Stay focused on the big picture

There has been hostility expressed on this list towards
Limbaugh, 700 Club, UWSA, NRA, etc., and the 10's of millions of
politically active supporters who could be allies in the 
anti-Clipper fight. 

In the interest of focusing attention on the big picture, I 
offer the following eloquent letter:

>          Mr. [Recipient]:
>
>                I'm writing to express my agreement with you
>          concerning the dangerous, and in fact, tyrannous nature of
>          the Clipper chip.  However, I find your reasoning
>          anachronistic - more typical of Cold War rhetoric than the
>          new "paradigm" we find ourselves in now.  In particular,
>          I find it fascinating that many people, like yourself, are
>          now beginning to see Liberalism for what it really is - an
>          effort to cram government down our throats in order to
>          protect us from ourselves.  Thus the arrogant "if you knew
>          what I know" attitude you mention in your article.
>
>          And simultaneously, those of you who were most hostile to
>          conservatism are belatedly understanding what it is about -
>          the virtue of LIMITED GOVERNMENT and INDIVIDUAL SOVEREIGNTY.
>
>          It seems, since the end of the Cold War, that new
>          "battle-lines" have been drawn, and that you have discovered
>          that those who you considered enemies are now in your camp,
>          and that several old friends are now opponents.
>
>          Even now, you refuse to recognize the logical conclusion of
>          Liberalism - government dominance of all facets of life,
>          eclipsing individual rights.  Instead, you remarkably tell
>          yourself that BILL & AL are being hoodwinked by "spooks" in
>          the NSA, but that they are really on your side.  I have
>          news for you, they are not.
>
>          After all, who is most likely to agree with you?  Reagan,
>          who says that "government is the problem" or Bill & AL who
>          believe that government is the answer to all our problems -
>          from the health care "crisis" to the dangers of vitamins.
>          Clearly you can see now who is the champion of individual
>          rights and who is the champion of bureaucracies that
>          claim to know what we don't.
>
>          I invite you to the real new paradigm, in which old concepts
>          of liberal and conservative are increasingly meaningless.
>          It is a new world in which I - a conservative - find common
>          cause with you - a liberal - in our fight for individual
>          freedom.  It is really debilitating and self-deceptive to
>          cling to the old definitions.
>
>          I offer this in the spirit of cooperation, since I believe
>          that if we hope to win the war, we should at least know who
>          we are fighting!
>
>                                         Sincerely,
>
>                                         Robert J. Bork
>
>

Someone who wishes to remain anonymous wrote:

> There has been hostility expressed on this list towards
> Limbaugh, 700 Club, UWSA, NRA, etc., and the 10's of millions of
> politically active supporters who could be allies in the 
> anti-Clipper fight. 
> 
> In the interest of focusing attention on the big picture, I 
> offer the following eloquent letter:
> 
> >          Mr. [Recipient]:
> >
> >                I'm writing to express my agreement with you
> >          concerning the dangerous, and in fact, tyrannous nature of
> >          the Clipper chip.  However, I find your reasoning
.....

> >          I offer this in the spirit of cooperation, since I believe
> >          that if we hope to win the war, we should at least know who
> >          we are fighting!
> >
> >                                         Sincerely,
> >
> >                                         Robert J. Bork


Is this a real letter? If so, where did it appear? (I don't doubt the
possibility of Almost-Supremee Judge Bork having written this, but the
absence of "when and where" undermines its credibility a bit, for me
at least.)

I agree with the sentiments, and, in fact, Cypherpunks at the Mountain
View meetings cover a range of political views and yet we mostly are
in full agreement that crypto should be unregulated.

--Tim May


-- 
..........................................................................
Timothy C. May         | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money,  
tcmay@netcom.com       | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero
408-688-5409           | knowledge, reputations, information markets, 
W.A.S.T.E.: Aptos, CA  | black markets, collapse of governments.
Higher Power: 2^859433 | Public Key: PGP and MailSafe available.
"National borders are just speed bumps on the information superhighway."

FYI:

This letter was written by rbork@frb.gov, someone at the Federal
Reserve Board, who is not the Judge Bork you might think.  This was an
example used on pem-dev for why Distringuished Names would be a good
thing.  Personally, I think it doesn't make a difference.  John Smith
is John Smith, and just because you know that this John Smith works at
Foosite International and that one works at Barsite, Inc., doesn't
mean you necessarily know who they are, although it does help you
differentiate them.  (Then again, jsmith@foosite.org and
jsmith@barsite.com differentiate them as well).

Sigh.

-derek