Also Published in
Democratic
Underground, November 21, 2002,
and Smirking Chimp, November 23,
2002.
|
"Choose your enemies wisely,
for you will become like them."
(Source Unknown)
|
On November 19, the Senate approved the formation of the Department of Homeland Security, by a vote of 90 to
9. George Bush signed the bill into law a week later.
So now we have our own
Komitet Gosudarstvenoi Bezopastnosti (KGB) --
sorry, I lapsed into an alien language. That translates into "Department of State Security." Sounds a lot like "The Department of Homeland Security"
(DHS) doesn't it?
This same week we learned of a super-computer database which will presumably be linked to the
DHS. This is the brainstorm of Admiral John Poindexter, a convicted
perjurer. This monstrous concoction will record book purchases and library loans,
monitor e-mails, and compile complete records of credit card and checkbook purchases,
and so forth.
In short, it will know everything about you except whether or not you own or have purchased a gun.
John Ashcroft and the NRA will not allow such an "assault on our
liberty" under the Second Amendment.
"Oh well," we are told, "if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear." Yea, sure. But how soon will some of us want to "hide" our less than enthusiastic support of "our President." ("You are either with us or against us.")
So pause for a moment and reflect:
Do you have a dirty little secret?
Did kindly Mr. Potlatch catch you swiping a candy bar at his Mom and Pop store when you were twelve years old? And did that get to the police blotter?
Were you busted in college for smoking a joint?
Did you once forget to make good on a check that bounced?
Have you, out of curiosity, rented an adult video or paid for access to the Playboy channel?
Did you get too friendly with your Secretary ten years ago, and have you managed to keep this from your wife, thus protecting a perfectly fabulous marriage?
Did you once, on a lark, buy a copy of The Daily Worker, or subscribe to
Z-Magazine or The Nation?
Then, my friend, if you have a beef with "your government," you'd better keep it to yourself, because Adm. Poindexter's
magical computer base will soon know all this. Furthermore, the Admiral's computer will "know" a bunch of things that aren't so -- as reported by a disgruntled employee, or colleague, or a nosy neighbor.
By quick calculation, the portion of our population that has something in their past that they'd just as soon keep secret, comes to approximately
99.44%, the remaining 0.66 being certifiably "pure."
Are you scared yet?
All this reminds me of a 1990 conversation with a Russian friend at his Moscow apartment. As our conversation turned to politics, he put a finger to his mouth, making a "shush" gesture, and pointed to the ceiling at a hypothetical microphone. Thereafter we had all our political conversations outside.
As I walked late at night from the Metro station to his apartment, the lights were on at the local Post Office. When I asked why, he explained that the place operated 24/7, as the PO staff was reading the mail.
Thank God, I thought, I live in a free country.
That was then. This is now.
Copyright 2002 by Ernest Partridge
Ernest Partridge's Internet Publications
Conscience of a Progressive:
A book
in progress.
Partridge's Scholarly Publications. (The Online Gadfly)
Dr. Ernest Partridge is a consultant, writer and lecturer in the field
of Environmental Ethics and Public Policy. He has taught Philosophy at
the University of California, and in Utah, Colorado and Wisconsin. He
publishes the website, "The Online
Gadfly" and co-edits the progressive website,
"The Crisis Papers".
