How close are we to The Surveillance Society?

[Updated below.]

Pretty damned close, says the ACLU:

While Congress is busy reaffirming its disdain for habeas corpus and sundry other fundamental principles that once both protected and defined our freedoms, and while the rest of us are watching the return of OJ to the small screen, the ACLU is still paying attention:

"We are rapidly moving toward a future where our every move, our every transaction, our every communication is tracked and may be used against us," said Barry Steinhardt, director of the ACLU’s Technology and Liberty Project. "Too often that big picture is lost amid the stream of daily privacy stories. The Surveillance Clock is part of our efforts to keep people focused on that big picture and dramatize what’s happening to America."

One of the things that always gets me about the ACLU is that they've always been there to protect even the authoritarian loons who most despise them, and who would be among the first to trash our civil liberties if given half a chance, from the National Socialist Party of America to Ollie North and John Poindexter to Rush Limbaugh to, most recently, Larry Craig.

Not an ACLU member? Show 'em some love. Trust me: It's worth a few bucks to know that, if they come for you, there'll always be someone to speak up.

It'd be nice if we could count on our own government to have our backs--that was sort of the original idea, as many of you may recall--but since that's a pretty iffy proposition at the moment, better make some new friends if you haven't already.

Update: Falafel Man is another right-wing nutjob who simply doesn't get the idea that protecting Americans is, you know, patriotic.