From 1776 to 1984: How History is Repeating Itself and how Big Brother is Beginning his Slow Encroachment Onto Our Civil Liberties Part Two

Big Brother continues his encroachment on our freedoms, it would seem. Now the congress wants to give the president a kill switch for the INTERNET! This is, without a doubt, unconstitutional, and by my reckoning violates the First, Fourth, and Tenth Ammendments AT A MINIMUM. According to this link: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10320096-38.html, if the bill talked about in this article is passed, President Obama would be given a broad range of ill-defined powers over private sector sections of the Internet in the event of a "cybersecurity emergency". Their is no clear definition thus far as to what an "emergency" constitutes in this case, and their is no clearly defined limit to the powers given to the president in this bill.

Reading about this bill reminded me of something I read in Orwell's novel. In that novel there is an organization called the Ministry of Truth, which, true to the irony that peppers 1984 throughout its pages, deals with lies. Specifically, it deals with the manipulation of media sources and historical documents to keep the people of Oceania believing that Big Brother is infallible. It seems to me that this bill is the beginning steps toward our own Ministry of Truth, since a universal kill switch for the Internet would allow Obama to quash any kind of descent with impunity. As Machiavelli once said "Absolute power corrupts absolutely", and we CANNOT allow the president to gain ANY MORE POWER than he already has! I'll be looking for ways to fight this bill in addition to the usual ways: melting the phone lines and flooding the email inboxes, as well as the snail mail channels, but others should be doing the same, and I hope they will.

As for the effect this has on the culture, well, look at the kind of culture we're creating by turning to the government to solve every single problem we have. It's directly counter to the culture we live in now, which, judging from the TEA Parties and the upcoming 9/12 March on Washington, still cares that we are in fact on the wrong track, and wants to continue our traditions of self reliance and hard work. However, unless the fires are stoked and the embers continue to burn bright, we will lose our country to the Marxists, the Socialists, and the Communists. I grew up believing this country was the greatest country on the face of this earth. I still believe that. And I will die believing it. I WILL NOT allow ANY enemies, foreign or domestic, to snuff out the burning torch of Freedom!