The Justice Department is pressing for expanded powers after 9-11. That’s only natural — we all want to find a way to be safer than we currently are.
That having been said, there are serious concerns over some of the proposals being made, and how they may have effects beyond nailing the bastards who did this, or preventing others from doing the same. Effects on our liberties.
Privacy djinni are very difficult to put back in the bottle after they’ve been opened. I’m a lot less concerned about privacy issues than a lot of folks, but I am concerned that the government is rushing to judgment and action right now without really thinking through what they’re doing. Even if you don’t really think that there are Evil Fascist Big Brothers out there just waiting to Tune Into Your E-mail and Turn You Into a Slave, it’s worth considering what expanded law enforcement and surveillance laws we pass will actually allow to happen.
The Law of Unintended Consequences is one of the few truisms we have today. Along with the military truism that you don’t plan to what your opponents will do, you plan to what they can do.
Click on the link in the post title to send a fax or e-mail to your Congressfolk, expressing your concern. It goes through the very efficent (and easy) ACLU site, and you can tailor your statement as you wish.
I’m heartened by some of the concerns I heard from Congressfolk yesterday on the radio. Let’s make sure they know there are concerns out here in the rest of the nation, too.