Tuesday, January 24, 2006
White House defends spying policy
George Orwell (Eric Arthur Blair's) gravesite - he's rolling in it...
... but 58% of Americans favour a full investigation into whether it is legal (story here). Let's see, the President and Attnorney General Gonzales say it's just fine to illegally spy on US citizens (with no legal process to approve it). Gee, I guess it must be just fine!
This is a good line to draw and fight over...once enough laws have been compromised, once enough human rights have been abused and once enough Americans stop fighting for their freedom of speech, of expression and of conscience - well, the real war is over. I think we need an army of Cindy Sheehans, people who will put their bodies on the line and demand the truth.
This is a good line to draw and fight over...once enough laws have been compromised, once enough human rights have been abused and once enough Americans stop fighting for their freedom of speech, of expression and of conscience - well, the real war is over. I think we need an army of Cindy Sheehans, people who will put their bodies on the line and demand the truth.
The three phrases from Orwell's 1984 that encapsulated doublespeak:
"War is Peace"
"Freedom is Slavery"
"Ignorance is Strength"
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it's been a while since I read 1984 but it has made me wonder recently. of course, I believe he was commenting more about the immediate post-war political and economic situation but some things never seem to change much. I wonder what would he have made of the internet?!
russell (airstrip one)
russell (airstrip one)
Yes Ian, apparently Orwell never wanted 1984 to be seen as his future prediction. My take is that we've far exceeded his sad fiction - cameras watching people from space (and the corner post); internet spying; war as peace; iris scans for identification (coming); computer chips inserted in skin (coming); bank cards that are monitored worldwide. Phew!
Propaganda: False or partly false information used by a government or political party intended to sway the opinions of the population.
“family values” - oppression of women and promulgation of hatred toward those who don’t participate in the historically-recent emphasis on the nuclear family unit.
“privatize” - stealing national resources to give them to big business
“tort reform” - corporate immunity and the elimination of lawsuits by individuals against corporate entities
“tax reform” - tax burden shift from unearned income [wealthy] to earned income [working people])
“Leave No Child Behind” - maintaining the social class divide by the planned implosion of the public school system
“enemy combatant” - legal wording to get around the Geneva Conventions ‘ protective rights for those captured in combat
“sound science” - pro-corporate, anti-environmental science
etc.
Thanks for yr comments.
“family values” - oppression of women and promulgation of hatred toward those who don’t participate in the historically-recent emphasis on the nuclear family unit.
“privatize” - stealing national resources to give them to big business
“tort reform” - corporate immunity and the elimination of lawsuits by individuals against corporate entities
“tax reform” - tax burden shift from unearned income [wealthy] to earned income [working people])
“Leave No Child Behind” - maintaining the social class divide by the planned implosion of the public school system
“enemy combatant” - legal wording to get around the Geneva Conventions ‘ protective rights for those captured in combat
“sound science” - pro-corporate, anti-environmental science
etc.
Thanks for yr comments.
# posted by 
: 12:03 pm
: 12:03 pm
The "spying program" is one of the most worrisome developments as of late...
All I can say is, that the president of the US would love to create a precedence that he or she is actually above the law. The "spying issue" therefore only has a secondary meaning. You see the way it used to work previously was, that the government or the INS called up a judge and got permission for eavesdropping within minutes. So it is not the issue of IF but HOW! Bush is trying to give government a free ride to whatever they please to do without check and balances. That renders the picture of the start of a fascist regime.
All I can say is, that the president of the US would love to create a precedence that he or she is actually above the law. The "spying issue" therefore only has a secondary meaning. You see the way it used to work previously was, that the government or the INS called up a judge and got permission for eavesdropping within minutes. So it is not the issue of IF but HOW! Bush is trying to give government a free ride to whatever they please to do without check and balances. That renders the picture of the start of a fascist regime.
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