John Whitehead's Commentary
Is Operation TIPS Part of a Plan to Defend Our Homeland or Destroy It?
"There ought to be limits to freedom."
George W. Bush, May 21, 1999
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in--and the West in general--into an unbearable hell and a choking life."
Osama bin Laden, Oct. 21, 2001
When George W. Bush made his astonishing remark about limiting freedom, he was referring to his desire to shut down a parody website that had been giving him grief. But with every new proposal put forth by the Bush Administration since Sept. 11 to "protect" America from the specter of another terrorist attack, this 43rd president of the United States seems to be doing everything within his powers to fulfill Osama bin Laden's dire prediction. And the latest assault on our privacy and freedoms, the formation of civilian spy teams, may accomplish that very thing.
Part of a new volunteer Citizen Corps program proposed by President Bush and administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System) attempts to involve Americans in safeguarding homeland security. According to the government website for the program, TIPS, to be launched in August 2002, will provide "millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees," who "in the daily course of their work, are in a unique position to serve as extra eyes and ears for law enforcement" with "a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity."
What this means for the average citizen is that whatever you read, eat or do--in the privacy of your home or out in public--will now be suspect in the eyes of your cable repairman, postal carrier, meter man or others who, by way of the services they provide, will have access to your home. So you'd better hide that Tom Clancy novel, disassemble that transistor radio and be nice to the guy installing your TV--because the eyes of Big Brother will soon be watching your every move.
With the installation of this citizen surveillance program, the Fourth Amendment, which has already taken quite a beating in the past several months from the Supreme Court and a variety of anti-terrorism initiatives, will take another hit. After all, what good are warrants and bans against illegal searches and seizures by law enforcement agencies if the government can just have your cleaning lady or telephone repairman snoop around for incriminating information?
And what will happen if these people actually find something possibly incriminating? According to the skeletal information provided on the Citizen Corps site, a toll-free number will connect informants directly to a hotline, which will route calls to the proper law enforcement agency when appropriate. Those unfortunate enough to raise suspicion might find themselves stuck forevermore in a computer database for individuals engaging in possible terrorist activity.
Once upon a time, America was a place where a person was innocent until proven guilty. But under the Bush plan for our country, every American citizen is a suspect until certifiable proof can be found--through any means, fair or foul--that they are, in fact, involved in terrorist activity. And perhaps that is appropriate in a land common sense has gone the way of the Dodo bird.
By directing Americans to conduct illegal searches--searches the police would not have the authority to conduct without a warrant--on their fellow Americans, the U.S. government is essentially turning the average citizen into an extension of the thought police. And suddenly, George Orwell's futuristic vision of Nineteen Eighty-Four doesn't seem so far-fetched, particularly if you substitute Orwell's "family" for Bush's letter carrier, utility worker or cable guy:
The family could not actually be abolished and, indeed, people were encouraged to be fond of their children in almost the old-fashioned way. The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviation. The family had become in effect an extension of the Thought Police. It was a device by means of which everyone could be surrounded night and day by informers who knew him immediately.
It seems as if we've come full circle, reverting back to the Cold War tactics and paranoia of the 1950s, when civil liberties was secondary to security.
"So what's the big deal?" one reporter asked me. "Wouldn't such a program--even if it is a violation of our rights--be worth it if we could prevent even one terrorist attack?" It is, as Benjamin Franklin said more than 200 years ago: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
If our law enforcement agencies could be trusted to do their jobs effectively and efficiently, there would be no need for a program that, once implemented, can only be a bureaucratic and legal nightmare.
Although we need to be concerned about terrorist threats from outside our borders, we must also be mindful that our own government could be posing a similar threat. With every draconian piece of legislation crafted by Bush's henchmen to limit the rights of the American people, President Bush comes ever closer to carrying out bin Laden's agenda to destroy America--not so much its landmarks and government but our concepts of freedom and justice.
And in the end, the laugh's on us, because bin Laden doesn't have to lift a finger to ensure that America's freedoms are doomed. President Bush is managing it perfectly from the Oval Office, and the American people are falling for it hook, line and sinker.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Grasping for the Wind. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
George W. Bush, May 21, 1999
"I tell you, freedom and human rights in America are doomed. The U.S. government will lead the American people in--and the West in general--into an unbearable hell and a choking life."
