DHS LEAKS PROVE Government Conspiracy With Twitter, Big Tech, To Censor And Subvert Elections

[Madison320]

CIA Had been doing it long before Trump,,and Obama Legalized it as I remember.

Operation Mockingbird

I agree. Remember when Facebook executives were marched in front of congress and they were demanding to know why Alex Jones was still on Facebook? That was in public. I'm wondering what was happening behind the scenes. I suspect that a lot of the left wing big tech bias was forced on big tech by govt.

My point is that the correct thing is for government to leave big tech alone and let the free market sort it out. Many people here thought the solution was to retaliate by punishing "bad" companies with antitrust and liability. That's the worst solution because it means that a business can only exist with government approval.

In other words the correct response is to remove the existing govt interference, not add more govt interference to try to counter the existing govt interference.

[acptulsa]

In other words the correct response is to remove the existing govt interference, not add more govt interference to try to counter the existing govt interference.

So you're an anarchist, then? Because government has powers, and politicians are for rent or lease. Both of these are time-proven truths.

Musk made his money from government contracts, and by capitalizing on upcoming mandates. Zuckerburg was financed by the CIA. Gates used money he made selling vials of poison to the government to take possession of untold millions of acres of farmland. How do you propose to undo all this damage? What crowbar have you got to pry government out of corporate beds that involves neither government solutions nor lawlessness?

It had better be a big crowbar. Because government and corporations are clinging to each other very tightly. And they have the leverage at the moment.

[tod evans]

So you're an anarchist, then? Because government has powers, and politicians are for rent or lease. Both of these are time-proven truths.

Musk made his money from government contracts, and by capitalizing on upcoming mandates. Zuckerburg was financed by the CIA. Gates used money he made selling vials of poison to the government to take possession of untold millions of acres of farmland. How do you propose to undo all this damage? What crowbar have you got to pry government out of corporate beds that involves neither government solutions nor lawlessness?

It had better be a big crowbar. Because government and corporations are clinging to each other very tightly. And they have the leverage at the moment.

Rope is a far better solution than crow-bars, the sooner the better.

Let locals deal with their "real property" and apply their digital "wealth" toward the digital national debt they would saddle the working stiffs with.

Rope is the solution for all government 'employees' and contractors who fail to represent their constituency.

[CCTelander]

Is it $#@!ing time, YET?

Not to worry. Midterms are coming up. I hear they’re the most important elections in our lifetimes. Once we get that red tsunami, all will be well again. Thank GOD we didn’t have to actually do something substantive and take any risks.

[Madison320]

So you're an anarchist, then? Because government has powers, and politicians are for rent or lease. Both of these are time-proven truths.

Musk made his money from government contracts, and by capitalizing on upcoming mandates. Zuckerburg was financed by the CIA. Gates used money he made selling vials of poison to the government to take possession of untold millions of acres of farmland. How do you propose to undo all this damage? What crowbar have you got to pry government out of corporate beds that involves neither government solutions nor lawlessness?

It had better be a big crowbar. Because government and corporations are clinging to each other very tightly. And they have the leverage at the moment.

I want smaller government, not no government (which is impossible anyway).

My main solution to smaller govt is to make people pay for bigger government directly thru taxation. People vote for more government because they're told it's free. Politicians tell them we'll tax the rich or print it or borrow it. We need a flat tax or sales tax, gold standard, end the federal reserve.

What's your solution? I keep asking you and you keep ducking.

[acptulsa]

What's your solution? I keep asking you and you keep ducking.

No, I keep telling you, and you keep asking again a month later like your memory is shot.

Does AoC mean anything to you besides a horse-faced psychotic ex-bartender? Because if you can't make the slightest effort to remember our last conversation, I'm assuming you're trolling.

You know what? Forget I asked. You made up your mind that I'm some kind of advocate for class warfare on basically no evidence, and due to a certain sibling of mine, I have a real attitude about people who let every word I say go in one ear and out the other, then talk to me like I never said what I said. So let's just agree not to interact, shall we? Because I really don't come here to wallow in the fact that some people have so little respect for others that they expect answers to their questions, but can't be bothered to listen to them--and use their lack of respect as an excuse for accusing them of ducking questions.

Or can you not remember such an agreement?

[Occam's Banana]

THREAD: The Consortium Imposing the Growing Censorship Regime

The rapid escalation of online censorship, and increasingly offline censorship, cannot be overstated. The silencing tactic that has most commonly provoked attention and debate is the banning of particular posts or individuals by specific social media platforms. But the censorship regime that has been developed, and which is now rapidly escalating, extends far beyond those relatively limited punishments.

[Madison320]

xxx

[Madison320]

No, I keep telling you, and you keep asking again a month later like your memory is shot.

Does AoC mean anything to you besides a horse-faced psychotic ex-bartender? Because if you can't make the slightest effort to remember our last conversation, I'm assuming you're trolling.

You know what? Forget I asked. You made up your mind that I'm some kind of advocate for class warfare on basically no evidence, and due to a certain sibling of mine, I have a real attitude about people who let every word I say go in one ear and out the other, then talk to me like I never said what I said. So let's just agree not to interact, shall we? Because I really don't come here to wallow in the fact that some people have so little respect for others that they expect answers to their questions, but can't be bothered to listen to them--and use their lack of respect as an excuse for accusing them of ducking questions.

Or can you not remember such an agreement?

Sorry, I went back and found that you had answered my question.

