Rantings of a New Yorker

The mantra of 9/11 Changed Everything has been echoing in our ears now for over five years.  The government continues to tell us that the attacks on the World Trade Center changed who we are as a nation and that new laws enacted are there to protect us from changing the United States into a nightmare.  Unfortunately, 9/11 created a nightmare state from which we cannot seem to awaken.

The FBI has recently told us that they do not need to create a paper trail when they are asking “in good faith” for copies of telephone records if there is some emergency or imminent danger if they do not get the records.  Of course, if you are going to abuse the powers of the PATRIOT Act, there’s no point in keeping a pesky paper trail to trip you up later on now is there?

While I understand that there are some emergencies that you need information now and not hours later when the subpoena arrives, there still must be a paper trail.  Without one, anyone can flash a badge and get whatever records they want.  The telephone companies also have no way of knowing if the FBI complies with the PATRIOT Act or not.

Before 9/11, this story would have, quite frankly, pissed off most of America.  But we have been bombarded with stories of torture, from our side and the enemy, cover ups about the real reason we’ve gone to war, cover ups at nearly every federal level and illegal wiretapping, is it any wonder that no one bats an eyelash anymore when we discover that the telephone companies just bend over and give whatever information the FBI asks for?

VeriSign’s NetDiscovery also has an extensive network of spying and at a good price.  Governments around the world, including the USA and Italy, are increasingly asking VeriSign for help in the spying needs.  NetDiscovery is a fullservice wiretapping system that can, and does, have access to all telephone communications (land line, cellular, VOIP), ISPs, cable television, and wireless networks.

Americans have let fear rule their lives since 9/11.  Everyone who claimed that the sorts of abuses we see now would happen, were called part of the tin-foil hat wearing crowd, seeing conspiracies where they didn’t exist.  We were call crazy, paranoid, and lunatics.  When we complained, we were asked why we hated freedom and how come we didn’t hate the terrorists.  We were always told, “the government wouldn’t misuse these powers” because they were only using these laws to help protect us from further attacks.

We have allowed once assumed rights to be taken away, in the name of security and protection from evil.  There was little outcry when the PATRIOT Act was renewed, something that should never have happened.  We let REAL-ID pass, with nary a cry for the real dangers it proposes.  We shouted when those “evil Arabs” wanted to control our ports because, you know, all Arabs are the same, yet we said it was okay to allow the government to create a passport with biometrics that can be tracked and stolen easily.  As long as the government doesn’t interfere with us while we’re watching garbage TV or eating from places that will eventually kill us, we don’t really care if we’re tracked, spied upon, or followed.

Why is it that misanthropes like me continue to fight?  Why can’t we just be left alone?  Why is it that governmental mistakes that failed to prevent 9/11 are justifications for robbing me of my constitutional rights?  Why do people continue to seek out their instant gratification instead of keeping things right for the long term?

Can someone help me to return the country I remember before the war with Iran starts?  I don’t want to have to fear car bombs, worry about the imminent collapse of the economy, have triple gas prices, or watch the world drop the dollar and have my country collapse.