Osama bin Laden, Oct. 21, 2001
When George W. Bush made his astonishing remark about limiting freedom, he was referring to his desire to shut down a parody website that had been giving him grief. But with every new proposal put forth by the Bush Administration since Sept. 11 to "protect" America from the specter of another terrorist attack, this 43rd president of the United States seems to be doing everything within his powers to fulfill Osama bin Laden's dire prediction. And the latest assault on our privacy and freedoms, the formation of civilian spy teams, may accomplish that very thing.
Part of a new volunteer Citizen Corps program proposed by President Bush and administered by the U.S. Department of Justice, Operation TIPS (Terrorism Information and Prevention System) attempts to involve Americans in safeguarding homeland security. According to the government website for the program, TIPS, to be launched in August 2002, will provide "millions of American truckers, letter carriers, train conductors, ship captains, utility employees," who "in the daily course of their work, are in a unique position to serve as extra eyes and ears for law enforcement" with "a formal way to report suspicious terrorist activity."
What this means for the average citizen is that whatever you read, eat or do--in the privacy of your home or out in public--will now be suspect in the eyes of your cable repairman, postal carrier, meter man or others who, by way of the services they provide, will have access to your home. So you'd better hide that Tom Clancy novel, disassemble that transistor radio and be nice to the guy installing your TV--because the eyes of Big Brother will soon be watching your every move.
With the installation of this citizen surveillance program, the Fourth Amendment, which has already taken quite a beating in the past several months from the Supreme Court and a variety of anti-terrorism initiatives, will take another hit. After all, what good are warrants and bans against illegal searches and seizures by law enforcement agencies if the government can just have your cleaning lady or telephone repairman snoop around for incriminating information?
And what will happen if these people actually find something possibly incriminating? According to the skeletal information provided on the Citizen Corps site, a toll-free number will connect informants directly to a hotline, which will route calls to the proper law enforcement agency when appropriate. Those unfortunate enough to raise suspicion might find themselves stuck forevermore in a computer database for individuals engaging in possible terrorist activity.
Once upon a time, America was a place where a person was innocent until proven guilty. But under the Bush plan for our country, every American citizen is a suspect until certifiable proof can be found--through any means, fair or foul--that they are, in fact, involved in terrorist activity. And perhaps that is appropriate in a land common sense has gone the way of the Dodo bird.
By directing Americans to conduct illegal searches--searches the police would not have the authority to conduct without a warrant--on their fellow Americans, the U.S. government is essentially turning the average citizen into an extension of the thought police. And suddenly, George Orwell's futuristic vision of Nineteen Eighty-Four doesn't seem so far-fetched, particularly if you substitute Orwell's "family" for Bush's letter carrier, utility worker or cable guy:
The family could not actually be abolished and, indeed, people were encouraged to be fond of their children in almost the old-fashioned way. The children, on the other hand, were systematically turned against their parents and taught to spy on them and report their deviation. The family had become in effect an extension of the Thought Police. It was a device by means of which everyone could be surrounded night and day by informers who knew him immediately.
It seems as if we've come full circle, reverting back to the Cold War tactics and paranoia of the 1950s, when civil liberties was secondary to security.
"So what's the big deal?" one reporter asked me. "Wouldn't such a program--even if it is a violation of our rights--be worth it if we could prevent even one terrorist attack?" It is, as Benjamin Franklin said more than 200 years ago: "They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
If our law enforcement agencies could be trusted to do their jobs effectively and efficiently, there would be no need for a program that, once implemented, can only be a bureaucratic and legal nightmare.
Although we need to be concerned about terrorist threats from outside our borders, we must also be mindful that our own government could be posing a similar threat. With every draconian piece of legislation crafted by Bush's henchmen to limit the rights of the American people, President Bush comes ever closer to carrying out bin Laden's agenda to destroy America--not so much its landmarks and government but our concepts of freedom and justice.
And in the end, the laugh's on us, because bin Laden doesn't have to lift a finger to ensure that America's freedoms are doomed. President Bush is managing it perfectly from the Oval Office, and the American people are falling for it hook, line and sinker.
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute and author of Grasping for the Wind. He can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His most recent books are the best-selling Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the award-winning A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, and a debut dystopian fiction novel, The Erik Blair Diaries. Whitehead can be contacted at staff@rutherford.org. Nisha Whitehead is the Executive Director of The Rutherford Institute. Information about The Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
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