"We Don't Live in a Free Country": Jacob Appelbaum on Being Target of Mass Govt Surveillance

[The Northerner]

DemocracyNow.org - We speak with Jacob Appelbaum, a computer researcher who has faced a stream of interrogations and electronic surveillance since he volunteered with the whistleblowing website, WikiLeaks. He describes being detained more than a dozen times at the airport and interrogated by federal agents who asked about his political views and confiscated his cell phone and laptop. When asked why he cannot talk about what happened after he was questioned, Appelbaum says, "Because we do not live in a free country. If we did, I could tell you about it." A federal judge ordered Twitter to hand over information about Appelbaum's account. Meanwhile, he continues to work on the TOR project, an anonymity network that ensures every person has the right to browse the internet without restriction, and the right to speak freely.

[SemperEadem]

1. We don't.

and that's the truth. This is the second time I've heard a "governmental representative" state that our constitutionally guaranteed freedoms no longer apply.

The first was a nut-case cop in Chicago who told a reporter that he had no freedom of the press. Now federal agents are singing the tune. and in the meantime, HLS has rolled out heat cannons for use in crowd control on citizens of this country. The right to assemble will be the next thing to fall.

[20score]

2. "We don't live in a free country." Those words are more true every year.

Don't those fascists, the ones taking away freedoms and questioning people like Jacob Appelbaum, ever have regrets about being the bad guys?

Rhetorical question. They rationalize their behavior and are blind to how close they are to the fascists of old. Somehow now, it's different.

[Mosaic]

3. Bush and father must be smiling

We all know this is the kind of country they wanted all along. The rest of us are stupid suckers for following these demons to damnation. Can anyone, any movement stop it? We must.

[JDPriestly]

4. Obama needs to explain his role in curtailing our freedom.

Where does he really stand on this and why.

When I was a child, we were told that the Russians and East Germans -- the Communists watched people, told them when and where they could travel and were evil. But we are different, we were told. We are free. No one is watching us. We can travel freely when and where we want.

So what happened?

When did we decide to become like the Russians?

9/11 is no excuse. It isn't as if massive numbers of Americans suddenly joined the Taliban after 9/11. The tiny group of intruders who we are told committed the crime of 9/11 and attempted subsequent crimes do not pose nearly the threat to our lives and freedom that the excessive, paranoid surveillance and restrictions on US citizens pose.

Enough.