My biggest concern with the Arizona shooting - the internet

yes, violence targeting anybody, be they ordinary u.s. citizens, elected officials of our or any other government, or innocent civilians in the endless "war on terror," is something to be condemned and, by all means, prevented... but, as glenn points out, we should be hyper-attentive to our fear-mongering government using the excuse of any and all such horrific events - as well as the non-horrific ones, e.g. wikileaks - to further advance the national security state...

There has been much talk over the last several days, in the wake of the Arizona shooting, about attempts by some citizens to instill physical fear in elected officials. That's a worthwhile and necessary topic, but the fear that government officials are attempting to instill in law-abiding, dissenting citizens is far more substantial and sustained, and deserves much more attention than it has received.

why do i raise the specter of the national security state in connection with the arizona shooting...? here's our esteemed fbi director, robert mueller, speaking in tucson...

“The ubiquitous nature of the Internet means that not only threats but also hate speech and other inciteful speech is much more readily available to individuals than quite clearly it was 8 or 10 or 15 years ago,” Mr. Mueller said. “That absolutely presents a challenge for us, particularly when it results in what would be lone wolves or lone offenders undertaking attacks.”

fueled by wikileaks, obama's proposed internet id for everybody and now this, i predict a crackdown on internet freedom like nothing we've yet seen...

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