Abandoning Liberty, Gaining Insecurity - Paul Craig Roberts

[pberq]

http://www.antiwar.com/roberts/?articleid=4665

February 1, 2005
Abandoning Liberty, Gaining Insecurity

by Paul Craig Roberts

<snip>
Should Americans have to give up the Bill of Rights in order to be "safe" from terrorists? Actually, it doesn't matter what Americans think. The trade has already been made – and without any input from the people. The "democracy" that America is exporting is in fact a Homeland Security State with more surveillance powers than Saddam Hussein.

Americans no longer have any privacy from government. You may not be able to find out about your daughter's abortion or your son's college grades, but neither you nor your children have any secret whatsoever from your government. Banks, airlines, libraries, credit card companies, medical doctors, and health care organizations, employers, Internet providers, any and everyone must turn over your private information at government demand.

Government demand no longer means a court-approved warrant. A myriad of intelligence, security, military, and police agencies can on their own volition mine your personal data and feed it into data banks. Your democratic government does not have to tell you. Your bank, library, etc., are forbidden to tell you.

The government can monitor you as you use your computer, noting the Web sites that you visit and reading the e-mails that you send and receive. Americans have privacy rights only against intrusions by private individuals and private organizations.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. "1984" is here. "Handmaid's Tale" is on the way.

[dbeach]

2. ''One Nation under surveillance" with liberty and justice for

the privleged few.We pay for our cages.National Ids,internal passports,checkpoints in each area,slave wages for slaves..and microchips with mercury fish

Thanx to the bush crime family syndicate and their blue blooded and yellow streaked relatives..

[indepat]

3. We can take great comfort warrantless intrusions will never be polit-

ically motivated, that such intrusions will solely be used for national security purposes and never to harass those just exercising their First Amendment rights or perceived to be political enemies.

[KissMeKate]

4. where are all the old conservative privacy rights advocates?

you know, the ones who raised hell during the Clinton administration?