Police state America? The signs are all there...

Interesting connect-the-dots opinion piece on AlterNet (via afterdowningstreet.org):

Top 10 Signs of the Impending U.S. Police State
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2006-05-26 15:07. Media
Alternet.org
By Allan Uthman, Buffalo Beast.

Is the U.S. becoming a police state? Here are the top 10 signs that it may well be the case.

1. The Internet Clampdown

One saving grace of alternative media in this age of unfettered corporate conglomeration has been the internet. While the masses are spoon-fed predigested news on TV and in mainstream print publications, the truth-seeking individual still has access to a broad array of investigative reporting and political opinion via the world-wide web. Of course, it was only a matter of time before the government moved to patch up this crack in the sky.

Attempts to regulate and filter internet content are intensifying lately, coming both from telecommunications corporations (who are gearing up to pass legislation transferring ownership and regulation of the internet to themselves), and the Pentagon (which issued an "Information Operations Roadmap" in 2003, signed by Donald Rumsfeld, which outlines tactics such as network attacks and acknowledges, without suggesting a remedy, that US propaganda planted in other countries has easily found its way to Americans via the internet). One obvious tactic clearing the way for stifling regulation of internet content is the growing media frenzy over child pornography and "internet predators," which will surely lead to legislation that by far exceeds in its purview what is needed to fight such threats.

The rest of the piece is at: http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/11151

So I think everyone here (I hope) can agree that child pornography is a disgusting thing. I also think that there needs to be more done to trap these disgusting "internet predators" out to harm children. But I too fear that in the name of protecting our youth the internet will become less free.

What amazes me is that here in Arizona the republican controlled legislator has be lax in their duties to protect our youth. They have resisted tougher laws for punishment of child molesters. Many of them have come out against laws that would take children out of their homes when a parent has been known to be abusive. Yet these people openly support government control over content on the internet in the name of "protecting children." It makes no sense to me at all.