My Website Was Shutdown, Thanks To DHS

The following is a portion of an email I received yesterday from the domain host for the DFA group website I built. A similar letter was sent to all customers who have accounts on the same server.

Dear 2mHost customer,Around 1:00 pm Eastern time, Wednesday May 10, 2006 server alexandria36 which host your account for domain name alademocracy.org was unplugged by The US Department of Homeland Security agents to seize server hard drives (the main and backupd drive) beacuse of possible illegal contents (we believe its child porn contents), They removed the drives to analyse its contents and logs.
We believe that we will not get the drives back in timely manner. We sincerely apologize for the file lose and understand the seriousness of it, as well as the trouble it has created for you our valued customer.

WTF? I have never had an interest in, nor collected child porn. I deplore any abuse of children, and the mere fact that I have to state this is absolutely disgusting to me. The defense of children is critical, but I thought that the role of Homeland Security (and I despise the Naziistic label) was to protect this county from threats and natural disasters. My tongue is planted firmly in cheek on that one.

What I resent more than the loss of website files, is the idea of a massive bureaucracy that has the ability to shut down anyone's website, business, or livelihood, without Congressional or judicial oversight. Some weeks back, I read about a couple whose account was red-flagged by DHS when they tried to pay a large sum on their credit card. Is this still America anymore?

What's of even more concern is the potential that such an agency could pose to the rights of Americans who disagree with the administration in power - any administration. Given the unchecked power granted to such agencies, what's there to prevent planting "suspicious files" on anyone's computer or home, because you're a little too vocal in your opposition to war in your emails or at work? Does it not sicken you that you're more reluctant to say things you feel about certain people in power in your phone conversations?

By every account, the failure in preventing 9/11 was not the result of a lack of information, but the failure to act on the flashing red lights warnings that were right there in plain sight. The same was true of DHS's response to Katrina. I've always felt that the creation of such a massive government bureaucracy was nothing more than an attempt by the people who devised it to gain more control over our lives. This little incident does nothing to dissuade me of this belief.

We gotta get this country back, because the police state is knocking at the door.

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