Be prepared to fight the biggest threat to our First Amendment rights in modern history. A new bill sponsored by Senator Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and supported by other liberals would give Barack Obama the power to shut down the internet at his whim.

A new US Senate Bill would grant the President far-reaching emergency powers to seize control of, or even shut down, portions of the internet.

The legislation says that companies such as broadband providers, search engines or software firms that the US Government selects “shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed” by the Department of Homeland Security. Anyone failing to comply would be fined.

The Department of Homeland Security, of course, is a cabinet agency and its chief — Secretary Janet Napolitano — serves at the pleasure of Barack Obama. So it’s safe to say the DHS will respond to orders from the president.

That emergency authority would allow the Federal Government to “preserve those networks and assets and our country and protect our people,” Joe Lieberman, the primary sponsor of the measure and the chairman of the Homeland Security committee, told reporters on Thursday. Lieberman is an independent senator from Connecticut who meets with the Democrats.

Due to there being few limits on the US President’s emergency power, which can be renewed indefinitely, the densely worded 197-page Bill (PDF) is likely to encounter stiff opposition.

I supported the Bush Administration’s wiretaps and I’m usually willing to do what it takes to protect the country. But even I can’t stomach this grab for power. In fact, it makes me sick.

We’re talking about giving the president of the United States, in reality a partisan politician leading a partisan political party, the power to shut down a crucial outlet of information and free speech at his whim. To say such a power is dangerous would obviously be a major understatement.

Under PCNAA, the Federal Government’s power to force private companies to comply with emergency decrees would become unusually broad. Any company on a list created by Homeland Security that also “relies on” the internet, the telephone system or any other component of the US “information infrastructure” would be subject to command by a new National Center for Cybersecurity and Communications (NCCC) that would be created inside Homeland Security.

The only obvious limitation on the NCCC’s emergency power is one paragraph in the Lieberman Bill that appears to have grown out of the Bush-era flap over wiretapping without a warrant. That limitation says that the NCCC cannot order broadband providers or other companies to “conduct surveillance” of Americans unless it’s otherwise legally authorised.

Well, now I feel better. A partisan politician can shut down the internet whenever he pleases, but at least the NSA won’t read my Twitter feed without additional legal authority. Surely my First Amendment rights are now preserved.

I’m not accusing Lieberman of attempting to shut down free speech but rather of naivete. I’m sure he means well and seeks to protect the country in the modern age. I’m questioning neither his patriotism nor his motives.

But I can’t say the same for the Obama Administration, or any executive authority for that matter. We can’t rely on trust in our politicians to protect our rights. We can’t resort to hoping that Barack Obama will respect the First Amendment today and will leave the internet intact. We can’t give the president the power to shut down an outlet of free speech in the first place.