The noose tightens

It used to be that United States citizens would proudly proclaim their freedoms. Most people nowadays appear to be willing to trade their freedoms for the illusion of security. A noose is very, very slowly being tightened around the public’s neck so when noticed it will be too late.

Here’s an example. Later this week the Senate will vote on an amended House bill (HR 2471) foolishly rewritten and sponsored by Senator Patrick Leahy, Democrat of Vermont, that will allow our government agencies to snoop on the public to access their e-mail, Google Docs files, Facebook wall posts,  Twitter direct messages and probably anything they want.

They won’t have to ask permission, and you may never know. Anything that will cross the Internet will be fair game. And having been in the computer business for over thirty years, be assured… a lot more touches the Internet from your computers that you’ve ever dreamed about.

So not only are schools starting to electronically tag students to track them in school, and that our government can easily track the public (within a few feet) by following their cell phones transmissions we now have legislation to make it simple for our government to use super computers to watch our every communication, and any data that touches the Internet. And for the most part, all without warrants.

Speaking on our government knowing what you are doing, many people will say that they don’t have anything to hide and it will only help law enforcement catch the “bad guys.”

The public doesn’t realize that it’s the suspicion (and subsequent indictment) that they have committed a crime that will bankrupt them and their families. Guilt or innocence has little to do with it.

Most cases are plea-bargained as the defendant is told to plea or be financially destroyed. They are probably told that some of the charges carry mandatory minimum sentences. That means that the judges cannot vary from the minimum of many years in prison.

Many defendants can’t afford to defend themselves. Almost all plead guilty to one or two charges, reduced from dozens and become felons. The “bad guy” goes to prison and the prosecutor gets a raise, and enhances his career prospects.

The game is to throw as many charges against the defendants as possible; plea them down to one or two or go to trial. Even if the jury finds that 19 out of 20 charges are ridiculous, any conviction will result in a long sentence and a financial trauma in any instance. I suspect many are innocent. It’s the system, and the prisons need prisoners, or the prison building boom would end and prison guards laid off. Bad for business. If you don’t believe it, here is a graph that will make you a believer.

You could be one of them, because law enforcement will easily be able to track you and read your mail and stored files, or anything moving across the Internet. We’re on a very slippery slope to our collective loss of liberty. Drip, drip, drip.

Some of the bill’s language includes –

Grants warrantless access to Americans’ electronic correspondence to over 22 federal agencies. Only a subpoena is required, not a search warrant signed by a judge based on probable cause.

Permits state and local law enforcement to warrantlessly access Americans’ correspondence stored on systems not offered “to the public,” including university networks.

Authorizes any law enforcement agency to access accounts without a warrant — or subsequent court review — if they claim “emergency” situations exist.

Says providers “shall notify” law enforcement in advance of any plans to tell their customers that they’ve been the target of a warrant, order, or subpoena.

Delays notification of customers whose accounts have been accessed from 3 days to “10 business days.” This notification can be postponed by up to 360 days.

Is this what this country stands for? We used to be horrified with what the Soviet KGB and East German Stasi did to its citizens, quietly watching and arresting them. I suspect that the Russian and Germans are amazed that we are collectively sleeping though the drip, drip, drip tightening of the noose. History repeats itself.

This graph shows how the U.S. is a leader in putting its citizens in prisons. We’re a leader in many areas, but this one is rarely mentioned. It’s good for the justice and prison system though.

I would imagine that by now, any self respecting terrorist would securely double encrypt their messages and documents, impervious to our government snooping. Only the public will be at risk, as even General Petraeus got caught working with “in the clear” Gmail messages, and he was the head of the CIA!

Do people care when they can just sit in their recliners and watch reality shows on TV, dance Gangnam style, play Xbox games or eat hamburgers while their constitutional freedoms are being eliminated. Probably not.

I predict that there will come a day when our government proposes mandatory electronic RFID tags for the public; for their own protection of course and to keep them safe.

If you volunteer to be tagged, you’ll be able to less subject to being searched on the street, as you’ll be scanable from the distance. It will be effective, illustrated with our government helping the pharmaceutical industry inject us with a variety of drugs for (possibly) real and imagined problems. As you know, the public obediently lines up, and rolls up their sleeves. It’s good for business.

Abattoir anyone?

Editor note – When Senator Leahy was found out, he changed the language to insist that search warrants be issued and not the opposite. He was caught with his fingers in the cash register and did the right thing, but only after the light of day was shone on him. That’s how it works. Get away with whatever you can.