American Rant
There is an article this morning on CNN.com that is reporting on a documentary being shown this week at the Cannes Film Festival. Called, "The Power of Nightmares", it focuses on the idea that current conservative administrations in the U.S. and Great Britain are exaggerating the terrorist threat to move their own agendas. The direct comparison is to the exaggeration of the Soviet threat during the Cold War.
I haven't seen the film, but I plan on it, simply because it appears to reinforce that which I already believe.
The recent forced passage of the Real ID bill makes me sick. The methods used are a blatant highjacking of the intent of the founding fathers, and everyone involved should be deeply ashamed. Not only was the bill passed with no debate, but it was done so with relatively little furor at all. I'm guessing that most people in the U.S. actually believe that the measure will make them more safe. Those folks should turn on their brain, and go read Bruce Schneier's essays on the issue.
ID's do not increase security. They are marginally effective at labeling a person with their name, address, etc., but that alone does not increase security. In fact, that does not impact security at all.
I do not know how many times I've entered a government building, usually as a guest or contractor, and showed my driver's license to the guard. In return, I got a battered Visitor's Pass to clip on my shirt that included a number, such as "601". On the sign in log - a simple xeroxed piece of paper - I would put my name, purpose (invariably for me it was either "Visit" or "Appointment"), and badge number. I'd also indicate the current time.
I was then free to enter the building and go about my business. No searches were made of my person, by briefcase, or anything else. How, exactly, does this make that building, or the employees working there, more secure? In my opinion, they don't.
And remember, the ID I used was a state driver's license. Now, fast forward four years. Same scenario, except this time, I show my new driver's license that complies with the requirements of Real ID. What changed? Absolutely nothing.
Now this starts to come full circle. I believe, with all my soul, that the current administration, at least in the U.S., is very much caught up in its own agenda.
They need to be proactive. Not a single politician, Democrat, Republican or Independent, can afford to appear to be sitting by, waiting for the next attack on U.S. interests. So to avoid the appearance of inactivity, they are fervently going after anything that the average person might consider to be 'additional security'. They set up 'alert levels' (I still don't know what those mean to me), they increase the appearance of security at airports, they pass intrusive legislation (Patriot Act, Real ID), and they attempt to frighten us into believing that this is all necessary to prevent terrorism.
They need to be right. The American people have very short attention spans. We are bombarded with information on a regular basis, from the moment we awake to the time we close our eyes at night. In order for the administration to maintain our focus on the 'dangers' of terrorism, they simply have to turn it into the 800 pound gorilla. If they don't, if they admit even once that al Qaeda is only a moderately organized splinter group, hiding in deserts and caves, with a few cells operating throughout the world... then we as a people will do several things. One, we will immediately turn our collective attention to 'American Idol'. Two, we will clamor that all the money and lives spent over the past 26 months in Iraq are wasted, and three... we might even elect a moderate or liberal administration the next time around, sending the neo-con cabal of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Delay and friends into powerless retirement.
Tell me I'm wrong.
And I really (seriously) don't want this to be anti-Bush, anti-Republican, or whatever. I still believe that these guys are doing what they think they need to do. Yes, personal power is guiding them to some extent, but I guarantee that personal power guides almost every politician. I just wish that this administration would realize that the American people are not as stupid as Karl Rove makes us out to be, and level with us.
I haven't seen the film, but I plan on it, simply because it appears to reinforce that which I already believe.
The recent forced passage of the Real ID bill makes me sick. The methods used are a blatant highjacking of the intent of the founding fathers, and everyone involved should be deeply ashamed. Not only was the bill passed with no debate, but it was done so with relatively little furor at all. I'm guessing that most people in the U.S. actually believe that the measure will make them more safe. Those folks should turn on their brain, and go read Bruce Schneier's essays on the issue.
ID's do not increase security. They are marginally effective at labeling a person with their name, address, etc., but that alone does not increase security. In fact, that does not impact security at all.
I do not know how many times I've entered a government building, usually as a guest or contractor, and showed my driver's license to the guard. In return, I got a battered Visitor's Pass to clip on my shirt that included a number, such as "601". On the sign in log - a simple xeroxed piece of paper - I would put my name, purpose (invariably for me it was either "Visit" or "Appointment"), and badge number. I'd also indicate the current time.
I was then free to enter the building and go about my business. No searches were made of my person, by briefcase, or anything else. How, exactly, does this make that building, or the employees working there, more secure? In my opinion, they don't.
And remember, the ID I used was a state driver's license. Now, fast forward four years. Same scenario, except this time, I show my new driver's license that complies with the requirements of Real ID. What changed? Absolutely nothing.
Now this starts to come full circle. I believe, with all my soul, that the current administration, at least in the U.S., is very much caught up in its own agenda.
They need to be proactive. Not a single politician, Democrat, Republican or Independent, can afford to appear to be sitting by, waiting for the next attack on U.S. interests. So to avoid the appearance of inactivity, they are fervently going after anything that the average person might consider to be 'additional security'. They set up 'alert levels' (I still don't know what those mean to me), they increase the appearance of security at airports, they pass intrusive legislation (Patriot Act, Real ID), and they attempt to frighten us into believing that this is all necessary to prevent terrorism.
They need to be right. The American people have very short attention spans. We are bombarded with information on a regular basis, from the moment we awake to the time we close our eyes at night. In order for the administration to maintain our focus on the 'dangers' of terrorism, they simply have to turn it into the 800 pound gorilla. If they don't, if they admit even once that al Qaeda is only a moderately organized splinter group, hiding in deserts and caves, with a few cells operating throughout the world... then we as a people will do several things. One, we will immediately turn our collective attention to 'American Idol'. Two, we will clamor that all the money and lives spent over the past 26 months in Iraq are wasted, and three... we might even elect a moderate or liberal administration the next time around, sending the neo-con cabal of Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Delay and friends into powerless retirement.
Tell me I'm wrong.
And I really (seriously) don't want this to be anti-Bush, anti-Republican, or whatever. I still believe that these guys are doing what they think they need to do. Yes, personal power is guiding them to some extent, but I guarantee that personal power guides almost every politician. I just wish that this administration would realize that the American people are not as stupid as Karl Rove makes us out to be, and level with us.
posted by DFMerrick at 12:37
1 Comments:
Some really good points. I am finally going back and reading Schneier's Beyond Fear, and it's right up the same alley. He's got a 5 step process that comes almost straight out of good old fashioned risk assessment. What are we protecting? What are we protecting it from? How are we protecting it? How effective is the protection, and what are we giving up to protect it this way?
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