The FBI wants quick and easy access to all of your electronic communications, and they want to force your communications providers to build in access for them. As if merely sucking in every bit that goes down the pipe at the ISP level isn't enough.
The assault on individual liberty in the past six years is astounding. In addition to the ever popular FISA court, where the Feds could get secret wiretaps for Intelligence investigations, we have Echelon, the Patriot Act, and others. While we (and the media) pretend that we are all protected by the Bill of Rights, in reality, the Federal Government has moved to retrict political speech, to reduce access to attorneys, to conduct secret and un-monitored searches of homes, fincancial records, communications, and library records. We have also officially lost our right to habeas corpus and to face accusers in court.
And most of this has been brought to us by the people who claim that these new measures are necessary to protect "freedom". What are we left with? Freedom to by ever more cheap crap with our dwindling paychecks, the freedom to have our jobs (manufacturing or new economy) sent overseas to maximize profits for corporations, to live in fear, to be lied to by our government officials, to be attacked for having opinions different from the President, and to provide huge amounts of corporate welfare to already wealthy companies.
Makes you wonder who's side these people are on, doesn't it?
Posted by Chris at April 22, 2004 09:41 AM