The Bush War on Terror finds a new way to infringe upon lives.
Via to herd or not to herd we find that
Private businesses such as rental and mortgage companies and car dealers are checking the names of customers against a list of suspected terrorists and drug traffickers made publicly available by the Treasury Department, sometimes denying services to ordinary people whose names are similar to those on the list
(emphasis mine)
Did you get that? A list of people who are suspected of being terrorists or drug dealers who may, or may not, actually be guilty of anything at all, is being made public by the government.
I’m sure there are the appropriate disclaimers attached to the list somewhere, but what do you think public reaction is going to be toward people who are on that list, be they guilty or not?
– reread the last 15 words of that paragraph I quoted, ordinary average people who have done absolutely nothing wrong at all are finding themselves and their reputations smeared.
What’s that I hear? The defensive calls of ‘I’m sure it’s a few isolated incidents’, or ‘if you’ve done nothing wrong you’ve nothing to fear’, or ‘it’s helping to keep us safe so….’ - tell that to the people who have already been affected, and then hope your name isn’t even remotely close to any other on the list because you could be next.
When they came for the Jews I did nothing. When they came for the Ukrainians I did nothing. When they came for the Japanese I did nothing. When they came for the Chinese I did nothing. When they came for the Indians I did nothing. When they came for the Mexicans I did nothing. When they came for the Latin Americans I did nothing. When they came for the Mexicans I did nothing. When they came for the Kurds I did nothing. When they came for the homosexuals I did nothing. When they came for the women I did nothing. etc When they came for me there was no one left!