| Change the Name at Least |
December 2002
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Homeland Security Department: Nothing New Here
The Department of Homeland Security finally exists in law. President Bush successfully stole the idea from the Democrats, made it the GOP's own bill, and then loaded it with special interest favors. Despite the bickering, the bill will not provide any more security than currently exists, and it does no new significant harm to civil liberties because they have already taken such a beating.
On the security front, the bill merely re-organizes the existing bureaux into a single umbrella group. Anyone who has seen anything of Washington knows that this might improve some marginal communication between these entities, but will most likely result only in new turf wars for the next few years.
Despite the dreadfully Orwellian name, and the cries of people who should know better, the threat to civil liberties is non-existent. This is because the state of civil liberties in the US was precarious before September 11, 2002. The RICO Act, freezing of assets possibly linked to drug money before trial, and the FBI's Carnivore program (which allows the agency to read virtually anything on the Internet, including e-mail) have circumscribed the Bill of Rights radically. Indeed, only the Third Amendment has survived abridgement (and that prevents the quarter of soldiers in private homes in peacetime).
It is unlikely that the enemy will be able to attack the American Homeland with any great effectiveness -- that bolt has been shot. The real fight will be abroad, as said here before, in Asia, Latin America, and Africa where the ability to do harm to Americans and other westerners is greater. Rearranging the bureaucratic furniture in Washington does nothing to address this.