From: Tim Scanlon <tfs@vampire.science.gmu.edu>
Date: Wed, 13 Sep 95 22:17:21 PDT
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Whitehouse "dissident" web site monitoring?
In-Reply-To: <9509130255.AA03446@sulphur.osf.org>
Message-ID: <9509140517.AA01328@vampire.science.gmu.edu>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain



I know a few folks at eop, and I can tell you that
it's a tad bigger setup that a few boxes in bill's
private office.

This is the "office" of the executive, not "the executive office".
There's a good amount of people who work there. Most of them
are good folks too. They are not power hungry nuts, they are not
bad clones of "The Monroes", they are not weirdos like "Cancer Man"
out of the X-Files, in fact, in many cases they are just real normal
people who belive in trying to do something for their fellow citizens.
They don't *do* partisan politics, and in fact, partisan politics
are the greatest source of fear for their job security.

I've watched allot of *good* people, by ANYONES standards,
leave their jobs in the government lately due to the lack of
support they have gotten from the congress & the executive branch,
and I know how bad morale is in places where everyone would
be better served if people didn't have to worry about how
to feed the kids next month.

Don't get me wrong, I don't agree with allot of *political*
stuff that's going on at all. But the idea of some poor sod
worrying about his job becasue he decided to check out a
web site with "controversial" material is enough to make
me vomit.

Attributing a conspiracy to this is just plain and simple
ignorance. Any agency worth much wouldn't "monitor" from
a site with a big 'ol .gov at the end of the IP. THEY arn't
that stupid, but apperently the whackos in the woodpile
think that people would be that dumb.

Personaly I'd be flattered if some gov site were looking at
"dissident" material I put up, if I chose to do that, God knows
it might actually mean my elected representatives were listening,
or at least their staff might be.

I swear, Clinton "scandals" make me nostalgic for the 'ol
republican days when we had REAL scandals like Watergate
& Iran-Contra... All this Foster crap & black helicopters
just strikes me as goofy, and in some cases ignorantly
obnoxious. I guess this is what happens when the trailer park
crowd get's on the net...


Tim



________________________________________________________________
tfs@vampire.science.gmu.edu (NeXTmail, MIME)  Tim Scanlon
George Mason University     (PGP key avail.)  Public Affairs
I speak for myself, but often claim demonic possession