It's extremely unlikely most of the top people involved didn't know. See: https://theintercept.com/2016/02/18/trump-is-right-bush-lied... There's also a link in there to a section of Bob Woodward's book Plan of Attack claiming Powell knowingly altered evidence for his UN presentation.
is it just me, or is Trump way more libertarian than anyone is giving him credit for? (disclaimer: anarcho-capitalist living in Canada. I have no stake in the game.)
I wouldn't call him libertarian. However he does seek to replace many Washington elites with his own friends - that fact makes him many enemies.
"Besides, no shadowy conspiracy is needed to explain that which can be explained easily by incentives and social order." This is exactly my point. Take care with the word propaganda, even if you mean to imply the latter most will assume you're intending to communicate the former and write you off entirely.
propaganda is exactly the word that should be used, but people are afraid of losing mindshare by telling the truth. It's as if everyone subconsciously understands that you have to soften your language in order to not be labeled an extremist. does anyone really believe the media is independant in 2016?
Not at all. Let's examine this point by point (I'm taking great care here because personally I want to help Snowden supporters make a compelling case)
- You should use the most effective word, not the most satisfying word.
- You won't push anybody away by telling the truth, you push people away by being too emotional and appearing unreliable (e.g. exhibiting all-or-nothing thinking, and using emotionally-charged language that impedes logic)
I find Holder's remarks to be ironic. After Operation Fast and Furious [0], I would be tempted to say there's more blood on Holder's hands than on Snowden's hands. [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Fast_and_Furious
It's extremely unlikely most of the top people involved didn't know. See: https://theintercept.com/2016/02/18/trump-is-right-bush-lied... There's also a link in there to a section of Bob Woodward's book Plan of Attack claiming Powell knowingly altered evidence for his UN presentation.
is it just me, or is Trump way more libertarian than anyone is giving him credit for? (disclaimer: anarcho-capitalist living in Canada. I have no stake in the game.)
Trump doesn't make clear his policy leanings in his campaigning, and I hope that you will believe me based on his pivoting thus far, if for no other reason. However, I'd argue that his greatest deviation from the standard American politicians (and their tendency to be hawkish and aligned closely with banks) is populism, which I consider to typically run counter to libertarianism. Populism favors large, visible government actions that appeal to a large percentage of voters, whereas libertarians, at least in modern governments, must be concerned with how they will carefully stage a retreat of government action. Populists and libertarians do both appear very anti-status quo at the moment, but they're moving in opposite directions.
I'm wondering if they're getting ready to pardon him, perhaps with a provision like spending 10 years under house arrest or losing his citizenship. I don't think this could happen under Clinton but Obama might issue a last minute pardon as they tend to do when they leave office. Failing that it is possible Trump might do it as a sign of pragmaticism. He's the only one who could sell it to his supporters, the same mig…
Won't happen. Even as a Senator, Obama was signaling his support of the NSA in his vote in 2008 FISA amendments bill which granted retroactive immunity to telecoms when complying with illegal and unconstitutional search requests from the government. If Obama is secretly on the side of whistleblowers, it's one of the best kept secrets in the world.