Two alarming new developments in the privacy arena are exposing the Obama administration as no better than Bu$hCo when it comes to protecting the privacy of Americans.

First, the administration is preparing to argue in a case before the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals that Fourth Amendment prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures do not apply to telco logs of the locations of cell-phone users. If fact, the FBI and local law enforcement agencies have been abusing such records for years, obtaining them merely by asking providers without a warrant and sometimes without probable cause.

Second, federal law enforcement agencies are are pushing for the creation of private “backdoor” interfaces directly into the internal servers of major Internet service providers (ISPs). The stated reason for this new intrusion into private communications is to speed up the process for legally obtaining data when a warrant is presented to an ISP. However, privacy advocates have noted that 1) Federal agencies already abuse existing interfaces by frequently presenting ISPs with “informal” requests for the same information, and so there should be no expectation that a more functional interface would not also be abused, and 2) That a common, consolidated, legally required, interface—implemented by all major ISPs—would present an obvious target for criminal organizations and thus would constitute a terrible risk to the private communications of ordinary citizens.

Declaring that every alternative security method should be explored before allowing Transportation Security Administration personnel to unionize, Sen. Jim Demint (R-SC) introduced legislation today directing the TSA to use former Sen. Larry Craig to screen air passengers.

The proposal is in response to the Christmas Day incident aboard an Amsterdam-Detroit flight on which a passenger was caught attempting to light an explosive device concealed in his underwear.

Demint’s bill creates a pilot program that would station Craig, the former three term Republican senator from Idaho, at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport where he would visually assess and hand-search all male air travelers.

“Airline security will also be President Obama’s Waterloo, and Larry Craig is the leading Republican expert on loos in airports,” said Demint.

“Craig has the know-how, the eyes and the hands for the job,” Demint said.

Reached while vacationing on New York’s Fire Island, Craig displayed ‘Official Underwear Inspector’ business cards he had already had printed. “What do you think about that?” he asked reporters.

An amendment to Demint’s bill by Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) would require all female passengers passing through McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas to be screened by Ensign and professional golfer Tiger Woods.

“Only Tiger and I together have the capacity to screen the estimated 9 million women annually passing through McCarran,” Ensign said.

Pat MacRauch, a TSA screener since 2006, said a proposal like Demint and Ensign’s is the very reason he and fellow screeners should be allowed to join a union. “Friskings require extensive training and are one of the biggest perks of the job. We’re not going to let amateur enthusiasts do them for free,” MacRauch said.

Those are them in black, and my…what fine company we keep: The People’s Republic, The Russian Federation… Check out all the stats here.

“What,” you might ask, “…is the Constitution-free Zone?” Well, it’s the zone within 100 miles of the US border where DHS asserts they can pretty much do whatever-the-f*ck they want. And guess what, almost 200M US citizens live in this zone.

Don’t like it? Too bad. Them’s the rules, b’tches! And who made up the rules? DHS, of course!

Elizabeth Edwards Stands by Her Man

ABCnews.com reported today that John Edwards wife has come out in support of her man. That’s right, she’s standing by the man who cheated on her while she was being treated for terminal cancer. I am so sick of this Tammy Wynette bullshit of supporting a man who publicly cheated on your ass and humiliates you, your children, family and friends. Elizabeth Edwards should cut him loose and concentrate on herself. Her health, and her happiness for whatever time she has left. I can’t believe that the final act in a marriage predicated on her constant support of his goals ends in such a blatant betrayal. She must be absolutely devastated. My wish was that she would refrain from making a public comment of any kind. Keeping her own counsel and not exposing herself and her family to more scrutiny. She deserves her privacy. She never asked for this. I just can’t imagine what caused her husband to do something so craven and low.

… a trio of tasty security and privacy tidbits. Surprise, surprise!

The FBI Abuses National Security Letters…
…to the tune of thousands per year. And what do they do with these things? Grab your banking records, your telephone records, credit reports, Internet traffic stats, etc…

The United States Postal Service Records To Whom You Write…
…practically whenever they’re asked to (99.5%), without a warrant, and in some cases—those involving national security—illegally opens your first class mail simply because the Bush administration asserts that they can.

And the Aussies Want Access To Your Computer…
…anywhere in the world. In fact, new police powers approved by the Cabinet of New South Wales, allow warrantless access to any computer networked to a machine seized as part of an investigation. Conveniently glossed over is the fact that this is tantamount to all computers…everywhere.