Last year, someone close to me was a victim of identity theft. It involved stealing his credit card number from the Internet and then running up several hundred dollars' worth of jewelry purchases, cell phone subscriptions, and the like. The thief was apprehended and the account was eventually settled.
What kind of environment helps these crimes occur? It is, obviously, one in which information is not treated with the strict confidentiality it deserves, and where privacy is an afterthought.
What a perfect set-up for Bush's domestic spying program!
As the Attorney General and the former head of the NSA both spin the unconstitutional wiretapping the Fourth Amendment languishes. No longer is there even a pretense of freedom from warrantless, unreasonable search and seizure.
The legislature has allowed the executive to run out of control in "interpreting" (through "signing statements") laws those very legislators voted into effect. As for the judiciary, the "no blank check" ruling was a sign of hope that they may stop the worst abuses, but it's still only a sign. Alito coming in would be a huge step backward.
Against such a backdrop of government purposeful inaction, identity theft flourishes. Europe has yet to experience this problem at anything near the scale of the US, and that is specifically due to EU and local laws that protect privacy. Regulation works, though I hardly need to say how our current administration feels about acknowledging this fact.
A related problem is the drug trade - particularly methamphetamine. My home state of Arizona is now the main conduit for Mexican gangs smuggling meth into the US; the labs you hear about are basically bit players. Some politicians think restricting cold medication sales will help. They have failed utterly to address how much ID theft in our state is carried out by meth addicts and dealers.
Making the connection between the lack of protections against ID theft and the ease with which they have wiretapped their own citizens is important for talking about NSA spying. As we know, many people support the program but do not like a criminal stealing their information. (Yes, I'm bitterly snickering at that irony, too...)
We need to start discussing this connection. Practically no public figure is even mentioning this problem. Are we "protected" when both the government and criminals can access our information at will? Some people too blindly trust Bush and the GOP for it to be an issue, but there are many who do care. Appealing to not only privacy rights, but also the sanctity of their hard-earned money and the information that guards it, may help fence-sitters wake up.