Sunday, August 9, 2009

Obama should provide legal protection for liberal activists

The Obama administration recently announced that it would be collecting information about people’s views on the proposed health care reform. American citizens are asked to report emails, personal conversations and blogs that criticize Obama’s plan to overtake the medical insurance. It’s all good and dandy, and the civil rights groups that went ballistic when president Bush proposed same methods to combat terrorism are quiet now. It also looks unlikely that the media and the courts will attempt to stop Obama from getting American citizens to spy on his opponents. But what is going to happen if a republican wins the 2012 elections, and the new president decides to make the citizens’ reports public? Imagine how would a freedom loving civil activist feel if it is revealed to the nation that he informed the authorities that his neighbor had questioned the Obama care? I mean, we are all progressive people here, but there may be still some reactionaries among us who for some reason hold outmoded and racist prejudices against telling on your friends. I believe Obama must propose a law that would absolutely protect the anonymity of his informants. After all, we know that light is the best disinfectant - so it's only reasonable for the Obama administration to turn off as many lights as possible...

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