Just as it appeared that Republican House Majority Leader would save us from becoming yet another police state masquerading as a democracy, the DOJ has brought Operation TIPS back from the brink. Rep Armey added language to a security bill that prevented the creation and use of TIPS, prevented creation of a National ID card, and would have created a Privacy Officer in the Dept of Homeland Security to endure that our rights aren't trampled by policy or technology. Mr. Armey's reasoning is simple: there are betters ways to enhance our security than for us to spy on each other. Maybe he remembers the history of other nations. Or maybe he remembers Joe McCarthy.
Unfortunately for all of us, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, who seems not to have read the same version of the Constitution as the rest of us, is pressing on with the plan. He sees nothing wrong with us being spied upon by meter readers, package delivery people, phone and cable installers, bookstore clerks, or anybody else. He also has no problem with all of these unsubstantiated items going into a massive database. I'm assuiming that this means he doesn't use any of the services, or that he thinks his position places him above the law. Maybe this is why the good citizens of Missouri elected a dead man instead of Aschroft for the Senate.
So, for now, we're stuck with the spectre of anyone and everyone being an informer. Just like it was behind the Iron Curtain. Isn't that fun? Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with people who spend a lot of time in sensitive or public areas having a mechanism for reporting suspicious activity. Who better to know if there's something weird going on at airports, the docks, at railheads, than the people who work there? The difference? They aren't sticking their noses in our homes.
Of course, we already have a great mechanism for reporting strange goings on: the police. I thought being involved in the cummunity was what "Community Policing" was all about. Guess not.
Here's a logical outgrowth of all this "Big Brother" garbage from the UK.
Posted by Chris at July 24, 2002 11:34 PM