http://www.iht.com/articles/48463.htm Too much surveillance means too little freedom William Safire Tuesday, February 19, 2002 'Big Brother' in America WASHINGTON Stipulated: The protection of the U.S. capital, its monuments and its centers of authority is a vital national interest. Early in American history, when faced with a potential rebellion of unpaid officers, one U.S. leader employed an uncharacteristic emotional trick - pretending to be going blind - to appeal to the infuriated military not to march on the capital. He soon had them in tears and in hand. In another time, another leader risked all by turning the capital's defense over to the man most opposed to his political aims, gambling that he could later overcome the nation's gratitude to a man on horseback. In contemporary times, after the Pentagon was hit, the White House targeted and the Capitol anthraxed, Washington again saw itself besieged. But now, in terror of an external threat, U.S. leaders are protecting the capital at the cost of every American's personal freedom. Surveillance is in the saddle. Responding to the latest Justice Department terror alert, Washington police opened the Joint Operation Command Center of the Synchronized Operations Command Complex (SOCC). In it, 50 officials monitor a wall of 40 video screens showing images of travelers, drivers, residents and pedestrians. These used to be the Great Unwatched, free people conducting their private lives; now they are under close surveillance by hundreds of hidden cameras. A zoom lens enables the watchers to focus on the face of a tourist walking toward the Washington Monument or Lincoln Memorial. The monitoring system is already linked to 200 cameras in public schools. The watchers plan to expand soon into an equal number in the subways and parks. A private firm profits by photographing cars running red lights; those images will also join the surveillance network. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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