Slowly but surely, though, opinions changed. As electronics technology became more and more available to the man on the street, we became aware of the tip of an iceberg much more frightening than the one that sunk the Titanic. This iceberg could, in fact, sink the United States or at least those parts of our country that make it unique and wonderful.

The ability of major corporations and our government to accumulate and store unbelievably vast amounts of data about each and every one of us is nearly incomprehensible. Consider the obvious:

*Your driver’s license file, your bank account, your credit card companies, your social security file, and your medical records have tons of information available for those who know how to get it. Portions of these files are often sold or exchanged with other departments, agencies, companies, etc. without your knowledge or approval.

Less obvious but still capable of retaining a multitude of information are:

*Your supermarket’s special "Valued Customer" reward card. You sign up for the program and use your card when you shop, earning a variety of discounts, rebates, etc. The corporation that owns the supermarket gains data about you every time you shop, including how often you shop, how much you spend, and what you buy. A computer can compile the data in seconds, generating files on your preferences, lifestyle, whether you have children, probable ages of you and your family, and a lot more.

*Your library card. Everything you check out from a public library is recorded into the library’s data file. From there, who knows where it goes?

*Survey forms for free samples and cents off coupons. Take a close look at that survey. You’re giving extremely personal information about yourself to whomever has access to that company’s data files. Some companies even contract with prisons and have convicts input the data. Burglaries and other crimes have been proven to be based on data accumulated in such a manner.

*Your phone records are also computerized, allowing the phone company, law enforcement agencies and who-knows-who else to quickly determine who you’ve talked to and when. We won’t even get into the myriad ways of illegally wire-tapping private conversations.

*Your video store identification card. That card can track what you watch, when you watch it and how you pay for the rental, along with your address and personal identification information.

The data from any and all of the above is also routinely exchanged without you knowing anything about it.

Some of you will no doubt argue that if you aren’t doing any thing wrong, there’s no reason for you to be concerned. While that sounds like it should be true, you can no longer accept that, as an innocent person, the freedoms guaranteed to you in the Bill of Rights are necessarily sacrosanct.

Several movies lately have addressed this very theme. One of the most disturbing is Enemy of the State, starring Will Smith as an attorney who finds his whole life turned upside down by the National Security Agency. He has something the government wants and the lengths they will go to in order to retrieve the item should frighten anyone who watches this film. This isn’t a science fiction flick; this is full of high tech gizmos that exist today.

Big brother isn’t just watching; he’s listening and recording virtually whatever he wants. Controls are superficial at best. The only way we know what our government is doing and what files they have on us is if they tell us about it. The Freedom of Information Act? Think about it. We’re asking the government to tell us what files the government has kept on us.

What can we do? At this point, the best we can hope for is to stop the further erosion of our personal lifes and freedoms. Watch the United States Congress and our State legislatures closely. Any bill that would allow government more intrusion into our lives must be fought loudly and prominently. As the next election campaigns get underway, support those candidates who support individual freedoms. If you don’t know where your candidate stands, ask! We must make it clear to our elected officials that we cherish each and every one of the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution and will not allow further erosion of those rights.

Her potential opponent in the race, Mayor Rudy Giuliani of New York City, has been quick to pick up on her non-resident status by saying (in his best Arkansas drawl), "Well, gee whiz. I’m not from Arkansas, I’ve never lived in Arkansas, and I’ve never even been to Arkansas. Wouldn’t that make me a damned good Senator from Arkansas?"

The Clintons have made a lifetime habit of picking their battles carefully. They’re like successful riverboat gamblers - they only pick the games they are reasonably sure they can win. And, if even 10% of the books written about them (and 1/10 of 1% of the rumors going around) are true, the Clintons aren’t adverse to doing everything in their power to shift the odds even more in their favor.

We suspect our First Lady is doing a lot of promise-making in her "exploration" of possible candidacy for the Senate seat being vacated by Daniel Patrick Moynihan. We also have the strong feeling (in the event she does in fact decide to run) that her campaign reports to the Fair Political Practices Commission will be the greatest piece of fiction since Gone With The Wind was published.

We know a lot of you can’t imagine why we’re concerned about senatorial representation for the state of New York. We’re not, really. What we are concerned about is the selling of political power to the highest bidder. We’ve already had a President who should have reported his campaign funding in yuan instead of dollars. Who, we ask, was that President’s closest and most-trusted advisor? Why, what a surprise! It was Hillary Rodham Clinton.

But, since our fellow Americans on the opposite side of the country really don’t care a whit about our opinions on their Senator, we might as well just sit back and watch. If nothing else, the senatorial race from New York ought to be entertaining. Candidate Clinton will have some interesting decisions to make. Just one example: Having the endorsement of a President, past or present, is usually an asset. In this case, the President is her spouse. Since Mr. Clinton is totally convinced he’s still the darling of most Americans, it’s likely he’ll want to participate in his wife’s campaign. Will she tell a lying, philandering husband she’d just as soon run on her own merits or will she give in and let him give her a ringing endorsement (and quite possibly a political kiss of death)?

Most political insiders hate to even think about the dreaded "D" word just before a campaign. In this case, though, Hillary’s closest friends and advisors are probably already weighing the advantages of dumping Bill before it’s too late.