The Cap Times spin’s Wisconsin’s recent decision to pull out of the MATRIX (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) data mining project (after the Doyle (a Democrat) Administration joined it February 11, 2004!) as an anti Bush Administration move:

Luckily, the records of Wisconsinites are going to be protected from the prying eyes of the Bush administration’s security apparatus. States must agree to feed information into the Matrix database. This month, Wisconsin joined a growing number of other states in refusing to do so. According to a statement from Attorney General Peg Lautenschlager’s office, “Because of the privacy concerns, we’ve suspended all involvement.”

The Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel’s Gina Barton provides a more balanced view of what actually ocurred: “Wisconsin law enforcement officials have changed their minds about becoming part of a computerized information-sharing network.”
There are many reasons to be concerned about ongoing government programs that further intrude on our privacy. However, the Badger State joined the program, under Democratic Governor Doyle’s watch, something not mentioned in the Cap Times editorial.
The best place to keep up to date on these issues (and send money) is the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
I sent an email to Dave Zweifel, Editor of the Cap Times today.
I must say that the Cap Times generally does a reasonably good job covering local news. However, the public’s expectations are clearly changing. This free subscription offer is telling (96K PDF).
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UPDATE: Tim Porter slices and dices newspaper’s quality & circulation problems here.