* “[A]s much as it bills itself as being about the workings of the present-day mob, ‘The Sopranos’ is a rather nasty indictment of the upper-middle-class American family,” writes Peter Suderman at National Review’s The Corner. “Mob intrigue has always been the show’s secondary interest; what the writers are really interested in is the state of the modern suburban family (and they don’t have much love or pity for what they see).”
* Time’s Karen Tumulty reacts to Al Gonzales’s need to go into Cheney-like “seclusion” in order to prepare for next week’s congressional testimony: “Maybe He Should Just Write the Answers on His Palm.”
* Wired’s Ryan Singel doubts that Walter Murphy, Princeton professor emeritus of law, was placed on a terrorist watch list for delivering a speech about President Bush. “I have no idea why the counterperson would say that individuals are put on the list for joining antiwar protests, but that’s just not true,” Singel writes at Threat Level, Wired’s blog on “security, freedom and privacy.” “The key question to ask about cases where children or nuns or Senators or peace activists get selected for extra screening is: Evil or Incompetent?” Singel continues:
Woe be it for this blog to defend the country’s foolish watchlist system, but after having spent more than four years reporting on watchlists, filing Freedom of Information Act requests, and talking with persons flagged by the lists, I have never seen a single case of a person being put on the list for activities protected by the First Amendment. Feel free to drop any proof you might have via email or in the comments.
I’m not even certain that in this case Murphy’s name matched or was similar to a name on the list — which is what has snagged nearly every David Nelson in the country and what got Senator Ted Kennedy a dose of handheld wanding.
In this case, I would guess that Murphy was singled out randomly. He himself says he wasn’t flagged on the way back, which he almost certainly would have been if he were on the ’selectee’ list. (The ’selectee’ list directs airlines to single out that person for extra screening, while a related list, the ‘no-fly’ list directs airlines to keep a person off a plane.)
I’m open to any evidence that the government has watchlisted American citizens for exercising their Constitutional rights, but I’ve never seen it.
I’m not even certain that in this case Murphy’s name matched or was similar to a name on the list — which is what has snagged nearly every David Nelson in the country and what got Senator Ted Kennedy a dose of handheld wanding.
In this case, I would guess that Murphy was singled out randomly. He himself says he wasn’t flagged on the way back, which he almost certainly would have been if he were on the ’selectee’ list. (The ’selectee’ list directs airlines to single out that person for extra screening, while a related list, the ‘no-fly’ list directs airlines to keep a person off a plane.)
I’m open to any evidence that the government has watchlisted American citizens for exercising their Constitutional rights, but I’ve never seen it.
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