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Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

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Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#81

I get some kind of sick satisfaction out of watching a certain small subset of HN lose their mind trying to square the circle when it comes to stuff like this. On one hand “this is government overreach!” (it’s not because the committee here is on a specific task to investigate a specific crime) and “free market!” and on the other hand “big social media companies are evil and decide what’s right and what’s wrong.” Nev…

> Just read the headline and get angry at… someone?

That seems to be the current state of the internetz everywhere. I have to print that on a sticker or something.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#82
These companies overwhelmingly support the Democratic party. The idea that they are deliberately stonewalling this investigation strains credulity. Poking some of their most powerful allies like this feels like a tactical error for the Congressional Democrats.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Nearly Died" yes, because the leadership guiding the riot wasn't particularly competent. If they had control of more institutions, it would likely have been more successful. When saying "any other show of power other than that they managed to break through a few weakly-secured doors" you downplay the fact they the rioters interrupted a session of Congress and succeeded in their purpose of delaying the certification…

Wow... so you're saying our democracy could be overthrown if you, A) disrupt Congress and B) cause a day's worth of delays. Amazing stability of our government that.

Your comment here (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29935989) has been killed, so I couldn't post my reply there, so I'll post it here:

> Political theater by Democrats trying to make Jan 6th "The Day That Democracy Nearly Died" or something.

I agree there's been a lot of political theater around Jan. 6th, but if democracy does in fact die in the US, those events will have been an important milestone. Basically, the point where the breakdown of the respect for the institutions of democracy became in-your-face obvious. It also set some precedents/put options in people's minds that will be hugely destabilizing.

That said, I'm really disappointed that Democrats are basically making only small tactical responses (e.g. party-line voting rights legislation, some justice dept. unit to combat "extremism") to a strategic problem, which is that a large fraction of the population is losing/has lost respect for the system. The Democrats really need to get their act together and, being the less-degraded party, do their duty and make whatever sacrifices are necessary to fix that [1].

[1] As in when some asshole trashes some common area, you have the duty to spend your time and effort clean up after them. You don't have control over their behavior, but you have control over your own, and it's wrong to leave the common area trashed even though it's not "fair" you're the one sacrificing your time to clean it up.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#84

Disclaimer: am googler, my opinions are my own. I have no non-public knowledge on this topic. It's not clear to me what the House committee is asking for. From what I read in their letters it's basically, "We think you have more than you've given us, so give it to us". That's not how this works. If you want to subpoena information, you need to be specific and targeted. If you don't get what you think you want, call p…

>It's not clear to me what the House committee is asking for.

They are asking for TV time

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We have a chain of command in our government for when people die. First the President, then the Vice President, then the Speaker of the House, then the Secretaries in a predefined order, and so forth. Plus, the Secret Service (which protects the president) includes considerations for, say, Nuclear Bombing of the capitol and who would take over leadership if such a disaster should happen. If the rioters had succeeded…

Quoted post unavailable.

The way I like to explain it is that Jan 6 was a Denial of Service attack which would have shut down a critical service COV (Certification_Of_Vote). The COV service was designed to bring a new process online while initiating the shut-down sequence of a lame-duck process. But a rogue script in the lame-duck attempted to shut down the COV service, which would have resulted in a privilege escalation and caused the lame-duck to continue running past its expiration date. Thankfully the DoS attack subsided in time and the COV service resumed its normal operation.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#86
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m not a lawyer so I may be missing something here, but I would expect a bunch of pipe bombs to be evidence of rather more than a mere protest. Or is this one of those weird second amendment rights that makes no sense outside of the USA?

Who planted the pipe bombs? Do you have proof that it was the rioters? If so please give the evidence to the FBI.

A trite response like that only makes sense if pipe bombs are so commonplace in the American Capitol that mere coincidence would not be surprising.

I’m not American, so you tell me: are they?

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#87

I get some kind of sick satisfaction out of watching a certain small subset of HN lose their mind trying to square the circle when it comes to stuff like this. On one hand “this is government overreach!” (it’s not because the committee here is on a specific task to investigate a specific crime) and “free market!” and on the other hand “big social media companies are evil and decide what’s right and what’s wrong.” Nev…

if congress is investigating a 'crime' then it is overreach because that is not the responsibility of congress. congress has investigatory powers like the subpoena power in order to help it make decisions about passing law. it is not meant to use this power primarily to pursue individuals.

Aren't they working on passing some sort of 'big tech antitrust' law? I could have sworn that's a thing right now...

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#88
post #15
post #4

Man, the democrats are really trying to hand republicans every election for the next decade.

Man, I wish I could vote for some sane republicans but as its turning out their complicity or silence on Jan 6 is making me believe that entire party is unhinged like Trump.

it's not clever to go out of your way to piss off the base of the last guy from your team that won. clearly the democrats understand that, seeing as we are currently experiencing Obama's third term.

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How to misunderstand the situation 101: bring the first amendment into the discussion when that’s not what the discussion is about. Let me break this down for you: you host a weekly poker night. My buddies and I come and during these nights plan a crime. We than carry out a crime and get arrested. The investigators come to you and ask “what did those guys talk about at your poker nights?” You say “poker stuff”. They…

Quoted post unavailable.

The guy with zip-tie cuffs...

Re: Jan 6 committee subpoenas Meta, Google, Reddit etc. after 'inadequate responses'

#90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Nearly Died" yes, because the leadership guiding the riot wasn't particularly competent. If they had control of more institutions, it would likely have been more successful. When saying "any other show of power other than that they managed to break through a few weakly-secured doors" you downplay the fact they the rioters interrupted a session of Congress and succeeded in their purpose of delaying the certification…

Wow... so you're saying our democracy could be overthrown if you, A) disrupt Congress and B) cause a day's worth of delays. Amazing stability of our government that.

You are missing the most important point C) the outgoing president refuses to leave

The rioters wouldn't have ended democracy, but if they caused enough commotion to prevent certification there was a significant risk Trump would have taken advantage of the situation.

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