Progressive World Review

In an unbelievable display of hypocrisy, Senator Sam Brownback (R-KS) expressed dismay over reports that foreign owned hotels in China faced severe retaliation if they refused to install Internet monitoring software that would allow the Chinese government to observe all of the Internet activity of the hotel’s guests. (h/t Think Progress) From a CNN broadcast, as quoted by Think Progress,

BROWNBACK: This is the public security bureau in China requiring the installation of hardware that they can listen to anybody and everybody’s and their communications and their recordings that are sent over the internet in a real-time purpose or over long-term. That’s spying, John. [...] Your internet communications can all be monitored in a real time basis by the public security bureau of the Chinese government. I think they’re clearly intent upon spying. they’re going to be spying. (emphasis original)

What makes this so outrageous is the fact that Brownback just recently voted in favor of allowing our own government the power to spy on its citizens.  When asked to explain the difference between the two spy programs this was Brownback’s response,

We don’t put the hardware and software on hotels. If there is a targeted individual that seems to be a likely prospect of terrorists, they must go through the FISA court and ask for a court to determine that there is probable cause to be able to listen in on that information.

But this is precisely wrong.  That’s the way FISA was originally written, and even then it was still controversial due to the secrecy that cloaked the FISA court and the fact that reportedly, only two warrants were ever refused.  But the FISA bill recently passed, with Brownback’s assent, doesn’t even require this minimal amount of judicial review.  Brownback is correct in stating that the hardware and software won’t be installed on hotels, because it doesn’t have to be, it’s already been installed at the offices of the telecommunications companies.  The government can and does have the ability to eavesdrop on virtually any electronic communication it wants regardless of where it takes place.

The Chinese government is unquestionably authoritarian and oppressive and I don’t support for one minute the monitoring of Internet communications or any other communications for that matter but at least in China you know you have no expectation of privacy.  In this country we do have that expectation that is until recently, making our own domestic spying program even worse than theirs.  For years we’ve been critical of China’s authoritarian government, vigorously condemning their human rights abuses only now to witness our own government sink to the same level and our leaders are too blind, stupid or dishonest to appreciate the comparison.

–Paul Wilden

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