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Should the Chinese listen to Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kan.) when he condemns them for planning to spy on the Internet traffic of visitors to Beijing for the Olympics? (article, “Senators want IOC to reverse Olympic censorship deal,” July 31.)
Brownback surrendered his credentials as a defender of privacy rights when he voted in support of the USA Patriot Act, and more recently, for FISA reform legislation, which granted immunity to telecom companies that unlawfully shared their customers’ private information with the government. With judicial and congressional oversight undermined, we will never know the extent to which warrantless wiretapping has targeted American citizens and visitors with no involvement whatsoever in terrorism.
I share Brownback’s criticism of Chinese measures to spy on athletes and journalists in Beijing this summer. I challenge him to apply the same standards to the government he actually has a role in.
Then, perhaps, China would listen to him, and America could once more lead by positive example.
Arlington, Va.
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