Disturbed and Uneasy

I said in a previous post that while I follow national politics, I really don't want to blog too often about it. Nevertheless, I am deeply disturbed and uneasy about tactics under display by the current administration. In particular, the overt suggestion in this White House blog post inviting people to report "fishy" behavior, opinions and activities that oppose the White House position on health care reform.

For reasons expressed well by both Senator John Cornyn and the Washington Examiner's Byron York, the idea that the White House is directly inviting people to "report" on people expressing their First Amendment rights in opposition to the latest majority party initiative strikes me as McCarthy-esque. As with the House Committee on Un-American Activities, even the idea of the White House collecting information on individuals simply because they are exercising their right to political dissent represents a serious breach of decorum and a slap in the face to the founding principles of the American venture. The same can be said of the "enemies list" developed by President Richard Nixon, with the help of one Charles Colson.

The problem with such lists, especially by a government body, is that it creates the possibility that a government can target its own citizens for politically motivated reasons. Indeed, this was also the same kind of concern I had about the Patriot Act, and one of the reasons it was such a hot topic of debate in the aftermath of 9/11.

If what York says is true, that such a "list" or "database" is not expressly illegal, and further, is permanent because of the requirement that email logs are considered Presidential Records that can never be legally destroyed, then all it takes is for someone who disagrees with you politically to decide to email the White House, and you will forever be on a political hit list (regardless if anything actually happens to you).

This administration has openly invited Americans to report on their neighbors over matters of political dissent. Unlike the Patriot Act or reporting on suspicious behavior, political dissent is not criminal behavior. At least, not yet. Such activity is more in character with totalitarian states.

That's not the America I know.