With the FBI “reinterpreting” current regulations to investigate those it considers “potential terrorists,” we’d do well to remember our history. When we approve broad powers for organizations with a proven track record of ignoring civil liberties, we do so at the expense of all our liberties.
Predictor: Wired editors
Prediction, in context:In a 1995 column for Wired magazine, the editors write: ”The Oklahoma bombing has fueled government hysteria about the evils of free speech, but that’s not the half of it. With the FBI ‘reinterpreting’ current regulations to investigate those it considers ‘potential terrorists,’ we’d do well to remember our history. When we approve broad powers for organizations with a proven track record of ignoring civil liberties, we do so at the expense of all our liberties. As one Net denizen put it: ‘The FBI and all the other three-letter spooks love the Oklahoma bombing and will use it to justify their piglike behavior. It is insulting for the government to even pretend the Bill of Rights means anything anymore. It should at least be honest and burn the original document on national television.'”
Date of prediction: January 1, 1995
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Crime/Fraud/Terrorism
Name of publication: Wired
Title, headline, chapter name: Flux: Things Are Heating Up
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/3.07/flux.html
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney