Just thought you might be interested in another Orwellian proposal from a
member of the Obama admin. Im talking about Cass Sunstein, currently
Obama's head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He
advocates the govt infiltration of groups advocating "false conspiracy
theories". The ink is barely dry as the paper is from 2008.
You can see the abstract and DL the paper (find the "instand download"
button at the top of the page), here:
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1084585
Here is a chilling excerpt:
*******************************
3. Cognitive infiltration
Rather than taking the continued existence of the hard core as a constraint,
and
addressing itself solely to the third-party mass audience, government might
undertake
(legal) tactics for breaking up the tight cognitive clusters of extremist
theories, arguments
and rhetoric that are produced by the hard core and reinforce it in turn.
One promising
tactic is cognitive infiltration of extremist groups. By this we do not mean
1960s-style
infiltration with a view to surveillance and collecting information,
possibly for use in
future prosecutions. Rather, we mean that government efforts might succeed
in
weakening or even breaking up the ideological and epistemological complexes
that
constitute these networks and groups.
...
There is a similar tradeoff along another dimension: whether the
infiltration
should occur in the real world, through physical penetration of conspiracist
groups by
undercover agents, or instead should occur strictly in cyberspace. The
latter is safer, but
potentially less productive. The former will sometimes be indispensable,
where the
groups that purvey conspiracy theories (and perhaps themselves formulate
conspiracies)
formulate their views through real-space informational networks rather than
virtual
networks. Infiltration of any kind poses well-known risks: perhaps agents
will be asked
to perform criminal acts to prove their bona fides, or (less plausibly) will
themselves
become persuaded by the conspiratorial views they are supposed to be
undermining;
perhaps agents will be unmasked and harmed by the infiltrated group. But the
risks are
generally greater for real-world infiltration, where the agent is exposed to
more serious
harms.
*******************************
So we have the head of "Information and Regulatory Affairs" advocating using
taxpayers money to secretly infiltrate groups, pose as private citizens, and
work the issues as the bureaucracy deems appropriate. I dont suppose the
fundamental inappropriateness of these actions escapes you, OR the potential
for sweeping abuse, the chilling of political speech, intimidation, and
disinformation. The proposal is sold as a tool against obviously "false
conspiracy theories", but, of course, that distinction cannot be made by any
govt agency under any reasonable reading of the first amendment.
Is there any chance you dont find such attitudes, especially when held by
someone close to the president, deeply offensive and dangerous to free
speech and liberty?
It's also interesting that CS refers to these tactics "legal" without
further discussion. The use of taxpayer money to fund speech that is
disguised as private is, in and of itself, a violation of the 1st amendment
(and probably several other provisions in the constitution). That he fails
to even see that there is an issue speaks volumes about his attitudes and
understanding of both the spirit and letter of the constitution.
Both the left and right should be shocked and offended by such proposals.
After all, even if you're an evil bastard with no respect for liberty (no,
that's not an accusation, PM, just an extreme case to make my point) it wont
always be your friends in power. The "conspiracy theory" may someday be your
own.
This is one scary and dangerous administration.
steve
--
"The law, which restrains a man from doing mischief to his fellow citizens,
though it diminishes the natural, increases the civil liberty of mankind."
William Blackstone |