My point being...

Post #379,551 by rcareaga 8/19/13 3:55:24 PM Reply	My point being... that in the post 9/2001 climate of hysteria a number of laws were passed in the name of fighting/protecting against "terrorism." These laws gave the authorities near-unprecedented latitude in the realm of procedures, standards of evidence, protections for the accused, et cetera, but hey: ya got nothing to worry about if you ain't a terrorist, amirite? (Emirate?) That's just fine, until, as they inevitably will, the authorities find it convenient to conflate "terrorism" with "any conduct that gets in our way." You think it's a stretch from "That helicopter video* released by Manning was used to fan the flames of anti-Americanism in the Middle east" to "Manning is a terrorist"? I don't. *That helicopter video (indirect link): http://urschleim.blo...ghdad-street.html Any day that finds Bradley Manning in a military prison while Dick Cheney is permitted outside the precincts of The Hague is a day without justice. cordially,
Post #379,558 by mmoffitt 8/19/13 4:53:31 PM Reply	Amen.
Post #379,559 by Another Scott 8/19/13 5:58:32 PM Reply	Reasonable points, but... Yes, the laws are too broad. Our national freakout over the damage done by 19 guys with knives was uncalled-for and it's well past time for those things (like the Patriot Act) to be scaled back. But I come back to the fact that the guys who have access to this secret stuff do operate in a system with oversight. Likely not enough, but there is oversight within the system. Nobody at the NSA who expects to have a job next year is going to be intentionally snooping on us. That's the bottom line. Times have changed since Hoover's day - for the better. http://www.nsa.gov/a...s/oversight.shtml I recognize that things don't always go according to plan, and recognize that there are people (like Snowden) who will break the rules (for whatever reason). No human system is perfect. But I don't accept that there's a huge conspiracy to make all of the things said on that web page into just pretty mouth noises for rubes like me. Civil servants generally take their jobs and their oaths seriously - they wouldn't work there if they didn't. I understand that lots of people don't accept and don't believe that, but that's where I am. YMMV. Cheers, Scott.
Post #379,561 by folkert 8/19/13 9:18:37 PM Reply	Didja see the Movie - 2 Guns? If not, you need to. Its a good laugh. Bit of nudity and some language... but it is pretty good! -- greg@gregfolkert.net PGP key 1024D/B524687C 2003-08-05 Fingerprint: E1D3 E3D7 5850 957E FED0 2B3A ED66 6971 B524 687C
Post #379,563 by Another Scott 8/19/13 9:24:08 PM Reply	I'll put it on the list. Thanks.
Post #379,593 by folkert 8/20/13 10:15:40 AM Reply	If you watch it soon... You'l understand why I said it was a rec. It included the DEA, the USN Intelligence and the CIA all working the same thing from conflicting angles. -- greg@gregfolkert.net PGP key 1024D/B524687C 2003-08-05 Fingerprint: E1D3 E3D7 5850 957E FED0 2B3A ED66 6971 B524 687C

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