Shall We All Be The Enemies?

Let's say it while we still can. The White House Republicans are anti-freedom. They are authoritarians. They are paternal in the extreme. They may well be watching you already.

The arbitrary and secret enemies lists are back and George the Lesser doesn't care who knows it and who doesn't like it. The NY Times and Washington Post have been spreading the ink and electrons about this for some time and are heavy into this week.

Today's excellent Post feature Pushing the Limits of Wartime Powers has the history and status of the civilian spying and Bush's arrogant and deceitful defense of it.

You've heard it before, from Dick Nixon when he had his own enemies list, and now from Bush. In case you didn't know who was watching you in what ways, the Post recaps:

Since October, news accounts have disclosed a burgeoning Pentagon campaign for "detecting, identifying and engaging" internal enemies that included a database with information on peace protesters. A debate has roiled over the FBI's use of national security letters to obtain secret access to the personal records of tens of thousands of Americans. And now come revelations of the National Security Agency's interception of telephone calls and e-mails from the United States -- without notice to the federal court that has held jurisdiction over domestic spying since 1978.

You have also heard the justification's before. As the Post continues, the Bushies shamelessly try to justify these unAmerican activities:

Defiant in the face of criticism, the Bush administration has portrayed each surveillance initiative as a defense of American freedom. Bush said yesterday that his NSA eavesdropping directives were "critical to saving American lives" and "consistent with U.S. law and the Constitution." After years of portraying an offensive waged largely overseas, Bush justified the internal surveillance with new emphasis on "the home front" and the need to hunt down "terrorists here at home."

So, there we have it again. People can't fly and won't be able to find out why or have the due process our Bill of Rights states. Any American, singly or in groups, can be subject to arbitrary surveillance without search warrant or having to show probably cause. Use the word terrorism and strip away rights and freedoms we have taken for granted.

It looks like the rampaging authoritarians in Washington and Virginia have finally gone too far. The House and Senate have many members trying to distance themselves from such anti-liberty tactics, and are demanding investigations and changes. Turning America into a police state in alleged efforts to keep it free is worse than simply illogical.