> I’m pretty uncomfortable with the current clown car of FISA courts, secret Congressional hearings, secret bills, secret warrants, no-knock warrants, secret no fly lists, data brokers selling to cops, data brokers selling to the military, not to mention the evolution of police into a paramilitary group enabling things like weaponized SWATing for under $100. For a lot of these things, if you didn’t know we were talking about America, you would think of they only happened in totalitarian states.
I agree wholeheartedly, but I don’t see how this is related to forcing the sale of TikTok.
In that case, why bother publishing the text of bills online for people to read before they’re laws? Why preserve Congressional debate in the Library of Congress? Why make Congressional debate public at all?
If we let them, the government will classify everything as “national security”. Today, it’s domestic surveillance programs (some of which were illegal). Tomorrow, it’s economic numbers or police statistics.
I agree that as much as possible of the TikTok briefings should be declassified, and am extremely skeptical of giving governments additional powers, but "national security" really is a sufficient justification in this case. There is no way we should allow a hostile foreign government access to such a massive amount of data on Americans or the ability to easily spread their propaganda.
I’m pretty uncomfortable with the current clown car of FISA courts, secret Congressional hearings, secret bills, secret warrants, no-knock warrants, secret no fly lists, data brokers selling to cops, data brokers selling to the military, not to mention the evolution of police into a paramilitary group enabling things like weaponized SWATing for under $100. For a lot of these things, if you didn’t know we were talking about America, you would think of they only happened in totalitarian states.