Redefine Privacy...Umm...No Thanks

I just couldn't let this one lie (see last post for more)...so I'm including one more write up on this week's mind blowing suggestion by Donald Kerr - the principal deputy director of national intelligence in testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee - that we as a nation should "redefine" the meaning of privacy (to let's just say something far less "private").

My initial response to the latest example of a Bush administration official saying something so ludicrous and scary that it forces us to take multiple "double takes" was: "But if our current privacy protection rights are being so thoroughly eviscerated and stomped on, why would I want to weaken them?"

I thought this article in The Progressive Daily Beacon sums up well why all Americans should take to the streets if this new "definition" is EVER adopted:

Why exactly does the government need to listen to an absent father's phone call to his daughter on her birthday? Under what possible circumstance is it vital that the CEO of RJ Reynolds be made privy to a mother's email sent to her son away at university? Mister Kerr's concept grows creepier by the moment. His understanding of privacy is really quite perverted.

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The point Mister Kerr needs to understand is that there has never been, in all of human history, a government or business that was capable of protecting, honoring and respecting the sanctity of any individuals privacy. And, frankly, nothing about the current government or today's corporate leadership inspires confidence that anything in that area has changed over time. So, in closing, we've considered Mister Kerr's kind suggestion that we redefine our understanding of privacy and we've decided not to invite him, the government and business into our very personal lives.

I realize the Orwell analogy can seem like its being over used when describing the current government and corporate assault on the principles of privacy and liberty, but its hard to find a better fit. From RFID's to "enhanced drivers licenses" to REAL ID to wiretapping to surveillance, we truly are entering a "Brave New World" of Big Brother at every street corner, running through every phone and Internet line, and always tracking, always listening.

For the rest of the article click here...and if you want to find out a whole lot more on multitude of attacks on our privacy, all being driven what I call the "Big Three" - Fear, Money, and Power (I'll discuss these more in future posts) - please check out the sites of some of the groups we have linked on the sidebar of this blog.