Spies like U.S.

[MadHound]

We all thought that the overreach of domestic surveillance was done and over with the minute that Bush left DC. Apparently that isn't the case. The Obama administration has taken Bush's work and extended it even more.

"Nine years after the terrorist attacks of 2001, the United States is assembling a vast domestic intelligence apparatus to collect information about Americans, using the FBI, local police, state homeland security offices and military criminal investigators.

The system, by far the largest and most technologically sophisticated in the nation's history, collects, stores and analyzes information about thousands of U.S. citizens and residents, many of whom have not been accused of any wrongdoing.

The government's goal is to have every state and local law enforcement agency in the country feed information to Washington to buttress the work of the FBI, which is in charge of terrorism investigations in the United States."
<http://projects.washingtonpost.com/top-secret-america/articles/monitoring-america/>

Apparently concepts like privacy, innocent until proven guilty and other such quaint notions are passe now within government circles. If you are of the "wrong" skin color, have the "wrong" last name, follow the "wrong" religion, participate in the "wrong" political activities, you will come under suspicion. Somewhere, Osama must be laughing his ass off as our civil liberties disappear into the ether.

The potential for abuse of this system is huge. Worse, the chilling effect that this type of activity will have on various dissent movements in this country is going to be appalling. How many people will protest the war if they suspect that they will be subjected to the tender mercies of the local law enforcement or the DHS? How many people will get out in the streets if they think their privacy will be compromised, or worse.

Combine this with Obama's reassertion of the Bush enemy combatant doctrine, and we have a huge escalation towards a totalitarian police state. This is something that Obama needs to shut down, now. The potential for abuse is huge, and this type of activity on the part of our government is not worthy of the ideals of this country.

[mmonk]

1. There's lots of loot to be had in the security industrial complex.

[MadHound]

2. Loot, but better yet, population control

People start wondering about those black suited men taking pictures of them at a protest, and then they start staying home, and shutting up.

[mmonk]

3. They go hand in hand when it comes to the treasury.

[Octafish]

4. Police State-R-Us

We wuz warned:

"The United States must not adopt the tactics of the enemy. Means are important, as ends. Crisis makes it tempting to ignore the wise restraints that make men free. But each time we do so, each time the means we use are wrong, our inner strength, the strength which makes us free, is lessened." -- Sen. Frank Church

Details for those new the subject: Frank Church and the Abyss of Warrantless Wiretapping.

Thank you for the heads-up on WaPo, MadHound. It and the entire series are must-reads.