DHS Doublethink

Here, for at least the second time in the past few weeks, we get a glimpse of an Orwellian slice of life under the PATRIOT Act. First, officers from the Department of Homeland Security come into a library in Montgomery County, MD and inform some users of the library’s internet portals that they are viewing offensive material (i.e. pornography). Now comes the story of a federal employee in Idaho who is harassed by DHS agents for having anti-war signs on his truck. A week ago one of my colleagues asked me if I thought the world like the one envisioned in 1984 could ever come to pass. I said no, but that I still worried about it. The actions of these DHS agents make me wonder how close we are, though. Having clearly completed the job of keeping the country safe from terrorism, the DHS is now moving on to deciding what we look at on the internet and stifling criticism of the government. Beautiful.