President Bush and Republicans Creeping Towards Big Brotherism
One of the reasons the crimes and corruption of the Nixon Administration were revealed was not only because of fine reporting and tips flowing in to our newspapers from whistleblowers, but because there were honest people who were explicitly threatened by the government but who were still willing to go to jail to make sure the government was held accountable.
History never quite repeats itself and in fact there is no guarantee Bush's abuse of power will be brought under control, but there are lessons to be learned from decades ago. Here's a story from Ron Hutcheson of the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau concerning some of the history of our government abusing access to personal information:
That era of increased technological capability that Senator Church spoke of thirty years ago has arrived and that capability is still growing. The shadow of Big Brotherism should be enough for most Americans to question Bush's NSA domestic spying programs, particularly given that the records of tens of millions of Americans are being collected.
But there is the added issue of trust. How many Americans still trust George W. Bush? Bush's credibility is low, and his reputation for incompetence and political games is growing. Repeatedly, President Bush has not been straight with the American people. We were misled into war with Iraq. There is a good chance we may be misled into yet a third war, this one with Iran, either before the midterm elections or after. The consequences of such a war will be grave. Watching Bush's falling poll numbers may be reassuring, but at some point, the American people have to say loud and clear: enough is enough.
History never quite repeats itself and in fact there is no guarantee Bush's abuse of power will be brought under control, but there are lessons to be learned from decades ago. Here's a story from Ron Hutcheson of the Knight Ridder Washington Bureau concerning some of the history of our government abusing access to personal information:
President Bush has assured Americans that their government isn't spying on them, but history explains why many remain uneasy about this week's news that their phone records have been turned over to federal agents.
The government has a long track record of abusing personal information that's gathered in the name of national security. From the Red Scare in the 1920s to illegal wiretaps during the Nixon era, Americans have struggled to find the right balance between individual rights and collective security.
"The potential for abuse is awesome," a Senate investigation committee concluded in a 1976 report detailing illegal wiretaps, break-ins and other abuses that government agents committed in the 1960s and `70s.
The Senate panel, known as the "Church committee" after its chairman, Sen. Frank Church, D-Idaho, warned that technological advances would make it even harder for the government to stay within acceptable limits of respecting privacy rights, especially when the nation is at risk of attack.
"In time of crisis, the government will exercise its power to conduct domestic intelligence activities to the fullest extent. The distinction between legal dissent and criminal conduct is easily forgotten," the committee wrote. "In an era where the technological capability of government relentlessly increases, we must be wary about the drift toward `big brother government.'''
That era of increased technological capability that Senator Church spoke of thirty years ago has arrived and that capability is still growing. The shadow of Big Brotherism should be enough for most Americans to question Bush's NSA domestic spying programs, particularly given that the records of tens of millions of Americans are being collected.
But there is the added issue of trust. How many Americans still trust George W. Bush? Bush's credibility is low, and his reputation for incompetence and political games is growing. Repeatedly, President Bush has not been straight with the American people. We were misled into war with Iraq. There is a good chance we may be misled into yet a third war, this one with Iran, either before the midterm elections or after. The consequences of such a war will be grave. Watching Bush's falling poll numbers may be reassuring, but at some point, the American people have to say loud and clear: enough is enough.
posted by Craig at 3:39 PM
2 Comments:
Funny, how this sort of thing keeps coming up during Republican administrations. It's enough to make me think these people who are so proud of their disdain for, and distrust of, government judge others on the basis of their own low-road approach to exercising power.
As for the trust issue, I hope during this next two years that millions of Americans will in some way come to terms with what it means, with how important it is.
I say that fearing too many will just shrug and cynically attribute how Bush is as simply what's to be expected from all politicians.
People ought to reckon with Bush's lack of candor, his twisting and shading of truth, as well as his outright lying. They ought to get good and mad, and vocal, about it. They ought to send a message that this way of doing things is unacceptable.
Of course, this goes for Bush's inner circle of Rove and Cheney, too.
Great site loved it alot, will come back and visit again.
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