Joe Lieberman's Bloodied Hands Grope for our Broadbands

Public servant Joe Lieberman is attempting to saddle America with another “national security” measure. For Joe, that usually means slaughtering Muslim toddlers. But this time, he points his 12-gauge straight to the heart American constitutional liberties: The First Amendment.

Writes Justin Raimondo,

Who else but Joe Lieberman would introduce a bill to give the President the power to shut down the Internet with the flick of a switch? … If the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act” passes – and isn’t that a name that embraces practically every collectivist bromide extant? – the Department of Homeland  Security would establish a “cyber-terrorism” sub-bureaucracy, the Office of Cyberspace Policy (OCP), and the National Center for Cybersecurity and Communication (NCCC), with the former lording it over the Internet – a Cyber-Czar – and the latter unleashed to spy on and otherwise guard the “cybersecurity” Senators Lieberman and his two co-sponsors aver is imminently threatened.

It doesn’t matter whether Congress is a chamber of devils or angels. And it doesn’t matter whether the national security threats they foresee are imaginary or real. It is un-American and immoral to give an unconstitutional sub-agency of the unconstitutional Department of Homeland Security the unconstitutional authority to shut down the Internet at the President's say-so. Call your representative and challenge him or her to stand with the First Amendment and the rule of law by opposing the rotten "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Security Asset Act."

Bill Proposes Internet "Kill Switch" for the President

Clearly the best response for dealing with a crisis of epic proportions would be to give one man the power to eliminate our largest source of information and communication:  the internet.  Don't worry, though, Congress has got us covered on this one:

US President Barack Obama would be granted powers to seize control of and even shut down the internet under a new bill that describes the global internet as a US "national asset"....

The proposed legislation, introduced into the US Senate by independent senator Joe Lieberman....Titled "Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act", the bill stipulates any internet firms and providers must "immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed" by a new section of the US Department of Homeland Security, dubbed the "National Centre for Cybersecurity and Communications"....

Lieberman argued the bill was necessary to "preserve those networks and assets and our country and protect our people".

As might be expected, Lieberman and the bill's other supporters frame it as something which is important for our protection -- they're just looking out for us, of course.

Cyber Wars Becoming a Reality?

China is a little worried  about average citizens having full access to the interwebs:  With cyber security through the roof, the Chinese have extremely limited access to the internet.  Apparently the US government has decided that this is a problem which is ours to fix.

Our government, according to the New York Times, has already attempted to hack into Chinese servers several times before. And with Hillary Clinton's constant publicizing of her discontent with China's policy on the internet, it looks like our government is once again trying to interfere with another country's internal affairs.

There are two main problems with this scenario.  First, the United States needs to recognize the sovereignty of China and the way it wants to operate within its own boundaries. If the United States really wants to "compete" with China or attempt to start China's gradual decline, all it needs to do is lower taxes on growing businesses and allow the private sector to out-buy China globally. Second, China needs to learn that liberty is always the answer to any problem. If its society was free to begin with, we wouldn't be having this discussion right now.

Turn off the TV. You'll be impressed with how much time you'll have.

Time for internet and in-person activism, that is.