It’s pretty well out in the open now. The United States Government wants to know every single bit of information that goes in and out of your computer when it’s connected to the Internet. Is that clear enough? Do you want that to happen? Can you be persuaded or browbeaten into believing that if they JUST use this information for some “good reason” like stopping kiddie porn, or preventing terrorism, that (a) well then that’s okay; that good cause is so important it’s worth giving up a little of my privacy for, and besides, I don’t do kiddie porn or terrorism so what do I have to worry about? or that (b) they will in fact only use this information for that purpose?

If you persuade yourself to believe either of the above, you’re an idiot. Go away, we do not want you as a reader. You are the enemy, you are one of Them. Fuck off, eat shit and die.

You think that’s a little harsh? Well then sweetie you are just going to get the vapors and hit the fainting couch when you find out what your very own ISP, those friendly folks to whom you pay exorbitant amounts of money for services every month, is getting ready to do, whether they want to (some don’t seem to have a problem with this, for others see that EFF button over in the right sidebar) or not.

You think this whole post is alarmist and overblown? Go see what the Justifier of Torture, the Excuser in Chief of Tyranny, is up to at this very moment:

The Justice Department is asking Internet companies to keep records on the Web-surfing activities of their customers to aid law enforcement, and may propose legislation to force them to do so.

The director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, and Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales held a meeting in Washington last Friday where they offered a general proposal on record-keeping to a group of senior executives from Internet companies, said Brian Roehrkasse, a spokesman for the department. The meeting included representatives from America Online, Microsoft, Google, Verizon and Comcast.

The attorney general has appointed a task force of department officials to explore the issue, and that group is holding another meeting with a broader group of Internet executives today, Mr. Roehrkasse said. The department also met yesterday with a group of privacy experts.

The Justice Department is not asking the Internet companies to give it data about users, but rather to retain information that could be subpoenaed through existing laws and procedures, Mr. Roehrkasse said.

While initial proposals were vague, executives from companies that attended the meeting said they gathered that the department was interested in records that would allow them to identify which individuals visited certain Web sites and possibly conducted searches using certain terms.

It also wants the Internet companies to retain records about whom their users exchange e-mail with.

Still think this is overblown alarmism? Go back to the right sidebar and read that “Thought for the Day” which is in fact the most important thought of our times:

Until now, every generation of Americans has traded safety for liberty. From the Lexington Green to the Normandy beaches, from the Sons of Liberty to the Freedom Riders, it has been part of the American narrative that risks are taken to expand freedom, not freedoms sacrificed to avoid risk.

Only in this generation—only on our watch—has the march reversed.

Go think about it. If you decide that this is too depressing to contemplate, or you’re too busy, or it would be nicer to work in the garden, Somebody Else will take care of this, then I want you to do this:

Take off your clothes. All of them. Now. Gather them up, along with every other garment in your house, yours and your partner’s and your grandmother’s and most especially those of your children. And I mean all of them, down to hair ribbons and shoes and underwear.

Now take them out and burn them. Because you have agreed that you and all your descendants will go naked to the whims of government from now unto all time.

Otherwise, gird up thy loins and don thine armor and go forth and fight. Letters, calls, emails. To your reps whatever their party and to your ISP no matter how great or how small. All the fuss you can muster counts right now, because if we lose this battle none of the others really matter that much. And, gulp, God save us, the telcos may be our only friends in the fight.