Today's Topics:
Say it ain't so, "Bob"
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Message-ID: <19900305005844.1.MT@OUROBOROS.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
Date: Sun, 4 Mar 90 19:58 EST
From: Michael Travers <mt@media-lab.media.mit.edu>
To: subgenius@MC.lcs.mit.edu
Subject: Say it ain't so, "Bob"
DOBBS IMPLICATED IN FBI SKULLDUGGERY - Associated Press, Feb. 8, 199O
Documents uncovered through a Freedom of Information lawsuit indicate
the participation of J. R. "Bob" Dobbs, leader of the popular
counterculture religion known as "The Church of the SubGenius" in FBI
plans to quash student protest in the late 196O's, according to a probe
by the Christic Institute.
At a press conference this morning, Boyd Rice, a spokesperson for the
Christic Institute, released copies of recently declassified FBI
memoranda. These documents implicate Dobbs as a participation (sic) in
the infamous COINTELPRO domestic counterinsurgency program carried out
by the FBI under J. Edgar Hoover. COINTELPRO, a program of
surveillance and disruption, was officially discontinued in 1976.
One document, signed by a highly placed official, proposed hiring Dobbs
as a means of "siphoning off student dissent and re- channeling it into
self-destructive hedonism." Other documents detail payments made to
Dobbs and status reports on the program, code named "SLACKHEAD." "Not
only are these kids wasting their time with drugs and cult-like
idolatry" asserts one report, "But their consistently scruffy appearance
and asinine behavior makes the counterculture quite unattractive to most
youth."
"This kind of pervasive interference in the lives of law abiding
Americans cannot be tolerated in a free society," said Rice. This
comes dangerously close to the promotion of drug use by the U.S. Justice
Department."
The Christic Institute plans to file a federal suit against the FBI and
seeks the release of further materials. "We must find out if this
Dobbs person is still an employee of the Federal Government. We need
assurance that this program has stopped."
The Christic Institute is a private research organization best known for
its lawsuit against key figures in the Iran-Contra incidents. Their
charges of conspiracy were dismissed by a Federal Court.
Dobbs could not be reached for comment, but representatives of the
Church of the SubGenius denied that there was any truth to the
allegations.
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End of SubGenius Digest
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