The Patriot Act, surveillance without a warrant, and torture----all in the name of protecting America by the most secret administration in history. And make no mistake about it, the secrecy started prior to the tragic events of 9-11. The President believes privacy is only a right for himself and his administration, but not for the American people.
And now it has been reported that Donald Kerr, a deputy director of national intelligence, wants the American people to change their definition of privacy. In fact, he is quoted as saying privacy can no longer mean anonymity. He wants government and businesses to safeguard people's private communications and financial information. (From Associated Press writer Pamela Hess)
Mr. Bush and the intelligence community want to shield telecommunication companies from lawsuits for giving the government access to people's private emails and phone calls with out a court order. After the WMD fiasco concerning Iraq and the leaking of Valerie Plame's name, can anyone imagine trusting this administration or intelligence when it deals with protecting the privacy of millions of Americans? The closer this administration gets to leaving office the more the people are going to discover just how reckless this President and his administration have been.
Telecommunication companies who turn over private records of American citizens to intelligence agencies without a court order deserve no protection. Those companies who said no to our government agencies when asked to do so without a court order should continue to stand tall. It is called checks and balances and being patriotic the patriotic way.
We know that this administration met with oil, gas, and other energy companies behind closed doors and never revealed what took place. In fact they fought to keep their discussions secret. Now we have lived with the most sustained price increase for oil and is now in the $90 barrel range.
The absence of checks and balances during the run up to war in Iraq led to the President misleading the American people and the Congress. Because of this administration, men and women in uniform were committed to a war and occupation in Iraq over WMD that did not exist. This administration has already failed the test. No american should trust this administration to protect their privacy.
1 comment :
The assault on our freedoms actualy started with this administration long before the PATRIOT ACT. Not one to want to hear criticism, this administration actually had the secret service set up "free speech zones" before every Bush appearance. You had the right to protest the president... as long as you were far enough out of earshot of the president, his supporters and the press.
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