The Electronic Freedom Foundation has discovered (surprise!) that the FBI is violating the civil liberties of Americans at a greater extent than previously assumed:
EFF has uncovered widespread violations stemming from FBI intelligence investigations from 2001 - 2008. In a report released today, EFF documents alarming trends in the Bureau’s intelligence investigation practices, suggesting that FBI intelligence investigations have compromised the civil liberties of American citizens far more frequently, and to a greater extent, than was previously assumed.
When it comes to State violations of lives, liberties, and property, I'm an opened-ended book. The more I learn about what this dishonest, insane, and intolerable government has done, the less surprised I am about any revelations about State crimes and violations of its own laws. Basically, I think that the only real limit on State crime is political ideology. I agree with Albert J. Nock's assessment that
The State will always be criminal in proportion to its strength; a weak State will always be as criminal as it can be, or dare be, but if it is kept down to the proper limit of weakness – which, by the way, is a vast deal lower limit than people are led to believe – its criminality may be safely got on with.
And in a democratic State, not only will the amount of State crime increase, but these crimes will become more diabolical and heinous as time moves on. This is because democracies have competition in the production of bads. The U.S. has competition for the best CIA agent, the best FBI agent, the best ATF agent, the best IRS agent, the best DEA agent, etc. And the "best" usually means the most deceptive, the most threatening, the most menacing, the most violent. Just as it is almost impossible for a good man to become president of the U.S., especially as democracy continues to corrupt the masses generation after generation, it is almost impossible to find any man of good intentions or morals at the top of these agencies. Any man who does have principles will be weeded out early on. Moreover, the men who apply for these positions are part of the same corrupted masses who vote for the best liar, thief, and potential murderer as president.
Crimes that may have been considered conspiracies decades ago are carried out in the open today. Prosecutors openly lie to gain convictions today. Prosecutors and police openly hide exonerating evidence today. Police openly plant evidence on suspects today. In the past this would have been done secertly, but the masses have been so corrupted by democracy and are so worshipful of State power, that the State does pretty much whatever it wants, whenever it wants. As the WikiLeaks fall out has demonstrated, many people even wish to protect government secrecy as necessary to "national security." Thus, given this license to operate, it is not at all surprising that the State actually commits more crime than previously suspected. One really has to wonder just what type of crime the U.S. Federal Government could commit that would cause the masses to turn against it.
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