Fears About a New Domestic Intelligence Service

Rumors are flying that Bush will propose a new domestic intelligence service in order to deflect criticisms resulting from the 9/11 commission hearings.

Not to pull a JamesB3, but ...

Assuming that the rumors are true, your guess is as good as mine as to what the goals and focus of this new organization might be.

My fear is that a new domestic intelligence service, liberated from traditional legal restraints by the PATRIOT act and various follow-ups, will not be used to protect the U.S. against terrorism.

If history is a good teacher, it will be used instead to survey and intimidate Americans who are participating in normal and Constitutionally-protected activities, such as ... well ... reading political blogs, freely-associating with others to advance an agenda that contradicts that of the Republican Party, etc.

The good news is that no domestic security organization could possible have a large enough staff to put every citizen under surveillance and process all of the data resulting from that kind of operation.

But an organization like this, if turned against the citizenry, will, at best, chill free speech and free participation in our democracy ... and at worst, induce the kind of "spy on your neighbor" mentality that was rife in the former Soviet Union and its satellite states in Europe.

Will the media step up and be our watchdog here?

Or will it resume speaking in the hushed, awed tones that it previously used in its adoring coverage of the Bush administration?