How 1984 and 2002 add up to trouble
It may not be fashionable to believe in government conspiracies, but Molly Ivins has some disturbing news about the guvmint's latest effort to make our post-9.11 world a safer place.
The most hair-raising news du jour is about Total Information Awareness, a giant government computer spy system being set up to spy on Americans, run by none other than John Poindexter of Iran-contra fame.
Total Information Awareness will provide intelligence agencies and law enforcement with instant access to information from e-mail, telephone records, credit cards, banking transactions and travel records, all without a search warrant. It will, said Poindexter, "break down the stovepipes" that separate commercial and government databases. The just-passed Homeland Security bill undermines the Privacy Act of 1974, which was intended to limit what government agencies can do with personal information.
There is a slippery slope in place here, one that we seem to be well on our way down. Once we allow government the freedom to pry a little bit here, a little bit there, before you know it we're being watched quite a bit everywhere. The sad thing is that average Americans seem to neither know, care, nor understand what is happening to their constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms.
The real hero in this battle may well be a group you'd never expect- the ACLU. Being "a card-carrying member of the ACLU" has for years been the Conservative accusation of choice against Liberals, but look at who has been doing the dirty work necessary to protect our rights. It sure as hell hasn't been Right-Wing Republicans.
The great writer on the subject of totalitarianism was George Orwell, and 1984 is always worth rereading. Damned if GeeDubya Bush didn't pop up the other day to announce that we must fight a war "for the sake of peace." That's not vaguely Orwellian -- it's a direct steal.
During another time of rampaging fear when civil liberties were considered a frivolous luxury -- the late, unlamented McCarthy era -- the American Civil Liberties Union chickened out on some big issues, and so an Emergency Civil Liberties Union had to be created to fight McCarthyism. The present ACLU, under Anthony Romero, is fighting hard, but I think we need a new coalition organization -- civil libertarians, libertarians and principled conservatives … real patriots who believe in the Constitution.
When you hit your knees before bedtime tonight, perhaps you'd be well-advised to send one up for the ACLU- and all people who fight to preserve our civil liberties. No, they may not always make everyone happy, but they have only one goal- to protect those rights guaranteed to ALL Americans under our Constitution. Sometimes being a free country means having to tolerate actions or speech you abhor. Keep in mind, though, that that is a small price to pay for the freedoms we enjoy.
One of the things I love about my weblog is that it provides an opportunity for me to interact with people of all political stripes. At times we may not agree on much of anything. I think the one thing that most of us can agree on is that this country is a pretty good place to be. That doesn't mean, however, that the rights we value and cherish cannot be taken away. Indeed, if we are not paying attention, that is exactly what could happen. The ACLU is fighting for the preservations of those rights guaranteed to us under the Constitution. Whether you call yourself a Liberal or Conservative, that should be something we can ALL get behind.
