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COLUMN
EIGHTY-FIVE,
FEBRUARY 15, 2003
(Copyright © 2003 The Blacklisted Journalist)
FROM PORTSIDE
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THE ADVENT OF FASCISM
Subject:
Molly Ivins - Scary Times in the USA
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 15:55:06 -0500
From: portsideMod@netscape.net
Reply-To: portside@yahoogroups.com
To: portside@yahoogroups.com
Scary
Times in the USA
By
Molly Ivins
November
24, 2002; the Boulder Daily Camera (reprinted
http://www.thedailycamera.com/bdc/opinion_columnists/article/0,1713,
BDC_2490_1563806,00.html
AUSTIN,
Texas - Readin' the newspapers anymore is eerily reminiscent of all those bad
novels warning of the advent of fascism in America. "It Can't Happen
The
most hair-raising news du jour is about Total Information Awareness, a giant
government computer system being set up to spy on Americans and run by none
other than John Poindexter of Iran- Contra fame.
TIA
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. The just-passed Homeland
Security Bill
And
can we trust the government to keep all this information solely for the task of
tracking terrorists? Funny you should ask. The Wall Street Journal reports this
week that shortly after Sept. 11, the FBI circulated the names of hundreds of
people it wanted to question to scores of corporations around the country.
"A
year later, the list has taken on a life of its own, with multiplying - and
error-filled - versions being passed around like bootleg music. Some companies
fed a version of the list into their databases and now use it to screen job
applicants and customers." The list included people who were not suspects
at all, just people the FBI wanted to talk to because they might have had some
information. But, the Journal reports, a Venezuelan bank's security officer sent
the list, headed "suspected terrorists sent by the FBI," to a website.
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. This 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. The blowhard right- wingers sometimes put down Barry Goldwater
these days as "the liberals' favorite conservative," and so he was.
But in your heart, you know Goldwater would have had a cow over all this.
Rep.
Dick Armey has already announced he will do consulting work with the ACLU on
privacy issues (good on him). Rep. Ron Paul and columnist Bill Safire are stout
on these matters, as are other unlikely suspects such as Bob Barr of Georgia.
For
those who relish irony, there's a comical extent to which liberals are the new
conservatives, exactly where the old principled Republicans used to be "
reluctant to get involved in foreign wars, harping on fiscal responsibility and
worried about constitutional freedoms.
Personally,
I still believe internationalism makes more sense than isolationism because our
major problems in the future - global warming, overpopulation and water shortage
- are going to have to be dealt with on a global basis. I think it is inarguable
that this is the most anti-environmental administration since before Teddy
Roosevelt. The corporatists in this administration, particularly those from the
oil bidness, apparently have some grand imperialist schemes to keep us in cheap
oil indefinitely.
As
a matter of both foreign and environmental policy, it makes a lot more sense to
lay rail, promote renewable energy and get serious about conserving oil.
Copyright
2002, The Daily Camera ##
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