Disclaimer: this is a very US centric political rant; it may or may not apply anywhere else.

It seems to me that both major political parties in the US have turned away from the idea of individual liberties. The Democrats (I refuse to call them "liberals" until they start acting liberal again) are busy trying to turn the internet, and by extention our entire nation into a police state, where big brother reads your email, listens to your phone calls, and monitors your movements by tracking wireles phones. If I wanted that, I'd move to China, thank you very much.

The Republicans have become so thoroughly entangled with the Christian Right that their policies sound more like a sermon than law. The government should have better things to do than trying to ban anything that offends sunday-school teachers. By this I mean that neither congress nor the states should be able to pass laws effectively banning homosexuality, extramarital sex, controversial "art", mandating internet filtering, or banning books from public libraries.

The most terrifying laws, however are passed when Democrat and Republican alike work together to further the intrests of large corporations. Read the DMCA and tell me that it was passed for the benefit of the people.

Where is the representation of the common citizen? Which elected officials are looking out for the rights of the people? Are there any left? Does anyone care about our rights anymore? Or do you just blindly believe the party line that the latest invasion of your privacy is really intended to fight communism, terrorism, or make your life more convenient.
Update: two years later
In the weeks and months after the terrorist attack of 9/11/01, even more privacy-trampling legislation has come out of congress. Expanded wiretapping authority for the FBI, cooperation between the CIA and FBI, the infamous USA-Patriot act, and the like prove that we are all to ready to hand over the freedoms we've enjoyed for generations in the name of the "war on terrorism". Oh, the irony of taking away freedom in the name of defending it...

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