US Senate debates Mubarak Law

Senate debates president’s power during cyber-attack

In Egypt, as the protest started to erupt and spread, the first thing President Mubarak did was to shut off internet communications.

That must have made Washington jealous. Now we are seeing a debate over how much new power our President should have to do his own Mubarak.

You know you are hearing BS when Sen. Lieberman is saying we need a sweeping new law because the one the administration is using old and archaic and dates back to WWII. Sen. Lieberman was of course the Senator who originally was pushing for an open Mubarak Kill Switch on the US internet, until public outcry made him backpedal. Now it sounds like they are trying to do something similar, but more subtly, by giving the President power to respond to a 'cyber-attack'. With this spin of 'we need to replace an outdated law' as cover and smoke.

Personally, I could deal with the power grid going down for a day. Or, at least I'm willing to risk it in order to have some semblance of civil liberties. So, I go sit on the porch and listen to the birds for a day instead of playing on the computer. Big deal. In fact, I did that last summer. It wasn't from a 'cyber-attack'. Instead, the local power company decided to accidently blow up a transformer station and I was out of power for a day. Went for a walk instead. I survived, and it wasn't a big deal.

I'd rather risk living without electricity for a day than risk giving the President the authority to do his own Mubarak on the American people.