The United States Justice Department goes to Court with Google to force them to give up search information on porn sites that have been visited.
Yes this very same US government - the one who has brought us the 21st century version of the Vietnam Conflict, the Patriot Act, a consistent threat of overturning Rowe v. Wade, blocking stem cell research, Intelligent Design, nomination of right wing extremist Supreme Court Justices and torture of and holding prisoners without charging them with a crime.
Now what do they want? They want information from Google on pornography sites that have been visited. Why? Under the pretext of protecting us against child pornography. It's not even the fact that they want this data that scares me - its the mindset that is utterly frightening. The fact that they can even ask a corporation to give up information about its customers is beyond scary. If they win this battle, what happens next? What happens when this becomes a precedent? Do they get to look at our PC's next? When does this all end?
I don't know what more an administration can do to impinge on our freedom. It is a well known fact that governments use war as an excuse to expand their tentacles under the pretext of protecting us (i.e., for our own good). Lincoln abused his privileges during the civil war by throwing people in jail for speaking out against him, and just generally behaved like a dictator (see The Real Lincoln by Thomas Dilorenzo). Bush has used war in pretty much the same way - to create almost unlimited power for himself and his cronies.
I never thought I would live to see the day that America becomes an Authoritarian State. I am deathly afraid the time is rapidly approaching. I fear for America. I fear we are becoming an Autocratic state within my lifetime.
