# Safire...Whistle Blowing or Paranoid Re: Homeland Security Legislation? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 15, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safire-whistle-blowing-or-paranoid-re-homeland-security-legislation/136899 "2002-11-15T18:43:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safire-whistle-blowing-or-paranoid-re-homeland-security-legislation/136899/1 "2002-11-15T18:43:58Z")
Inspired by [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144090), I made it a point to read Bill Safire’s opinion piece in the Gray Lady. ([As quoted here by the SF Indy](http://sf.indymedia.org/news/2002/11/1543169.php)). If true, this is worse than Big Brother, in fact it’s chilling. Is William Safire’s reading of the language in The Homeland Security Bill a contrived stretch and exersize in paranoia…or has the forth estate once again dropped the ball in reporting the details of the HSB? In Safire’s opinion, there’s a provision in the bill that sets-up a centalized, database in the DOD…that would possibly be administered by William Poindexter of Iran-Contra fame. What would be stored in the Pentagon database?[ol][li]Credit card purchases[_]Your magazine subscriptions[_]Your prescriptions[_]Web sites visited[_]Your e-mail[_]Your academic grades[_]Your banking transactions[_]Booked Vacations, and [_]Every event you attend[/ol][/li] When asked about Mr. Safire’s concerns yesterday in a press briefing, White House spokesman [Scott McClellan said](http://usinfo.state.gov/cgi-bin/washfile/display.pl?p=/products/washfile/latest&f=02111403.tlt&t=/products/washfile/newsitem.shtml)… > [@](#): > > I’ve seen the report you’re talking about. I’ve not > been informed about any of the information. I think you need to direct your question to the Pentagon In a follow up asking if W supports total information awareness through data mining the answer was evasive at best… > [@](#): > > I’ve seen the reports, but I think you need to talk to > the Pentagon. This is a question related to something that the > Pentagon may be looking at, so I would refer you to the Pentagon. That’s what I have at this point. That just doesn’t cut it. This is something no American should stand for…no matter how fearful they are about security. Who put this language in the bill, the House or the Senate or liasons at the White House? The [House Bill](http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/terrorism/hr5710homsecbil.pdf) says the Secretary shall > [@](#): > > take reasonable steps to ensure that information systems and databases of the Department are compatible with each other and with appropriate databases of other Departments as well as the Under for Information Analysis _(creepy title)_ shall > [@](#): > > secure communications and information technology infrastructure, including data-mining and other advanced analytical tools, in order to access, receive, and analyze data and information in furtherance… But no where in the bill is the data Mr. Safire enumerated listed. My guess is his interpretation is alarmist. I don’t think 1 judge on the Supreme Court, be they right or left wing, would allow such an infringemnent on personal freedoms & liberties for 2 minutes before striking it down…but maybe I’m just an optimist. ---
**Author:** ![Clu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/22d042/32.png) [@Clu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clu)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safire-whistle-blowing-or-paranoid-re-homeland-security-legislation/136899/2 "2002-11-15T19:30:39Z")
> **[FBI Databases Used for Stock Fraud - Slashdot](https://slashdot.org/story/02/05/22/2347219/fbi-databases-used-for-stock-fraud)** > > Phronesis writes "The Associated Press reports that two FBI agents have been indicted for conspiring with the owner of InsideTruth.com to short stocks and then leak information from the FBI's internal databases (e.g., unpleasant personal information... worry less about the potential for your “civil liberties” to be violated & instead worry more about ppl commiting crimes of oppurtunity. ---
**Author:** ![SuaSponte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/67e7ee/32.png) [@SuaSponte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuaSponte)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safire-whistle-blowing-or-paranoid-re-homeland-security-legislation/136899/3 "2002-11-15T20:21:20Z")
My biggest reason to doubt Safire’s opinion is this sentence: > [@](#): > > And he has been given a $200 million budget to create computer dossiers on 300 million Americans. First of all, Safire started his sentence with a conjunction. That leads me to suspect an imposter. 😃 But more importantly, this works out to a database set up at a cost of $.66 per person in the database. I’ve never developed a database, but I suspect that it would cost a lot more than 66 cents to collect and collate all the data floating out there about me and my habits and purchases. Sua ---
**Author:** ![ScoobyTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@ScoobyTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ScoobyTX)\ **Post date:** [November 15, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/safire-whistle-blowing-or-paranoid-re-homeland-security-legislation/136899/4 "2002-11-15T20:58:39Z")
[Total Information Awareness (TIA) System](http://www.darpa.mil/iao/TIASystems.htm) ☹ :mad: