With full control of Congress, the President declares homeland security his top priority, and will move on the Senate-stymied bill to create the Department of Homeland Security during the lame-duck session. Mmm, security…sounds doubleplussgood. So do I have to get my bar code on the side of my head like 12 Monkeys, or can I put it on the back of my neck or something?
Category: Patriot Act
State of Emergency.
Be afraid. Be very afraid. In fact, panic. And remember, if something bad happens, we told you. So it’s not our fault. Nope, no sir. Oh, and happy halloween.
The Enemy of my Enemy.
Strange times, indeed…are Bob Barr and Dick Armey our last, best hope in preventing Ashcroft’s America?
Carter Beats the Dubya.
Former President Jimmy Carter decries Dubya’s Middle East policy, as well as the numerous human rights violations currently being overlooked and/or perpetrated in the name of anti-terrorism.
Shame of the Founders.
“The only thing the FISA court proved was that when wolves are guarding the henhouse, they eat a lot of coq au vin.” The always incisive Dahlia Lithwick rails against secret courts and the overlooked provisions of the Patriot Act.
FISA fights back.
The secret court overseeing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) rebuff Ashcroft’s plea for increased wiretap powers, and declares the FBI has misled the court over 75 times. Never thought I’d be on the side of a secret court, but there you go. It must be getting really ugly over at Justice if somebody’s leaking this bad boy.
Ashcroft’s “Hellish Vision.”
Jonathan Turley, Constitutional Law professor at GW and television staple during l’affaire Lewinsky, lashes into John Ashcroft for his recent plan to create extraconstitutional internment camps of “enemy combatants” (re: US citizens) in and around the country. (Via Caught in Between.) Y’know, I do believe John Ashcroft is the scariest man in the country right now.
Cheap Oil is a Right!
All manner of Dept. of Homeland Security Posters (Via Do You Feel Loved?) As Chris noted, some of ’em are kinda shrill, but I’m a sucker for the retro stylings.
Suspicion Breeds Confidence.
How to Identify a Terrorist, from the Office of Homeland Security. (Via Quiddity.)
Card-carrying members of the public library.
Armed with the Patriot Act (what a wonderfully Orwellian name) signed by Dubya last October, the FBI begins scouring libraries to check “terrorist” reading habits. Good news for your local Barnes and Noble, I suppose, who’ll probably be selling a lot more copies of The Anarchist’s Cookbook from now herein. I’d love to see a sample list of what books make the FBI’s red flag list.