Repugnican Big Brothers and the Internet

One of the most amazing realities of our time has to do with how the Republican Party has been able to fool so many people so much of the time. Unwashed white folks drive around our town in beat-up old wrecks of cars that boast four different colors, with tailpipes dragging on the ground and broken windows covered with cardboard, but splashed across their rear-ends are McCain/Palin signs.

The Republican Party is their party! The Republican Party, they believe, is the key to freedom, prosperity, a godly country, and, of course, keeping the "wrong" people in their right place!


Such are the myths by which so many live.

Let's consider personal freedom which the Repugs like to tie to "big" government; i.e. more government, less freedom. Government is the problem, you remember the B-grade, failed move actor, president saying. Big government is a bigger problem. Can't have freedom when big government is telling you what to do!

Fast forward to now.

Lamar Smith (a right wingnut Repugnican from Texas), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, and Senator John Cornyn (another right wingnut Repugnican from Texas) last Thursday introduced the Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating the Exploitation of Today's Youth Act of 2009, or as it also known, The Internet SAFETY Act. (S. 436 and H.R. 1076).

At the present time, there is a 1996 law known as the Electronic Communication Transactional Records Act that has to do with data regulation. "It requires Internet providers to retain any 'record' in their possession for 90 days 'upon the request of a governmental entity.' It does not require home users to produce records."

Smith and Cornyn, however, in their befuddled Repugnican state of playing God and promoting governmental power, demand that YOU will keep records of each specific wireless access point, whether in your office, your coffee shop, or your home! You will have to keep these records for TWO years! You will have to produce this information if federal (read Big Brother) officers ask for it!

Bruce Sarte, writing for the Philadelphia Examiner, says:

"What this really means is that any network, whether it be home, AT&T, Comcast, your office, coffee shop, library that dynamically assigns IP addresses vias DHCP, PTPP, BOOTP or any other method would be liable to produce all the data related to any connections that were attached to your network. Yes, that means you."

Or, in the words of Jamie at Crooks and Liars:

"So, in essence, if you have a wireless router in your home then you would be required to log all access to that router and keep those logs for two years. Why? Because your neighbor might do something bad and use your internet connection to do it."

Jamie continues: "What if my $50 Linksys decides to bite the dust after one year? Do I have to store that router for another year to comply with this law?

"How about people who have routers without logging, or that has very limited logging that might keep X number of records and couldn't possibly store the data for two years? Will these people have to go out and by [sic] new routers?"


Isn't it interesting that these Repugnican paragons of family values, small government, sexual virtue, etc., ad nauseum, are trying to gain access to your computer records and force you to do the work of a Big Brother government?

Again, from Bruce Sarte:

"We've already given up far too many rights and liberties in our day-to-day lives commuting to work, flying to meetings and just driving to the mall. ... Stay out of our houses."

Tell Smith and Cornyn to go to hell! Then send them back to Texas. Maybe they'll get run over by a Longhorn!


Sarte's article is here. Crooks and Liars article here.