citizens-who are the sovereigns-for them to decide what the government should be doing and should not be doing. They must have that information so that they can make up their minds.

John Raines in an interview with Amy Goodman and Nermeen Shaikh on Democracy Now!"
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/8/it_was_time_to_do_more (Accessed 15 January 2014)