Pat Shannan's MUSINGS
Snitching for the State
The number of Americans opposed to the misnamed Patriot Act, the police-state legislation passed by Congress and signed by the President last year, is growing by leaps and bounds. People are beginning to see through the bogus scheme and realize how our few remaining liberties have been jeopardized by the hidden potential of this horror show.
Federal law enforcement agencies now have far-too-broad a license to conduct secret searches of homes, monitor phone and internet activity, access financial records, and undertake large-scale tracking of American citizens through huge databases; all without a warrant and with but the whim of an agent. We are told this is necessary to fight the unending phony war on invisible terror, but more people are seeing through this ruse every day.
Now the Justice department wants to extend the new investigative powers to private citizens. It recently unveiled Operation TIPS - Terrorism Information and Prevention System - as part of President Bush's Citizen Corps initiative. The goal is to enlist thousands or even millions of Americans to act as spies for the government, reporting suspicious activity to officials using a handy toll-free hotline. The Justice department especially hopes to enlist mailmen, delivery drivers, plumbers, gas-meter readers, and the like, as they have access to private homes and businesses in their daily work. As usual, the war on terror is offered as justification for this proposal.
Congressman Ron Paul of Texas, darling of the constitutionists, calls it "snitching for the state." He says,
"Imagine the rampant abuses possible with a national spy program. Busybodies across the country will clamor to join the effort and act as self-appointed neighborhood vigilantes. Unscrupulous individuals of every stripe will abuse the program by snitching on ex-spouses, personal enemies, and racial groups they don't like. Bickering neighbors will enjoy calling in to report unkempt lawns and barking dogs as sure signs of nefarious activity. I certainly hope the Justice department employs some very patient people to field the flood of useless calls."
Paul applauds Congressman Dick Armey for adding a provision to the homeland security bill that would prohibit the Justice Department from implementing the TIPS program. But even if Congress supports him, there is no guarantee another informant proposal will not surface soon thereafter, surreptitiously buried in the text of some other noxious proposal.
One way to counter the enemy, as suggested by a reader, is by sending a letter to the customer service departments of one's power/cable/phone/gas/water companies, as well as UPS, FedEx, and the Postmaster.
Dear Sirs:
Recently the federal government has announced a program called Operation TIPS - Terrorist Information and Prevention System - to gather information on "unusual" and "suspicious activities" by Americans.
They assert that they will be recruiting the staff of your organization in particular to be informants for this program, so that your staff, when they visit the homes of your customers and delivery destinations, can snoop for such unusual activity and report it.
As your customer, I am opposed to this program on principle. I believe it will create a climate of suspicion and distrust. Americans should not be asked to spy on Americans. I have allowed your employees onto my property to conduct mutually beneficial business, but have always presumed there was an expectation that my privacy would be protected, that what was seen on my property would be considered confidential if it didn't relate to the business at hand.
As such I request and demand that no employee you send to my property be a member of the TIPS informant program or any such similar program. Any member of the TIPS program found on my property will be considered trespassing and treated accordingly as provided by law.
If you cannot comply with this requirement (perhaps because all of your employees in my area join the TIPS program), please contact me as soon as possible so that I can arrange to take my business elsewhere or require those who send packages to use an alternate service which does not spy on its customers.
TIPS is a government program, and my request concerns activities they will undertake while on my property. I believe that if your employees are sent to my property, they should do their jobs, not report on my activities.
In addition let me state that it is my expectation that in the ordinary confidential course of our relationship, you would not report that I have sent this letter to any authority or any TIPS informant, as complaining about a policy should never be grounds for suspicion in a free society. You may of course report in aggregate the number of such letters you receive.
Please contact me if you can't comply with this requirement.
Yours truly,
Of course, it is not so easy to "take your business elsewhere," when it comes to dealing with the utility companies. A better idea might be to get the home addresses of all these people and report their suspicious activity you observed while they were trespassing. FBI, IRS, and BATF agents are always behaving suspiciously, should be watched closely, and their everyday terrorist activities reported to the hotline every day.