AUSTIN, Texas — Readin' the newspapers anymore is eerily reminiscent
of all those bad novels warning of the advent of fascism in America. "It Can't
Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis was a bad book, and the genre shades off into right-wing
paranoia about black helicopters, including the memorably awful "Turner Diaries."
I don't use the f-word myself — in fact, for years, I've made fun of liberals
who hear the approach of jackbooted fascism around every corner. But to quote
a real authority on the subject, "Fascism should more properly be called corporatism,
since it is the merger of state and corporate power." — Benito Mussolini.
The most hair-raising news du jour is about Total Information Awareness, a
giant government computer system being set up to spy on Americans and run by none
other than John Poindexter of Iran-Contra fame.
TIA will provide intelligence agencies and law enforcement with instant access
to information from e-mail, telephone records, credit cards, banking transactions
and travel records, all without a search warrant. The just-passed Homeland Security
Bill undermines the Privacy Act of 1974, which was intended to limit what government
agencies can do with personal information.
And can we trust the government to keep all this information solely for the
task of tracking terrorists? Funny you should ask. The Wall Street Journal reports
this week that shortly after Sept. 11, the FBI circulated the names of hundreds
of people it wanted to question to scores of corporations around the country.
"A year later, the list has taken on a life of its own, with multiplying —
and error-filled — versions being passed around like bootleg music. Some
companies fed a version of the list into their databases and now use it to screen
job applicants and customers." The list included people who were not suspects
at all, just people the FBI wanted to talk to because they might have had some
information. But, the Journal reports, a Venezuelan bank's security officer sent
the list, headed "suspected terrorists sent by the FBI," to a website.
The great writer on the subject of totalitarianism was George Orwell, and "1984"
is always worth rereading. Damned if GeeDubya Bush didn't pop up the other day
to announce that we must fight a war "for the sake of peace." That's not vaguely
Orwellian, it's a direct steal.
During another time of rampaging fear, when civil liberties were considered
a frivolous luxury, the late, unlamented McCarthy Era, the American Civil Liberties
Union chickened out on some big issues and so an Emergency Civil Liberties Union
had to be created to fight McCarthyism. This ACLU, under Anthony Romero, is fighting
hard, but I think we need a new coalition organization — civil libertarians,
libertarians and principled conservatives ... real patriots who believe in the
Constitution. The blowhard right-wingers sometimes put down Barry Goldwater these
days as "the liberals' favorite conservative," and so he was. But in your heart,
you know Goldwater would have had a cow over all this.
Rep. Dick Armey has already announced he will do consulting work with the ACLU
on privacy issues (good on him). Rep. Ron Paul and columnist Bill Safire are stout
on these matters, as are other unlikely suspects such as Bob Barr of Georgia.
For those who relish irony, there's a comical extent to which liberals are
the new conservatives, exactly where the old principled Republicans used to be
— reluctant to get involved in foreign wars, harping on fiscal responsibility
and worried about constitutional freedoms.
Personally, I still believe internationalism makes more sense than isolationism
because our major problems in the future — global warming, overpopulation
and water shortage — are going to have to be dealt with on a global basis.
I think it is inarguable that this is the most anti-environmental administration
since before Teddy Roosevelt. The corporatists in this administration, particularly
those from the oil bidness, apparently have some grand imperialist schemes to
keep us in cheap oil indefinitely.
As a matter of both foreign and environmental policy, it makes a lot more sense
to lay rail, promote renewable energy and get serious about conserving oil. We
subsidize the hell out of the oil bidness with innumerable tax breaks, loopholes
and support programs. For heaven's sake, why not support renewable energy, instead?
Why should we ask our military to die for cheap oil when the rest of us aren't
even being asked to get better mileage?
Copyright 2002, The Daily Camera
###
