Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's "our" democracy, not our democracy it seems.
The difference between a representative and a true democracy.
A representative democracy would require at least some politicians representing working cutizens.
Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
81–90 of 192 posts
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#82Betteridge's law of headlines: any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word "no".
Worsidge's headline:
"Can this headline be answered by the word 'no'?"
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
They should be minimal in their powers over the people and the bureaucratic waste they produce, but that doesn't mean they are shrinking. They can grow their administration workforce to accommodate the growing population and economy without adding new powers and while gaining efficiencies. Plus, the federal government should be very minimal, while not infringing on state's rights, which isn't the case any longer, unf…
Sure, the disagreement stems from one’s presumption of what “minimal” means.
Minimal is defined in the Constitution. It explicitly says we give the federal government limited powers and no more.
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#84"Today, corrupt politicians put on another dog and pony show while continuing business as usual. Is our democracy secretly a farce? Details at 11."
No. We cannot have our cake and eat it too. We cannot have unprotected, open borders for decades, and then expect to identify and track foreign internal threats AND not provide the USGOV the means to detect and surveil. We cannot assume that because we're an HN regular who thinks power corrupts (it certainly does) the cost of that corruption is greater than what we pay if/when a foreign adversary acts against the US.…
Fun fact, "open borders" is a complete myth.
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ok, so let’s deport everyone who came in through said unprotected open borders. That’s literally why borders exist. To keep foreign threats… foreign.
Weird how the most prominent example of terrorism on American soil from foreign agents was perpetrated with completely legal non-land-border penetration. Seems like we have locals lot more dangerous than anyone coming through the land border with Mexico to work or seek asylum in the US. Actual foreign terrorists just aren't as ignorant as you want them to be.
Exactly, this "open borders" nonsense is a right-wing talking point, like "fiscal responsibility." It sounds great in TV interviews and speeches, but they mysteriously only trot out when there's a democrat in the Oval Office.
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
The amount of written law in the US gov has grown exponentially since the 1970s. https://www.everycrsreport.com/files/20190903_R43056_5083d3b... The only time it slowed has been during brief gov shutdowns. As this report explains this includes plenty of non rules and administrative stuff and does count repeals but anyone who has followed Congress knows that the bulk of those bills is new spending and new rules impose…
It's a real shame. Legislating isn't a full-time job naturally, but we've made it so by turning it into one of the most lucrative careers. We judge congress perversely by output of new laws.
Most legislative action happens at the state and local level where it’s not particularly lucrative.
If anything we should probably make it more lucrative so that the already well off aren’t the only ones who can afford to do it.
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#87[dead]
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#88Mass surveillance is antithetical to liberty, but direct, concrete harm is hard to identify. The surveillance complex has been pretty good at using secrecy, and perhaps even good internal controls, to limit everyday impact. How can we find real harms to win this fight? Or how can we get people to care?
To play devil's advocate, if good internal controls are preventing abuse, why start with the foregone conclusion that there must exist "real harms" to find?
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#89you mean spying on American citizens without a warrant?
That is NOT what 702 provides. 702 prohibits US citizens from being targeted (see: https://www.dni.gov/files/icotr/Section702-Basics-Infographi... )
Bwahahhahahahahahhhahhahaahhaahahahhahahahhahahhahhaahhaahhahahahahhhha
No wait, you’re serious?
Did you not watch the senate testimony? They have illegally spied on millions upon millions of Americans. For things as petty as “I think this girl likes me” or “I’ll show my father in law!”. No punishments much less termination or what you or I would face: jail.
So yeah, that link is a joke. There are no protections against corrupt law enforcement.
Re: Today Is One of the Biggest Surveillance Votes. Will the FBI Stop Spying?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, the disagreement stems from one’s presumption of what “minimal” means.
Minimal is defined in the Constitution. It explicitly says we give the federal government limited powers and no more.
One of those powers is to rely on interpretations of the Constitution by SCOTUS and to pick SCOTUS’s interpretation when it comes to conflict with an HN commentators’ interpretation.
So this is still just putting the cart before the horse.