Spy all you want, we'll make more
I was catching up on my Slashdot today (having just spent 11 of the last 48 hours on a plane) and came accross this article from the Washington Post. In a nutshell, only 24% of Americans polled "strongly objected" to the NSA's newest round of Stupid Privacy Invasion Tricks, while 63% said everything was hunky-dory.
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.
Don't you realize that each chunk of privacy that you give up is another battle that the terrorists have won? That the companies that provide services to you are run by the most short-sighted greedy opportunistic bastards in the history of mankind?
Sure, "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about". BULLSHIT. If I call my Aunt Louise to wish her a happy birthday, how the fuck is that the government's business? If I call up a local liberal charity to donate some money, is that the government's business? If I happen to call someone who knows someone who knows someone that's on a hotlist of "suspected terrorist sympathizers" (whatever the fuck that means this week), does that make me a security risk in need of further investigation?
Even if you can look past the massive Constitutional issues at stake here, not to mention the betrayal of companies that we count on to be able to function in society (phones make modern life possible), there's the ENORMOUS potential for abuse! Hypothetically, data mining could be used to determine who is likely to vote for a Democratic candidate in the next presidential election (through their associations) and they could be targeted for further investigation (read: harassment) on the pretext that they're suspected of "terrorist" activities. After all, to a lot of people, if you're a Democrat (or, $deity forbid, a Liberal), you may as well throw the bombs yourself.
It's another step in a long line of the COMPLETELY insulting and offensive tactic of using the tragic events of September 11th 2001 to justify creating a police state, where your every move, communication, transaction, or association are monitored to ensure that you're not a "terrist". What happened to "innocent until proven guilty?" Or "freedom from unreasonable search and seizure?" I'd call the arbitrary recording and/or monitoring of individuals who are not even SUSPECTED of any crime a pretty blatant violation of the Bill of Rights.
Oh, wait, that's obsolete. Silly me. Am I bending over far enough for you, Mr. GOP man?
It's things like this that make me embarrassed to be an American.
WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE.
Don't you realize that each chunk of privacy that you give up is another battle that the terrorists have won? That the companies that provide services to you are run by the most short-sighted greedy opportunistic bastards in the history of mankind?
Sure, "If you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about". BULLSHIT. If I call my Aunt Louise to wish her a happy birthday, how the fuck is that the government's business? If I call up a local liberal charity to donate some money, is that the government's business? If I happen to call someone who knows someone who knows someone that's on a hotlist of "suspected terrorist sympathizers" (whatever the fuck that means this week), does that make me a security risk in need of further investigation?
Even if you can look past the massive Constitutional issues at stake here, not to mention the betrayal of companies that we count on to be able to function in society (phones make modern life possible), there's the ENORMOUS potential for abuse! Hypothetically, data mining could be used to determine who is likely to vote for a Democratic candidate in the next presidential election (through their associations) and they could be targeted for further investigation (read: harassment) on the pretext that they're suspected of "terrorist" activities. After all, to a lot of people, if you're a Democrat (or, $deity forbid, a Liberal), you may as well throw the bombs yourself.
It's another step in a long line of the COMPLETELY insulting and offensive tactic of using the tragic events of September 11th 2001 to justify creating a police state, where your every move, communication, transaction, or association are monitored to ensure that you're not a "terrist". What happened to "innocent until proven guilty?" Or "freedom from unreasonable search and seizure?" I'd call the arbitrary recording and/or monitoring of individuals who are not even SUSPECTED of any crime a pretty blatant violation of the Bill of Rights.
Oh, wait, that's obsolete. Silly me. Am I bending over far enough for you, Mr. GOP man?
It's things like this that make me embarrassed to be an American.
posted by Zach Burnham at 8:09 PM (click for permalink)
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