Bush Admin. Appoints Civil-Liberties Officer

Zephyros writes "The WSJ reports that the Bush administration has appointed a Civil Liberties Protection Officer in order to assuage the public's privacy concerns. From the article: 'As the son of a U.S. aid worker stationed in Guatemala during the 1970s civil war, Alex Joel recalls being unable to tell the good guys from the bad as both armed soldiers and civilians alike would order his family out of their car to search it. Those first-hand brushes with totalitarianism, says Mr. [Alex] Joel, have led him to take the rights of individuals very seriously.' It remains to be seen how effective he will be, but at least they're recognizing the concern."

Comments

The Real Question...

[Hangtime]

Will he have any juice to stop, sway, change direction, or do something in our best interest? Its easy to give someone a job but its quite another to give them the responsibility and the power to do it effectively.

You shouldn't...

[SoCalChris]

I know that you were being sarcastic (At least I hope you were), but this won't change a thing.

Over a year ago, Bush created the "Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board". They haven't met a single time since the board was created.

The LA Times article that talked about it is now in their archives, and I believe is unavailable unless you pay for it.

Here is a posting that made Fark about it a while ago, although the linked to article is dead.
http://forums.fark.com/cgi/fark/comments.pl?IDLink =1923742

Re:War?

[skuzzlebutt]

You don't even have to call them a terrorist...there is a political corruption trial going on here in Las Vegas, where some local officials took bribes from stip club owners. The FBI just admitted a couple of weeks ago to using the PATRIOT act to get financial data on the accused, simply because it was faster than getting a warrant, and because, well, they could. No implied terrorism, but our leaders gave the justice system a useful tool and the right to use it, so they do.

(sorry, full article has been archived by the review-journal)

FBI confirms Patriot Act's use in corruption probe

By ADRIENNE PACKER REVIEW-JOURNAL. Federal authorities confirmed in court Wednesday that they used the Patriot Act to access bank records while investigating alleged political corruption involving former Clark County commissioners and strip club owner Michael Galardi.. The Patriot Act, enacted after Sept. 11, 2001, as a tool to fight terrorism, included provisions that allowed authorities to access personal financial records more easily.. During the federal trial against former county...