Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is a socially regressive policy and why are Libertarian candidates prone to them?
A socially regressive policy is something like making abortions illegal. Libertarians aren't socially regressive, it's the conservative part that is
Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
211–220 of 479 posts
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#212Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh, that guy. He's even know over here. (Journalists like to pick out the most 'interesting' persons). That guy scares me. You also vote for judges? Would it help if there was a maximum someone could get voted for? Like with your president?
It's ideal for most judges to be elected to life terms. That limits concerns about them needing to serve the politics of the minute to get re-elected. They can take principled stands without worrying about being thrown out. The Supreme Court has routine stood up to both Congress and the President, and they can only do that because they can't be removed (except under extraordinary circumstances of corruption).
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#213Has anyone come up with a solution? From my POV I see three things happen in what seems to be a never ending cycle: 10 OMG why did you not know about these terrorists, how could you have missed this?! 20 OMG now you are profiling _____! That is unfair just because they are ____ 30 OMG you are invading the privacy of everyone! GOTO 10 The goal being: only criminals/terrorists have their privacy invaded and everyone el…
You, as a government, have to choose one of those states. I personally prefer a government that will choose to stay on line 10, especially because profiling everyone will not prevent terrorism at all, unless it's in an orwellian dystopia.
And I prefer buildings blowing up once in a while to the alternative, even if one of my family or myself get killed on the explosion.
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is a socially regressive policy and why are Libertarian candidates prone to them?
A socially regressive policy is something like making abortions illegal. Libertarians aren't socially regressive, it's the conservative part that is
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#215Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
A socially regressive policy is something like making abortions illegal. Libertarians aren't socially regressive, it's the conservative part that is
Outlawing murder would be something I consider moving in the right direction (pun intended)
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
What is a socially regressive policy and why are Libertarian candidates prone to them?
A socially regressive policy is something like making abortions illegal. Libertarians aren't socially regressive, it's the conservative part that is
Even if you hate the idea of illegal abortions, aligning yourself with "big government" in any way would seem to be a foolish move. Every day, you're building a government that's powerful enough to do whatever it wants. That means that when the right christian republican is in the White House with Congressional support who decides to make illegalizing abortion his issue... he/she does it. Just like Progressives have wanted government healthcare for the last century and then when they had a slim majority in Congress for 2 years with the presidency, they rammed through Obamacare and now we're all stuck with it.
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#218OpenPGP and similar strong encryption methods are widely considered unbreakable (with the current technology) and available as easy-to-use software packages. Is there any similar software which enables easy encrypted VoIP-style calls? So if you want to keep a secret from the government, why bother to use non-safe communication methods (public telephone network etc) at all? Aren't people who actually pose a threat to…
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't actually think voting for judges and sheriffs is a good idea at all. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Arpaio
Oh, that guy. He's even know over here. (Journalists like to pick out the most 'interesting' persons). That guy scares me. You also vote for judges? Would it help if there was a maximum someone could get voted for? Like with your president?
They do run in partisan elections, but they are limited with regard to claims they can make about opponents, and a non-partisan commission evaluates the overall qualifications of each judge.
Are there issues with politicalization? Absolutely. But don't make the assumption that election == politics, and appointment != politics. An elected judge at least nominally is accountable to the people. The examples where this system doesn't work well is usually when machine politics corrupt the process of electing judges. If the judge was appointed, chances are they would be accountable to nobody at all.
Re: Confirmed: The NSA is Spying on Millions of Americans
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
You reckon people are going to revolt? I have serious doubts about that.
Only when the social contract is violated will there be revolt. That contract, roughly 75 years old now, is currently on death notice, being funded solely by a printing press. Simply put, the promises can never be met. If interest rates on US debt were just a mere 5% (reasonable given the risk), the $800+ billion per year in interest would instantly 'bankrupt' the government (whether that default occurs directly or v…