(no subject)
Ever-increasing numbers under surveillance because they’re suspected of terrorism... or... “might be tempted to support or encourage.”
Might be tempted.
I don’t have a problem with the police watching people they suspect of terrorism, as long as they have to show they've a good reason for it. Despite the pathetic show-trial unfeasability of some of the “foiled terrorist plots” trotted out to convince us that our police are doing something, there are without doubt some extremely nasty people out there. But might be tempted means that people are under surveillance with no concrete evidence of evildoing or even concrete supposition of evildoing. From there it’s a short jump to opposes the government’s foreign policy, and thence to is socially undesirable. And very soon after that I invoke Godwin’s Law.
Sigh.
Then, of course, the police say that the number of people under surveillance is quickly rising, but they can easily dismiss that as being due to increased surveillance effort, not to the polarising and inflammatory effect of the destruction of Iraq. No flies on Blair for that one.
Might be tempted.
I don’t have a problem with the police watching people they suspect of terrorism, as long as they have to show they've a good reason for it. Despite the pathetic show-trial unfeasability of some of the “foiled terrorist plots” trotted out to convince us that our police are doing something, there are without doubt some extremely nasty people out there. But might be tempted means that people are under surveillance with no concrete evidence of evildoing or even concrete supposition of evildoing. From there it’s a short jump to opposes the government’s foreign policy, and thence to is socially undesirable. And very soon after that I invoke Godwin’s Law.
Sigh.
Then, of course, the police say that the number of people under surveillance is quickly rising, but they can easily dismiss that as being due to increased surveillance effort, not to the polarising and inflammatory effect of the destruction of Iraq. No flies on Blair for that one.