Think you’re not on a list…
September 17th, 2009 . by Robert
If you disapprove of the current administration’s actions, policies, or direction and chose to post that information to the internet, you may well be on the list of people doing so.
Long reported by various fringe groups, there are in fact lists that have been and are being compiled by various federal agencies. Some of us may remember the controversy when Nixon used federal resources to compile a political enemy list, J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI were/are fond of lists, the Clintons accessed IRS records to compile their list, we have no-fly lists, potential domestic terrorist lists, and (no pun intended) the list goes on.
Now, as reported by the Washington Times, we have an administration appearing somewhat paranoid in their twisting of federal law to say they are required to compile and maintain a list of those objecting to administration policies.
I don’t have a problem with the administration surfing the internet to get a feel for public opinion, I don’t have a problem with the administration putting together packages of internet content for use in accessing the amount of opposition or support for policies, I don’t even have a problem with the administration saving some of the information for later reference in determining course for future policies. I do, however, have a serious problem with the compilation of lists that can be used to single out individuals or groups.
However innocent the gathering of this information may seem initially, there will always be those in the government who will gain access to and use such lists for nefarious purposes.
Governments like those of Chavez in Venezuela, Castro in Cuba, Ahmadinejad in Iran, etc. generally compile lists of their detractors, in the United States this is unforgivable.
Add this to the attempts to force radical over-reaching growth in government and we appear to have a government that is out of control and rapidly attempting to establish a totalitarian regime.
Oops… I guess I just earned another entry on the list!