Article: A Precedent of Silencing Dissent: Just as left-wing "watchdog" groups today are working to silence dissent from opponents, their predecessors did the same during America's involvement in World Wars I and II. (On the Home Front).(war on terrorism, United States)

How bad can it get? This question is on the minds of many Americans worried that the open-ended "War on Terrorism" could eventually extinguish our civil liberties. Unfortunately, there are ample precedents for the wartime use of private "watchdog" organizations to spy upon and harass patriotic Americans who offer principled criticism of federal policies.

Contemporary self-appointed leftist "watchdog" organizations could be looked upon as lineal descendants of a World War I-era American vigilante organization: The "American Protective League" (APL), which was based in Chicago. Historian Don Whitehead recalls that the APL grew out of a suggestion from Chicago ...

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