Big Brother Takes Another Step Forward

The US under George Bush decided that it would use the world of Orwell's 1984 to guide the government. While loudly talking about "freedom" and "liberty" they passed laws that removed fundamental rights.

Fast forward and you get Obama with his solemn pledge of "change you can believe in" and the idea that once government was safely out of the hands of the fanatical right and back into the liberal, humane Democrats. But things aren't turning out that way. Obama hasn't closed Guantanamo. Obama extended and deepened the war in Afghanistan. Obama didn't stop the policies of enriching Wall Street while ignoring the suffering that Wall Street has caused Main Street by the financial crisis produced by right wing anti-regulatory fanaticism. Nope. Obama has done nothing to rein in Wall Street. No new laws. No demand that taxpayers get anything for the hundreds of billions it has poured into the big banks.

And... finally here is the coup de grace from Obama's administration:

Yesterday evening, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to renew three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act, after the Senate abandoned the PATRIOT reform effort and approved the extension by a voice vote on Wednesday night.

Disappointingly, the government's dangerously broad authority to conduct roving wiretaps of unspecified or "John Doe" targets, to secretly wiretap of persons without any connection to terrorists or spies under the so-called "lone wolf" provision, and to secretly access a wide range of private business records without warrants under PATRIOT Section 215 were all renewed without any new checks and balances to prevent abuse.

This would make sense if the Democrats were a minority party subject to the dictates of a majority right wing Republican dominating presence in the House and Senate. But that isn't true. Obama has big majorities in both houses. And he decides to renew the Orwellian "Patriot Act"? Pathetic.

Oh... and notice how much coverage this got in the media. Yes, those servants of the people, the fourth estate, didn't bother to spread any light on this. So while politicians shout "liberty" and "freedom" from the rooftops, they continue to silently strangle people's rights in the backroom of politics.

For more details on how the US government works hard to ensure freedoms and liberties, read this article on how the Pentagon has kept busy.