Should Obama Control The Internet?

You’ve heard of Mother Jones, right? It is a far left magazinethat was started by folks well on the left, and, of course, looks at things from the far left viewpoint. But, I have to give them this: they are not stuck on ObamaLuv. They treat him exactly like they would have had Bush been president

Should President Obama have the power to shut down domestic Internet traffic during a state of emergency?

Senators John Rockefeller (D-W. Va.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) think so. On Wednesday they introduced a bill to establish the Office of the National Cybersecurity Advisor—an arm of the executive branch that would have vast power to monitor and control Internet traffic to protect against threats to critical cyber infrastructure. That broad power is rattling some civil libertarians.

The Cybersecurity Act of 2009(PDF) gives the president the ability to “declare a cybersecurity emergency” and shut down or limit Internet traffic in any “critical” information network “in the interest of national security.” The bill does not define a critical information network or a cybersecurity emergency. That definition would be left to the president.

That the definition would be left to the presidentvery much concerns Mother Jones, and should concern everyone. What if he thinks it is an emergency to shut down everyone on the sidebar of Hot Air or National Review? What, that could never happen? You sure? Perhaps it is not the same thing, but the nation of India, the “worlds largest democracy,” gave an order to restrict 17 websites for BS reasons, but, most of the sites, including mine, were involved with “flush the koran” photoshop fun. The order has never been formally rescinded.

And you would think this would concern the usual liberal/progressive subjects, all those who pitched hissy fits over the Evil Boooosh listening to terrorists talking overseas without a warrant, even with

The bill does not only add to the power of the president. It also grants the Secretary of Commerce “access to all relevant data concerning [critical] networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy restricting such access.” This means he or she can monitor or access any data on private or public networks without regard to privacy laws.

So, he can pretty much do whatever he wants. Give Jazz Shaw kudos on this one, at least he is concerned. Though I suspect that if this was happening while Bush was president, the article would have had a much more worried tone. And other on the Left, such as Excitable Andy, Keven Drum at Mother Jones, and Liberty Street, who are more concerned with some torture memos from years ago. So is the ACLU, which, last time I checked was supposed to protect American Rights. But, no mention of the cybersecurity issue. Bringing terrorists currently residing in Gitmo to domestic soil is more important than a bill that could lead to massive civil liberties abuses.

Think any of them would ignore the Cybersecurity Act if Bush was president, or had McCain won? Even if it hasn’t passed yet? Hopefully, it will go down in flames, like it should. Rockafeller and Snow should be ashamed of themselves, but, then, they wouldn’t be able to be elected officials if they actual had shame.

Crossed at Stop The ACLU

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4 Responses to “Should Obama Control The Internet?”

  1. If there’s ever been a more blatant or comprehensive power grab by any president than the one going on as we speak, I’m unable to say when or by whom. Obama and his minions are speeding us toward totalitarianism. Perhaps he thinks he can complete the process of anointing himself Unopposable Dictator for Life and seizing all our means of resistance and organization before he completely alienates the power base that raised him to office. Given the sluggishness conservatives and libertarians have displayed in moving to oppose him, he could be right.

    Tea parties are no longer enough; it’s time for a mass march on Washington.

  2. John Ryan says:

    Dick cheney says that in time of war the POTUS can do ANYTHING

  3. James McEnanly says:

    The problem with being dictator for life is the lousy retirement program. p-( .

  4. Time will tell, Francis. The bright spot is that Obama doesn’t seem to be that engaged in anything except continuing his campaign.

    Want to provide a link for that, John?

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