Its time we had another talk sir. Last time it was about Occupy. This time, its about espionage, high tech and privacy.
Lets play a game, a children's game really. Its called connect the dots. I'm really good at it. In fact? So good I never needed the numbers really. I could just see the image on the page at glance, and create the picture. I used to start at any number, and just draw. Used to drive the Nuns crazy. It might make you or your supporters a little crazy too. I'm hoping against hope that maybe you are all so busy moving dot to dot, you have forgotten to pull your face back from the page, squint a little and see the big picture. This time? Lets try a mirror.
Today I read about "new steps are designed primarily to target companies explicitly aiding authoritarian governments with new technology that assists in civilian repression."
You'll pardon me if that makes me think about "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys," sir. Its just that electronic surveillance here, and some of the other stuff you high-level people are doing up there is just as deadly to our freedom as a bullet. Either way, its laid to rest. You don't want to do that, do you?
Let me quote again, what this is about: (my bold)
In his new executive order, which was summarized in advance for The Washington Post, Obama states that “the same GPS, satellite communications, mobile phone, and Internet technology employed by democracy activists across the Middle East and North Africa is being used against them by the regimes in Syria and Iran.”
Let me ask you, who exactly are you all planning to do
this to? Occupy activists?
What CISPA will do, if passed, is remove all the legal barriers that currently stop internet service providers, government agencies, and others from arbitrarily spying on internet users. In the name of "cybersecurity," a term that is undefined in the bill, CISPA will essentially allow internet users to be surveilled by the government without probable cause or a search warrant, which is a clear violation of users' constitutional civil liberties.
Additionally, it will allow websites like Google, Facebook, and Twitter to intercept emails, text messages, and other private information that might be considered a threat to "cybersecurity." The government can then demand access to this information, even if it has nothing to do with copyright infringement, which is one of the excuses being used for why such a bill is needed in the first place.
I know its still in the works to make our own "kill switch" on our own internet too. I really don't think enough al-qaeda activists are here sitting in Starbucks or student Libraries to warrant this. I mean, you already have an indefinite detention bill and a new "prolongued detention" proclamation for those. You made a couple great speeches about it, Mr. President. Even though, Rachel said they don't quite match.
I mean, this is about Terrosists, not, say, oh, Political Opponents or Journalists, right?
What did your lawyers mean when they wouldn't say it wasn't?
So here's the thing, sir.
I'm kinda smart, I connect dots. Do you see the same picture I do, Mr President?
So, if you are using our phones, internet, scanners, drones and other high tech stuff to spy on us, Americans seeking real Democracy by Occupying, will you have to target yourself?
PS: I sure hope the fly-over at Los Angeles Occupy, and swooping down by the Banks by armed military helicopters was a navigational error. Same with Chicago and Miami. You really don't want to be equated with those "repressive regimes" do you?
Thanks for playing. I hope you see that the dots you're making make an ugly reflection of you. If you don't like the image? Its up to you to "change" that.
Signed,
A "Democratic Activist"