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Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

missouriindependent.com

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Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#181
post #161
post #107

His twitter account is in a funny state now. He got a lot of negative comments back when initially announcing this. Then doubled-down and sent another tweet about how it was more than just "view-source" (it wasn't.) Then, he started tweeting/re-tweeting unrelated stuff to try and bury it, but people kept replying to those and re-raising the issue. I look forward to the ACLU handing him his ass.

I look forward to the ACLU handing him his ass. Does he care though? It is all about outrage, diverting attention from actual issues, hogging TV time. We are talking about it, Twitter is talking about it... Mission accomplished for him, no?

Maybe? He's looking stupid for at least some part of the state population, so it's costing him some amount of votes. And losing in court would be another round of that.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#183

I'll risk making this a partisan issue and say the anti-intellectual and anti-science bent seems increasingly prevalent among Republicans like Mike Parson and their constituencies. One of the most shocking statistics I've seen recently is the Pew poll which shows that in the space of 2 years Republican attitudes about higher education saw a 20-point swing such that that most Republican voters now believe college is n…

Please don't make this a partisan issue. I live in Missouri. I've voted for Republicans in the past. You're alienating people like me from being on your side. It doesn't matter that you're probably right. It comes across as you posting this to make yourself feel good, and holy moly the sense of superiority from your camp needs a chill pill. Parson is evil. I'll be doing my duty as a citizen and trying to vote him out…

I grew up and spent some of my adult life in Missouri. I interacted with folks in the Missouri GOP quite a lot in the mid-naughts and early 2010s. Lots of GOP state rep staffers, some state reps, some state-wide candidates who have been oscillating in and out of politics in the years since, etc. I even had a few long meals with Eric Greitens way back in the day when everyone knew he was going to run for something but he was still playing Veteran Charity Organizer and denying any intention to run.

(Actually, I always pegged Eric for a moderate/conservative Democrat, but wasn't surprised to see him play the game he played given that his defining characteristic was always his careerism/ambition. I even mentioned after one of those meals that he'd probably prefer to run as a Dem but will definitely be running on the GOP ticket because he cares more about power and prestige than anything else & anyone with a brain knew running as a Dem in any statewide race in Missouri was a dead end. Actually, totally independent of this conversation, Eric is actually a really interesting case study in coalition politics; his resignation was as much about him snubbing folks with appointments than his sex scandal per se. Anyways.)

My interactions with folks in MOGOP back then scared the hell out of me. I could see the party coalescing around a pretty dark sort of nihilism. And not even really in terms of policy per se. It's the individual people, divorced of their politics, that really made me scared. On a personal and individual level. The deeply concerning interactions and conversations I had with specific rising stars in MOGOP are actually one of the reasons I left the state.

I understand your attitude toward partisanship, I really do, and I've voted for Missouri Repbulicans in the past as well. But that state party is in a really dark place right now. A few good apples -- and they do exist -- don't really matter when party leadership are scary as fuck narcissistic nihilists.

(And, yeah, all politicians suck or whatever... but MOGOP is really something else. The rising stars from back then who are all either ascendant or in control now are not just gross politician types... they're genuinely just really scary human beings.)

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#184

I'll risk making this a partisan issue and say the anti-intellectual and anti-science bent seems increasingly prevalent among Republicans like Mike Parson and their constituencies. One of the most shocking statistics I've seen recently is the Pew poll which shows that in the space of 2 years Republican attitudes about higher education saw a 20-point swing such that that most Republican voters now believe college is n…

Please don't make this a partisan issue. I live in Missouri. I've voted for Republicans in the past. You're alienating people like me from being on your side. It doesn't matter that you're probably right. It comes across as you posting this to make yourself feel good, and holy moly the sense of superiority from your camp needs a chill pill. Parson is evil. I'll be doing my duty as a citizen and trying to vote him out…

No post body was provided.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can’t remove his actions from context though. They are only even possible because of a deliberate and calculated campaign to discredit science and knowledge and punish those who have it. They’re banking on people like you just looking to keep the peace at any cost. If you’re not actively working to dismantle the current Republican Party, we cannot be on the same side. I don’t mind alienating you; the masters tool…

I don’t mind alienating you; the masters tools will never dismantle the master’s house. I've never heard this phrase before, but it equally applies to the situation where one thinks only they can wield a weapon. We can't assume that because we are "right," we have nothing to fear from the people who are "wrong" using our worst tactics against us. This is wrong whether it's one side "lying for Jesus," or the other sid…

> It's simply not possible to continually raise your defenses and offenses and end with a win-win, and when it comes to a roughly evenly divided society, win-lose is lose-lose.

