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U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

cornyn.senate.gov

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Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#71

Post by jacoblyles »

michael_nielsen wrote: post #68
tptacek wrote: post #3

This is the same hyperpartisan Senator who was at the forefront of the effort to deny habeas rights to Guantanamo inmates; he was also involved in the Bush wiretapping scandal. Expect to see lots of superficial genuflection from Republicans towards the Swartz case; the GOP is in a constant low-grade conflict with the Democratic DoJ. Here, let me put it this way: what do you honestly think Aaron Swartz would think abo…

Cornyn has for many years been a leader on open access to science. Together with Joe Lieberman he introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) into Congress in 2006. This Act would, if passed, make almost all scientific publications funded by the US Govt openly accessible within 6 months of publication: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Research_Public_Access_... The act has not yet passed. It was re-…

Well I learned something from this discussion. Advocacy for Open Access is a new side project of mine, and now I know that Cornyn will be a strong ally.

Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#74

Post by temphn »

tptacek wrote: post #3

This is the same hyperpartisan Senator who was at the forefront of the effort to deny habeas rights to Guantanamo inmates; he was also involved in the Bush wiretapping scandal. Expect to see lots of superficial genuflection from Republicans towards the Swartz case; the GOP is in a constant low-grade conflict with the Democratic DoJ. Here, let me put it this way: what do you honestly think Aaron Swartz would think abo…

One approach is to reflexively attack Republicans even when they are on the same side. Another is to consider this a rare moment of bipartisan comity; if Republicans see the light on open access, copyright reform and prosecutorial abuse on this, fantastic. There are times when Obama and the DOJ are wrong and the Republicans and Democrats in Congress are right. This is one of those times. After all, the US allied with Stalin to beat Hitler, sometimes you do what you gotta do.

Re: what Swartz would think, he wasn't exactly a fan of Obama's DOJ or drone strikes either.

Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#75

Post by justin66 »

rayiner wrote: post #61
justin66 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are some pretty serious oversimplifications there. I can "like" an office or department even if its current inhabitant is doing something I don't like. For obvious reasons, this is doubly true when we're talking about an office inhabited by political appointees.

Oh sure, people like the DOJ conceptually. But nobody ever likes the actual DOJ that exists at any given time. To a liberal, the DOJ is in the abstract the agency that enforces anti-trust laws or the like against big companies. But the actual DOJ is the one going after people growing weed. To a conservative, the DOJ in the abstract is the agency that goes after drug traffickers. But the actual DOJ is the one meddling…

It seems like you're just assuming that everyone has a very simple, AM radio view of their government.

Things like disliking the political appointees of an institution rather than the institution itself, or disliking parts of an institution rather than the whole, are not difficult distinctions to make. Similarly, I can judge the work output of any institution and my opinion is not likely to be 100% positive or 100% negative.

Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#76

Post by michael_nielsen »

jacoblyles wrote: post #71
michael_nielsen wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cornyn has for many years been a leader on open access to science. Together with Joe Lieberman he introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) into Congress in 2006. This Act would, if passed, make almost all scientific publications funded by the US Govt openly accessible within 6 months of publication: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Research_Public_Access_... The act has not yet passed. It was re-…

Well I learned something from this discussion. Advocacy for Open Access is a new side project of mine, and now I know that Cornyn will be a strong ally.

It's well worth looking at the list of sponsors at the FRPAA Wikipedia link. Heck, I'll cut and paste -- it's a long list, but these people deserve recognition:

Senators John Cornyn and Joe Lieberman

In the House, Representatives Michael Doyle, Frederick Boucher, Michael Capuano, Jerry Costello, Bill Foster, Barney Frank, Gregg Harper, Paul Hodes, Tim Holden, Dennis Kucinich, Rick Larsen, Zoe Lofgren, Stephen Lynch, Dana Rohrabacher, Fortney Stark, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, and Henry Waxman

I only follow the politics of open access loosely, but my impression is that Lieberman has been a strong supporter since well before it was fashionable - well back into the 1990s.

I disagree with many of these people on many things, but I think this work is admirable, and worth supporting.

Edit: I notice that Senator Ron Wyden is missing from Wikipedia's list. Not sure what's up with that. He was definitely involved.

Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#77

Post by zzzeek »

tptacek wrote: post #3

This is the same hyperpartisan Senator who was at the forefront of the effort to deny habeas rights to Guantanamo inmates; he was also involved in the Bush wiretapping scandal. Expect to see lots of superficial genuflection from Republicans towards the Swartz case; the GOP is in a constant low-grade conflict with the Democratic DoJ. Here, let me put it this way: what do you honestly think Aaron Swartz would think abo…

I'm as partisan liberal-democrat as anyone, just read my posts. But what's the negative outcome here? Nerds start supporting a conservative texas senator? It's not like this is the issue that hinges on Cornyn winning or losing to a Democrat in 2014 - his seat has been republican all the way back to 1961 at least.

Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#78

Post by JumpCrisscross »

tptacek wrote: post #70
michael_nielsen wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cornyn has for many years been a leader on open access to science. Together with Joe Lieberman he introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) into Congress in 2006. This Act would, if passed, make almost all scientific publications funded by the US Govt openly accessible within 6 months of publication: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Research_Public_Access_... The act has not yet passed. It was re-…

John Cornyn and science get along great, as long as the science doesn't involve stem cell research (which he has casted Senate votes to ban) or climate change.

A discussion, let alone a democracy, cannot function if one requires everyone to agree with them on every sub-point of every item related to the topic of question.

Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#79

Post by chc »

gyardley wrote: post #32
abraininavat wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? You feel that his thinly veiled threats of violence to federal judges makes him a credit to your state? You think it's representative of the popular opinion in Texas to suggest that "None of your civil liberties matter much after you're dead"? Pretty low standards, eh?

Yes, seriously. Are you bringing up something from 2005 to kick dirt over the rightness of Senator Cornyn's current actions? Whatever could be the point of this, besides counter-productive partisanship? Can a right action be taken only by people with pasts you deem fully worthy?

I don't believe anybody is disputing that what Cornyn is doing now is good. Nobody is saying, "These questions are bad because Cornyn did bad things before." They're disputing that he is, as a whole, somebody you'd want to give your unreserved support for just because he did this one good thing.

Re: U.S. Senator Questions Attorney General about Aaron Swartz

#80

Post by michael_nielsen »

tptacek wrote: post #70
michael_nielsen wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cornyn has for many years been a leader on open access to science. Together with Joe Lieberman he introduced the Federal Research Public Access Act (FRPAA) into Congress in 2006. This Act would, if passed, make almost all scientific publications funded by the US Govt openly accessible within 6 months of publication: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Research_Public_Access_... The act has not yet passed. It was re-…

John Cornyn and science get along great, as long as the science doesn't involve stem cell research (which he has casted Senate votes to ban) or climate change.

Where Cornyn stands on other issues is hardly relevant to the point at hand: Cornyn has a long-standing, deep-abiding interest in open access, an interest which is admirable, and certainly explains why he might have a genuine interest in the prosecution of Aaron Swartz.
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