[dirtboy]

The Bush administration, seeking to revive an online pornography law struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court, has subpoenaed Google Inc. for details on what its users have been looking for through its popular search engine.

The Bush Admin is getting out of control on this stuff. I was at first willing to accept electronic survelliance without a warrant against anyone with a clear connection to al Qaeda for national security reasons.

But this isn't about terrorism or national security. There is no crime here that I can see that justifies a subpeona. This is a Justice Department that, IMO, no longer feels that the 5th applies to them - and they will lose my support over more important issues if they keep this kind of nonsense up - because then I will start to wonder, what other kind of stuff do they have the NSA looking at if they can rationalize this kind of abuse of power?

[VictoryGal]

> The Bush Admin is getting out of control on this stuff. I was at first willing to accept electronic survelliance without a warrant against anyone with a clear connection to al Qaeda for national security reasons.

I agree with you. I hope Google sticks to its guns and doesn't supply this.

[steve-b]

But this isn't about terrorism or national security. There is no crime here that I can see that justifies a subpeona. This is a Justice Department that, IMO, no longer feels that the 5th applies to them - and they will lose my support over more important issues if they keep this kind of nonsense up - because then I will start to wonder, what other kind of stuff do they have the NSA looking at if they can rationalize this kind of abuse of power?

Precisely. If a Rat mole came up with this foolishness for the precise purpose of undermining the Administration's case, he couldn't have done a better job.

[Gaffer]

I'm queazy about this not because I use Google for such endeavors, but from a privacy issue. Mainly because if this sort of inquiry/investigation, blind as it seems, gets out of hand, they will be looking for people who google guns, cigarettes, wine retailers, what have you.

I don't think I mind them using 'statistical' data that doesn't single out specific individuals, but to do a blanket query is not what I'd call 'shoe leather' police work. It's basically lazy and akin to fishing with dynamite.

[Element187]

The Bush Admin is getting out of control on this stuff. I was at first willing to accept electronic survelliance without a warrant against anyone with a clear connection to al Qaeda for national security reasons.

But this isn't about terrorism or national security. There is no crime here that I can see that justifies a subpeona. This is a Justice Department that, IMO, no longer feels that the 5th applies to them - and they will lose my support over more important issues if they keep this kind of nonsense up - because then I will start to wonder, what other kind of stuff do they have the NSA looking at if they can rationalize this kind of abuse of power?


I couldnt agree more. I support Bush on many things.. But this makes me doubt the man real fast.