what's going on here (part XXIII½)...

someone really needs to explain this...

A head's up from AmericaBlog

Why does the Bush administration have a list of everyone who has ever used anti-depressants?

Guess what? They do. From ABC News, regarding the VA Tech shooter:

"Some news accounts have suggested that Cho had a history of antidepressant use, but senior federal officials tell ABC News that they can find no record of such medication in the government's files. This does not completely rule out prescription drug use, including samples from a physician, drugs obtained through illegal Internet sources, or a gap in the federal database, but the sources say theirs is a reasonably complete search."

We don't even have a list of gun owners, and we have a list of everyone who has been prescribed anti-depressants? And in fact, the article suggests that this isn't just a database of patients who use anti-depressants, it's a federal database of every prescription drug you've ever bought.

What exactly do the Bushies do with that list? And what other lists do they have of which medications you've ever taken?

Here's the link to the original ABC story: Killer's Note: 'You Caused Me to Do This'

My first reaction was anger dealing with privacy issues. Then I realized that there is much more than privacy to this administration - it's economics. Who has access to these lists? The drug companies? Are the lists to help them determine their bottom line? If the pharmaceuticals have access, how secure is the information on each of us?

Then I realized that there also was a drug bill and a patriot bill that gave the bush administration the right to gather just about any kind of data that they want. Add to that the signing statements that King George gives himself the power to do what he wants, and we are in bigger and bigger trouble than we may think.

again, where is the outrage? how much power have the bushies actually given themselves? how much closer are we to 1984?