Re: Russel Tice. A universal tap on a blackmailed "lapdog" press?

[Poll_Blind]

 I always thought it was amazing how much the press jumped into Bush's lap. Some, including myself believed it was misguided patriotism post September 11th or maybe pressure from fat-cat media owners. I mean, those would be arguable and reasonable motives for the horrid behavior of most of the mainstream press in handling the Bush administration with kid gloves, even after revelations of unconstitutional behavior which would make Nixon blush.

 But watching Russel Tice on Keith Olbermann just now reminded me of a piece I wrote a few years ago for DU, entitled The Search Engine Confessional - AOL's snapshot into very private lives in which I picked a few searches from AOL at random and gathered as much information as I possibly could about the individuals.

 Some searches didn't turn up much, but most did. Names. Addresses. Phone numbers, even credit card numbers on occasion. And also, even more personal information: Medical conditions, sexually transmitted diseases, drug addictions, the entire spectrum of sexual peccadilloes: the pedestrian, the kinky, the perverse and the outright disgusting and illegal. And, occasionally, searching for information on how to kill a spouse or individual and get away with it.

 So point being: If you can track just a person's internet web searches you can learn things about them that maybe no-one else in the world knows. Not a spouse, not a best friend, not a religious confessor.

 Russel Tice intimated that whole segments of the American press (mainstream news reporters, for instance) were 24/7 being tapped (both internet and telephone). In his words "Everything.

 Can you imagine? Enough information to destroy the lives and careers of many in the mainstream media in our entire country. I'm not talking about toe-suckers like Dick Morris, either. Think about how much leeway you could have if it was made known, in some little way through a third party to, say, A Major Mainstream U.S. Reporter, that you know, say, that they did cocaine last week with their ex-wife. Or are trying to find ways to get out of their contract with their current employer. Or any of an almost infinite number of very personal, damaging facts.

 All recorded, digitized, able to be burned to CD and sent out, anonymously, to their competitor. Or spouse. Or employer. Or parents. Or church.

 Powerful stuff, eh?

 I'm not saying they did. I don't have any proof of that. But I do have to say after the history of lawless, manipulative...ruthless behavior, would it be all that surprising? And did any of these digitized recordings get copied? Man, you wanna turn a quick buck? Selling dirt from Person A to Person B (or Government A to Government B and vice versa could get to be a lucrative biz, don't you think?

 Just thinking out loud, but I don't think it sounds beyond the pale for the Bush administration.

 More like Par for the course.

PB

P.S. If this topic interests you, you might read the article I reference in my second paragraph at the top. I track a young man, just one of the searches, and find out more than anyone would ever imagine.