Swiss Cheese For Brains

By way of The Washington Times.

A proposal from the Senate Intelligence Committee that would exempt federal agencies from provisions of the Privacy Act in the name of the war against terrorism has, of course, gotten the attention of the ACLU.

"If this is enacted, the Privacy Act will look like Swiss cheese," exaggerated ACLU legislative counsel Tim Sparapani.

The bill would allow U.S. intelligence agencies to access personal information about Americans held by other federal departments or agencies if it is believed relevant to counter-terrorism or counter-proliferation.

A Democratic committee staffer defended the proposal, telling UPI that the exemptions were "narrowly drawn to address the kinds of problems we found during our Sept. 11 inquiry," when U.S. agencies failed to pool information about known al-Qaida militants who were thus able to slip into the country.

In language that seems calculated to assuage the fears of privacy advocates, the bill states that "nothing in the amendments made by this section shall be deemed to constitute authority for the receipt, collection, or retention of information unless" it is "otherwise authorized by the Constitution, laws, or executive orders of the United States."

The Democratic staffer argued that "this is lawfully collected information. What sense does it make not to share it in an appropriately limited fashion," as envisaged in the bill?

Not good enough for the paranoia poster boy from the ACLU. Sparapani contends that in the wake of the revelations about the National Security Agency program of warrantless counter-terrorist surveillance, the time for giving the administration the benefit of the doubt on such issues was past.

Meanwhile, the threat of domestic terrorism grows as evidenced by what happened in Canada recently. CBS NEWS, only three days ago, reported that U.S. officials believe recent incidents point to an imminent threat. The article stated:

The next attack here, officials predict, will bear no resemblance to Sept. 11. The casualty toll will not be that high, the target probably not that big. We may not even recognize it for what it is at first, they say. But it's coming — of that they seem certain.

But, the ACLU would have us caught with our pants down and our heads up our butts, crying "Who did that?"

If Tim Sparapani wants to see Swiss cheese he should get a brain scan.

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