Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!ut-emx!ccwf.cc.utexas.edu!clouds
From: clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong)
Newsgroups: comp.org.eff.talk
Subject: Re: Jesus
Summary: "whoops..."
Keywords: McCarthy, witchhunt, analogy
Message-ID: <38984@ut-emx.uucp>
Date: 1 Nov 90 01:14:36 GMT
References: <9737@helios.TAMU.EDU>
Sender: news@ut-emx.uucp
Reply-To: clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Kathy Strong)
Lines: 37

In article <9737@helios.TAMU.EDU> n354bx@tamuts.tamu.edu (David Querin) writes:
>
>Greetings J. Eric Townsend.  
>Do you honestly feel that your meager list of 214 hackers/crackers/phreaks
>and other computer criminal monstrosities is in any way significant?  If this
>is the case, I regret to inform you that the United States Secret Service
>has a listing of more than 2000 hackers/crackers/phreaks and other computer

    [ stuff omitted ]

>I really am having a difficult time understanding why you came forth like
>this, threatening people with no foundation for doing so.  I can only say
>that you must be greatly unaware of law enforcement, the networks, and life
>in general.  

   [ more stuff omitted ]
 
Um, David, I think Eric was making a reference to Joe McCarthy's list of
"214 Communist agents in the U.S. Government," from the speech that started
the whole organized Communist witchhunt in the '50s.  (At least, I sure hope
he was; if not, my interpretation is probably as wildly off-base as I think
yours is.)

Assuming I'm right, though, I'm sure you can see the point. McCarthy never
produced that list, by the way. As far as I know, it didn't even exist. But
how many people were persecuted, what lives ruined, what liberties trampled,
all growing out of one baseless allegation...


What's the line about those who don't learn history being doomed to repeat it?



 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
   Kathy Strong               :  "Welcome to FUBAR Corp., where there's  
  (Clouds moving slowly)      :   never enough time to do a job right,   
   clouds@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu  :   but always enough time to do it over."