'Freedom' just another word

I've written here many times that media passivity in the face of the boneheaded rush to war in Iraq is 2002-03 was the thing that, for better or worse, pushed me toward the blogging life. But even before the pre-war lies of Cheney, Bush & Co., my BS detector was on high alert beginning around '02, thanks to the post-9/11 law which unintentionally honored George Orwell with its name, the USA Patriot Act.

A few provisions of this bill, which passed nearly unanimously and -- as Michael Moore famously showed -- with many lawmakers not reading it, were necessary to improve areas like poor coordination between the FBI and CIA on terror cases like the 9/11 plot. But many of the powers it granted to government were sweepingly broad and prone to abuse, which of course they soon were.

Today, a mere (that's sarcasm) 14 years later, the USA Patriot Act is no more. Its measures have been ever so slightly rolled back and replaced by, wait for it, the USA Freedom Act. Somewhere up there in leftist paradise, Mr. Orwell is having a good chuckle:

WASHINGTON — In a remarkable reversal of national security policy formed after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the Senate voted on Tuesday to curtail the federal government's sweeping surveillance of American phone records, sending the legislation to President Obama's desk for his signature.

The passage of the measure, achieved after a vigorous debate on the Senate floor, will lead to the reinstatement of government surveillance efforts that were blacked out on Monday after Senator Rand Paul, Republican of Kentucky, blocked their extension.

Is it really remarkable, though? I suspect, as do many others, that even if the massive national security apparatus can't always get what it wants, it will find some way to get what it needs. In fact, I'd posit that the national security state is very much like the American police state: Better laws, procedures, training, etc., etc., are all to be applauded -- but real change won't come without a different attitude, and that can't be legislated. The reality is that even when we pass new laws, we're usually fighting the last war.

There's always new technology, right?

WASHINGTON (AP) - Scores of low-flying planes circling American cities are part of a civilian air force operated by the FBI and obscured behind fictitious companies, The Associated Press has learned.

The AP traced at least 50 aircraft back to the FBI, and identified more than 100 flights in 11 states over a 30-day period since late April, orbiting both major cities and rural areas. At least 115 planes, including 90 Cessna aircraft, were mentioned in a federal budget document from 2009.

For decades, the planes have provided support to FBI surveillance operations on the ground. But now the aircraft are equipped with high-tech cameras, and in rare circumstances, technology capable of tracking thousands of cellphones, raising questions about how these surveillance flights affect Americans' privacy.