by John Bottoms

A. G. Ashcroft announced that the Justice Department plans to place the names of more than 100,000 Americans onto a database available to law enforcement nationwide.  A spokesman insisted the new databases were simply “to make sure the distribution of potential terrorists' names to law-enforcement agencies is systematic and thorough.”  Just what we need, a systematic and thorough government.  Seems to me the only thing that governments have ever been “systematic and thorough” about is murder. 

Ashcroft has lots of help collecting and collating data on us.  Silicon Valley's techno-geeks are falling over each other in a stampede to collect their share of federal loot for supplying “technologies that would allow the CIA to monitor and profile potential terrorists as closely and carefully as Amazon monitors and profiles potential customers.” 

So let's see, if there are about 200 million Americans who are in an age group to be potential terrorists, then 1 in 2,000 would be on that list!  Well, fellow readers and internet newshounds, what are the chances that, in a random group of 2,000 of your fellow Americans, you would stand out as the most likely “terror” suspect?  For me as a regular internet commentator, the chances might be pretty good.  Just try this Google search on “John Bottoms” anarchist and find out how easy it is to achieve even more than one's allotted 15 minutes of digital notoriety on the internet.  Nay, you say, they're only after Muslims, and Bottoms isn't a Muslim name.  Since there about 7 million Muslims in the US, about 1 in 70 of them might be on Ashcroft's list.  So, for you Muslim readers, what are the chances that you would be the most likely suspect out of 70 of your fellow Muslim-Americans? 

Our highly efficient justice department wants this information available to working cops so your “suspect” status would become known during a regular traffic stop.  But what, exactly, is officer McPorcine going to do when his computer comes back with a “terror suspect” hit on you?  He'll probably ask you a bunch of nosy questions, request to check your vehicle for weapons and “evidence” and write a report on the “incident.”  But what if you're an uncooperative “privacy nut” like a lot of people these days and refuse to “cooperate,” or what if you do have a legal weapon in the car or even on your person?  Or what if you’re carrying a book by green anarchist Edward Abbey?  The situation could easily escalate and you find yourself “detained.” 

Even more ominous, once their backdoor national ID driver's license complete with digital fingerprint gets rolling, will you be denied service when you try to do your banking, check out a library book, enroll your child in school, pick up your prescription, board a flight, buy a firearm, or use your credit card?  After a few officially denied reports of this type, how many future John Bottoms will be willing to put their everyday lives on the line by publicly criticizing the state?  Intimidation is clearly at the heart of the state's campaign, most explicitly when unofficial propaganda czar Bill Bennett says, “It's your constitutional right to criticize.  But when you criticize, you take the consequences for your words. Your words may be responded to and your words can be interpreted in such ways that they hurt the national resolve.”  What can that mean except that, if what you say gets in the way of government's plans, the Bill of Rights won't protect you? 

But why would Ashcroft and company stop at a list of 100,000?  Once the system  is up and operating, they can make it as big as they want, and add to it anybody they’ve decided “hurts the national resolve.”  Who’s going to stop them?  “You’ll be at tomorrow’s Terrorism rally, won’t you?” asks your friendly federally funded Neighborhood Watch representative.  If you make excuses too often, this Party Member may get your name placed on The List. 

It doesn’t take a conspiracy nut to fit the pieces together and recognize a police state under construction.  I'm sure that some would call me paranoid for having these fears, but actually it's the government, which is spending billions of our dollars to track and profile us, which is paranoid.  I'm just scared. 

And other critics would insist that there really are terrorists out there and we can't just let them blow us up.  The short-term response is that an alert, engaged public (starting with armed airline pilots), combined with good police intelligence is what's required to stop and apprehend terrorists and other criminals.  But our centralized, authoritarian way of doing things discourages public participation in crime-prevention, and police intelligence will be an oxymoron as long as it's run by those bureaucratized morons in government.  The long-term solution is to ask why terrorists are so intent on blowing us up, and consider changing our behavior to lessen that desire.  Oh, sorry.  I'm blaming America first, and giving in to terrorists, two things which are not permitted in America, home of the good guys.