This only works when both sides engage in good faith. That is not the case currently. We are better off excluding them than letting them abuse the process in bad faith like they always do.

The ones advancing this argument are always the ones with the least at stake.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please don't make this a partisan issue. I live in Missouri. I've voted for Republicans in the past. You're alienating people like me from being on your side. It doesn't matter that you're probably right. It comes across as you posting this to make yourself feel good, and holy moly the sense of superiority from your camp needs a chill pill. Parson is evil. I'll be doing my duty as a citizen and trying to vote him out…

> You're alienating people like me from being on your side. On one side are the computer scientists and engineers who understand the nature of the problem. On the other side are ignorant and/or dishonest actors out to avoid being embarrassed. It's all on you if you pick the wrong one out of loyalty to a political party.

>On one side are the computer scientists and engineers who understand the nature of the problem

There are a hell of a lot of computer scientists and engineers who vote republican, certainty not a majority but definitely a large enough minority you can't discount them. They just don't broadcast it for reasons that should be obvious to anyone reading these comments.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#187

I'll risk making this a partisan issue and say the anti-intellectual and anti-science bent seems increasingly prevalent among Republicans like Mike Parson and their constituencies. One of the most shocking statistics I've seen recently is the Pew poll which shows that in the space of 2 years Republican attitudes about higher education saw a 20-point swing such that that most Republican voters now believe college is n…

I wonder how much of this trend of distrusting colleges which looks like anti intellectualism is actually based on the wide conservative perception (whether true or not, the perception is certainly there) that conservative voices and ideas are increasing squelched in universities. Or treated with contempt. It engenders a distrust of those "ivory tower" people.

I wonder if this is what has polluted and spilled over into other areas so it has influenced a general anti intellectual / elitism sentiment that gets in the way of critical thinking and science.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#188
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you expect people to pretend the trend isn't happening in order to comfort you? What does it say about your own values that they are so loosely held that you'd sacrifice them out of contempt like this?

> Do you expect people to pretend the trend isn't happening in order to comfort you? There are plenty of trends happening on the "other side" which are also veritably nuts, so I don't find this to be a very compelling argument. The ad hominem doesn't help, either.

This is called “whataboutism”.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This situation is keeping his name in the spotlight, and people will, in general, be more likely to vote for names that they recognize. I don't believe that there is any other reason here.

I would assume this is pure politics. He knows perfectly well who is to blame, but he's using the situation opportunistically to further his own career. The issue isn't just that he's objectively and morally wrong, it's that most voters don't see through the grandstanding. All they see - and all they want to see - is a rich old white dude punching down at some college-educated kid who thinks he's clever enough to hav…

> The issue isn't just that he's objectively and morally wrong, it's that most voters don't see through the grandstanding.

They see, they just don't care, as we can see from a sibling subthread on this story.

As long as he keeps fighting on their side of the culture war, it doesn't matter what sort of crazy, destructive, or corrupt things he does.

Re: Gov Parson pushes to prosecute reporter who found security flaw in state site

#190
post #7

I find the article title kind of curious, given that it states Parson has "doubled down" which suggests that the video the article references is an active effort on Parson's part. It then goes on to state that the video was produced by a PAC Parson created but doesn't give direct input to. Comes off as unnecessarily inflammatory to me I suppose. Having said that, this situation in particular really tests my willingne…

This situation is keeping his name in the spotlight, and people will, in general, be more likely to vote for names that they recognize. I don't believe that there is any other reason here.

This argument, which I at least partially agree is probably true, always bothered me. If they just want to have their name out in the public often, they just need to to strongly push for any solution. Here, he could have been loud and vocal about how the security of these sites is unacceptable and started handing out public awards to the person (people?) that found the issue.

The fact that one approach was chosen over the other suggests where is more to the reason.

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