Assume this Conversation is Being Monitored

At least for a while, the Democrats cave on stopping warrantless wiretaps of American citizens. Even the independent FISA judges, a special court made just for the purpose of churning out warrants, was too restrictive for the New Order. From the Washington Times...

Democrats were reluctant to give the NSA blanket permission to capture such data without a warrant unless independent oversight was provided, either by the court or by the Justice Department's inspector general. They also worried that providing warrantless authority to spy on targets other than foreign terrorism suspects would lead to potentially abusive monitoring of Americans innocently in contact with foreign targets.

Other provisions in the White House-backed bill added to the Democrats' discomfort. For instance, a Democratic bill would have authorized warrantless surveillance "directed" at individuals reasonably believed to be outside the United States. But the administration's draft -- and the one passed into law -- permitted collecting data "concerning" people reasonably believed to be outside the country. Democrats said the difference between collection efforts "concerning" foreigners and "directed" at foreigners could be enormous, allowing intelligence officials far greater leeway.

As much as the Democrats want to get President Bush, their mutual fondness for big brother style fascism would not let them defeat his plans to continue warrantless wiretaps on American citizens. Say you use the same dry cleaners as someone they deem to be a "suspected terrorist". Why, you are eligible for complete monitoring of your life's communications. So be careful not to express any thoughts that your government might not approve of.

There are lots of things that could get you in trouble with the myriad of "public servants" staffing the numerous government agencies at work using your tax dollars, and in the new DHS, they can now all share data. For example, be very careful when you speak to your accountant about how you express a desire to pay fewer taxes. Be completely accepting of all alternative lifestyles, and be especially careful to avoid "homophobic" statements that could run afoul of new "hate crimes" legislation. Remember that much of what was formerly called "free speech" has been reclassified by your government as "hate speech". Also, never fail to use a pleasant and cheery tone when speaking to your children no matter what they do. Don't be "verbally abusive" to your children when they misbehave.

All these activities and many more can and will be monitored and recorded by government officials. The expansion of communication monitoring when combined with the explosion of "crimes" and government "mental health service agencies" means that anytime they want to, anyone of us can be locked up for either "criminal" or "mental health" reasons. So again, avoid even jokingly making statements that might trigger a "red flag" at one or another group of government monitors. It looks good when they make arrests, and if it is too hard for them to catch the most dangerous people then they will catch the ones that are easiest to catch. Don't let it be you. And remember, these measures are completely justified and necessary in order to "protect our freedoms".