Apparently, President Bush has given John Negroponte authority to waive SEC rules. Yeah, you read that right. So now, if our esteemed intelligence czar deems a threat to national security, he can tell publicly traded corporations that they don't have to provide an accounting for their practices and transactions. Don't know how that could possibly go wrong.
Another concern: the FCC, the government agency in charge of regulating communications and the use of airwaves, says it cannot investigate complaints of the NSA collecting call data... because, duh-nuh-nuh, it would violate national security to do so.
I'm getting the feeling that "National Security" has become the intelligence community's version of "9/11."
"Sorry, we have to spy on you because of national security."
"I'm afraid we're going to have to print these incriminating photos of you in a compromising situation with a clown because of national security."
"Bill of Rights? Nope, that's a violation of National Security."
And so forth.
1 comment:
Currently reading The Handmaid's Tale and came across this passage:
It was after the catastrophe, when they shot at the president and machine-gunned the Congress and the army declared a state of emergency. They blamed it on the Islamic fanatics, at the time.
...
That was when they suspended the Constitution. They said it would be temporary. There wasn't even rioting in the streets. People stayed home at night, watching television, looking for some direction. There wasn't even an enemy you could put your finger on.
Alarmingly apropos, methinks. My more analytical side wants to believe that it could never really get to that point, but still...
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