Right now in US House of Representatives some of the most sinister legislation ever is working its way through Committee…
It’s called “The Cyber Intelligence and Protection Act” (CISPA).
And at least the fine Reverend and distinguished Member of Congress- Emanuel Cleaver– is not a co-sponsor of this Orwellian Bill… Wish I could say the same about Congressman Yoder… But put the label “National Security” on a piece of legislation and Republicans can be counted on to blindly vote for it.
So what does CISPA do?
In a nutshell- it ends anything vaguely resembling privacy and the free flow of communication on the Internet.
Am I paranoid? Don’t think so.
Under the guise of “Cybersecurity” the Federal Government would allow Corporations to monitor and analyze personal communications like text messages, emails, and tweets. Not only would they be monitored- the legislation allows for digital communications to be intercepted and forwarded to the Government- where they could be MODIFIED or PREVENTED from ever reaching their destination if they’re deemed a threat to cybersecurity…
This provision basically nullifies the First Amendment Right to Free Speech…
Parts of CISPA would also specifically target the theft of government or corporate information- this part of the legislation is meant to shut down WikiLeaks… and any other websites or blogs that trade on rumors and innuendoes. Meaning you can say goodbye to any kind of investigative reporting.
No more Freedom of the Press…
And if the PATRIOT ACT hasn’t done enough to gut the 4th Amendment’s protections against warrantless searches and seizures, CISPA greenlights any and all forms of warrrantless wiretapping- if they can be loosely construed as being a threat to whatever the definition of cybersecurity may be. And keep in mind, the legislation contains no provisions to guarantee any form of judicial review as a safeguard against unlawful surveillance.
This includes usernames, passwords, email account histories, Facebook and Twitter data.
The ACLU further warns that CISPA could be used to circumvent website privacy policies, to look at your medical and educational records, whether you own a gun or not and would trump any other statutes that protect your private information.
Will our Constitutional Law Professor President save us and veto this repugnant bill?
Don’t count on it.
CISPA has over 800 corporate sponsors and I’m sure Obama, and Romney for that matter, are bought and paid for through political contributions and will pontificate on how curtailing our freedoms by passing CISPA will save us from terrorists.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “People willing to trade their freedoms for security, deserve neither freedom or security”
It’s up to “We, the People” to stop CISPA.
But I doubt most people will stop watching reality TV and sports long enough to even notice their freedoms are being legislated away. We can only pray that the Supreme Court saves us from our elected officials.
Judges are the only sane people left in the system, and who knows how much damage will be done before CISPA is reviewed by the Supremes…
It’s Just Like Online Data-ing
When they take away our First Amendment rights we just need to get them back with our Second Amendment rights. We will be judged not by what we are willing to live for but what we are prepared to die for. The battlefield begins somewhere around the intersection of George Orwell Parkway and Gil Scott Heron Boulevard.
David, I am assuming you have read the article in
Vanity Fair, “World War 3.0” by Michael Joseph Gross.
This month.
What was your take on same?
By the way,
Emanuel Cleaver is blaming Stuxnet for the failure of his carwash.
Iranian hackers??
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/apr/25/iran-readying-hacker-attacks-us-infrastructure-spe/
I normally don’t agree with the ACLU
but I do on this. 11 1/2 years after 911 and it is still being used as an excuse to take away our freedom. What are we fighting wars for in the first place if we are going to slowly become like our enemies and not be free? If they want to spy on somebody, they should have to show probable cause and get a damn warrant! Politicians are supposed to be serving us, not the other way around! It is just a matter of time until all of this is used to keep people from running against who is already in office and not for national security. I agree with Smartman, but they are also going to go after our 2nd ammendment rights in the name of security. That has been talked about for years. If you have an incident such as Columbine, instead of blaming who did it, blame guns and try to erode freedom in the intrerest of security. These political leaders then have the gall to act if anybody who is against their attacks on the Bill of Rights is unpatriotic! Enough is enough!
Come and get ’em
Only because I think Barack Obama is actually stupid enough to try it I welcome the attempted seizure of all private and legally owned firearms in the US. Legally armed American citizens are by far the largest army on the face of the earth. That’s one reason no one will EVER be stupid enough to invade the US. A simple catalyst like weapons seizures is all we need to get the party started to water the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants. The patriots should enjoy a 20-1 kill ratio this time around.
Oh come on smartman I can aim better than that.
@Super Dave
But do you have a gun to aim?
I sure do
?
?
The internet has been a largely free luxury for nearly 20 years, what made you think it wouldn’t eventually get raped by the government? You must have thought you were still living in pre-2001 America.
Be sure to write
your local house and senate critter and kindly tell them we do not want this.
This is another bill we do not want or need.