If Section 215 fosters distrust of Ashcroft's motives and of the government, why not repeal it now as a meaningful demonstration of goodwill?
I'm not impressed to hear that Ashcroft claims to have not used it...yet. Perhaps he's disclosing this now because he's about to use it, and this is his last opportunity to say with a straight face that he hasn't.
Section 215 is useful to the government for its intimidation value. A power doesn't have to be exercized to have a chilling effect, as long as people know that power exists and could be used at any time. Mary Anne's correct to call it a Sword of Damocles. Library patrons will self-censor knowing that Big Brother can access their records. They're not going to wait until it's too late to take defensive measures.
It's no reassurance to hear Bush partisans say, "don't worry about it, trust our Glorious Leaders, they have our best interests at heart". History has shown over and over what a dangerously naive belief that is.
Current Events » in reply to To the best of my knowledge, much of the Act goes away in 2005 anyway, right?
So?
The whole thread (42 posts)
- Librarians can rest a little easier...
- Goldberg on this subject
- Fair and balanced reporting... (not from
- Such unreasonable behavior by those wicked fascists. (n/t)
- Damocles got a lot of rest while that sword was suspended over his head, too.
- Then I guess we could repeal that section, right?