+1 Constitution, -1 Illegal Surveillance
Yayy to Judge Anna Diggs Taylor for declaring the NSA wiretapping program illegal, and asking for an immediate halt to it. Over the last year, I have been looking not at 2006, but 1984. Big Brother has been sniffing my Internet packets, the NSA has been listening to my conversations, the Ministry of Peace Department of Defense has been waging a war (Newspeak at work!), and freedom is being taken away in the name of — well, protecting freedom. It’s good to see the Judiciary acting to protect constitutionally-guaranteed freedoms and preventing exactly what the Founding Fathers warned against.
George Orwell was surprisingly farsighted; a manufactured war against a perpetual enemy, constant surveillance over all modes of communication, and even further than Orwell imagined, this Administration has even tried to request users’ search query logs … it’s all happening. Let’s just hope the dystopian future sketched in 1984 stays fresh in the minds of the citizenry to recognize such a situation when it arises in real life.
Do you lock your doors at night? If so, your children may rise up in Orwellian revolt for impinging on their freedom.
I am a parent. I believe there is right and wrong because there is purpose in life much like there is purpose in the calendar which guided the programming. Any programming outside of that purpose would be a virus or bug which you would exert much effort to eradicate what is wrong.
Effort must be made to circumvent destructive acts.
I lock my doors and my children do not complain or revolt or contrive to circumvent this modest refinement of personal freedoms.
I have enjoyed your blog. Especially the yahoo notes, butterfly and cell phone.
1FamilyMan
Comment by David — September 2, 2006 @ 11:52 pm
Glad you like my blog and took a moment to post your thoughts!
However, a parent’s right to limit their children’s freedom is only valid until children reach a certain age; parents may not dictate terms to their adult children. Therefore, the analogy comparing governments to parents and minor children to citizens does not stand.
Also, speaking specifically about the current illegal wiretapping scheme, there is a legal way to do it, and even to obtain a retroactive warrant. Why the government chooses not to pursue legal avenues for this is beyond me.
A quote by Benjamin Franklin comes to mind: “Those who sacrifice liberty for security deserve neither.”
Comment by Manas — September 3, 2006 @ 12:24 am