The United States has a growing crop of political dissidents. While it may be less conspicuous than other powers in doing so – China and Russia, to take but two examples – that should hardly be surprising. When the empire gets shoddy and insecure, it will react with consternation at those who expose its links, its paranoia, its premises.
Indeed, the dedicated and somewhat obsessive Barrett Brown has truly riled officialdom, having been indicted since 2012 for allegedly trafficking in stolen identification information and aggravated identity theft (12 felony counts), threatening FBI Special Agent Robert Smith (3 felony counts), and concealing evidence (2 felony counts). Federal prosecutors via the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas in Dallas were happy to file charges that, if shown, will land Brown in the nick for over a century. (
Counterpunch)