"The Articles of Confederation weren't so bad..."

And then I asked to be more specific and you wrote,

"ARTICLE II. Each State retains its Sovereignty, freedom and independence, and every Power, Jurisdiction and right, which is not by this confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled."

"It's an interesting notion. It seems to me that the Tenth Amendment is reasonably clear, but the AoC makes the statement stronger and even more clear."

So in my defense while you did answer the question, the answer is very vague and I don't see anything specific in Article 2 that can be acted on. It basically says each state should be free and independent. I don't see how that prevents the mob from doing whatever it wants.

Maybe if the constitution had simply stated that each state has the right to secede and maybe specified the method for doing so? I'm with you on the idea that secession is the ultimate way to ensure the govt doesn't get out of control.

[acptulsa]

Well, now.

Riddle me this, now. Was western Europe better off before the EU? Has Russia been better off since the USSR fell?

Do you suppose there's a maximum number of people a society can have before it loses control of its government?

Divide the armed forces as equally as possible fifty ways, with coastal states taking more value in blue water navies and states with bases and silos getting those and their contents, and close Washington like the bankrupt company it is.

And bomb Langley, Virginia back to the stone age.

I'm sure my state will like the idea better than yours. A stock exchange is easier to set up than enough agriculture to feed yourselves. But once the wave of secession begins, the thought that it wouldn't be good to be stuck with all that debt will occur to all fifty states sooner or later.

[osan]

Congress should disolve dhs

Don't hold your breath.

[osan]

Is it $#@!ing time, YET?

Are you $#@!ing serious?

Yonka yonka vvt vvt vvt...

[osan]

PATIENCE

Pursuant to what goal, exactly?

[osan]

"I zip up to Paris, bam bam bam, I kill these men, I come back and we spend the treasure. How is this a bad plan?"

Great clip from a great movie and the best adaptation of that novel.

But I do not burn for revenge like Edmund Dantes...I still just wish to be left alone.

But these $#@!ers will not stop pushing.

Whether you seek vengeance is irrelevant in that the solution is the same, regardless.

It is clear that Americans are split for the remainder of eternity, all else equal. Because of this, blood is now the only viable path to salvation. It's a $#@! deal, but we have only ourselves to thank for this dolorous devolution of general circumstance. We let Themme skate on virtually every scandal and other trespass. Theye have no fear of us, and so they will never stop, as you so correctly point out. I doubt we will kill Themme and their willing servants, so that means we are all screwed, glued, and tattooed.

[osan]

"Their invaluable utility" consists. for just one example, in any random schmuck being able to openly tell @POTUS, et al. to get bent and go kick rocks. Not because @POTUS, et al. will ever see or hear it - most of them will not - but because potentially millions of others will.

And that is BINGO.

[osan]

Remember when Trump was president and almost everyone here wanted the government to take control of big tech?

This is why that was a bad idea. Government needs to stay out of it no matter who is in power.

Almost everyone where, exactly?

[ClaytonB]

Pursuant to what goal, exactly?

Well, how about the goal of not-getting-Jan6th-egg-on-your-face all over again, for starters?

There's a reason that the generations of Americans who have come before us have pointed back to the Constitution as a landmark not only of its time, but for future generations (including us!) The more you study it, the more the genius of the founding fathers comes through. As a philosophical anarchist[1], I understand the "constitution of no authority" argument, on purely rationalistic grounds. And if we lived in a world populated only by rational people, I think a state-less/constitution-less society would be ideal. But humans not only have reason, they also have heart -- the heart makes the world vastly more complex, but it also makes life worth living. So throwing out heart is not the solution. The solution is to return to the landmarks of history, to point our ships at the lighthouses and set a course. Therein lies their great power -- my opinion is just one more opinion in a heap of hundreds of millions of opinions, most of which disagree with mine, but the landmarks of history give us a sensible common-ground, a common target to shoot for. It doesn't need to be perfect, or even great, just good enough. If you land safely on a nearby shore, you can trek the short journey on foot to join the main body and, together, we can figure out what to do next.

We have to start by getting serious about our society (politics, commerce, religion, culture) and our moral foundations (personal life, home life, community life), and so on. A divinely-overseen crisis may be just the catalyst that is needed to drive all who are not in active rebellion against the Good and the True, into true unity with one another. So we should not fear crisis just because it's crisis. That is why faith is the starting-point of any lasting revolution that will not just wither away after a couple generations, at most. Imagine if you had a time-machine and you could go back in time to show Josef Stalin and all of the top Bolsheviks the fall of the Berlin Wall and explain to them the futility of everything they were about to do. I don't know whether it would change their evilness, but it would surely take the wind out of their sails. It was all a waste of effort. All those murders were not committed for some great good; they were just plain simple murders, no different than Manson, Bundy, Dahmer or any other common scoundrel. The sandy foundation will never support an eternal revolution. The foundation of God's kingdom has already been laid (1 Cor. 3:11), and no other foundation will last, nor will any kingdom be built upon it, except God's.

So, the goal is God's kingdom. That's not an abstraction. That's not a call to "wait until we all die and go to the next world". It starts right here, right now.

---

[1] I also accept the label "Christian anarchist" so long as it is understood as a material label for the freedom of God's kingdom (John 8:36)

[osan]

Well, how about the goal of not-getting-Jan6th-egg-on-your-face all over again, for starters?

I have no idea what that means, but allow me to point out that I didn't see the video that was posted because for some reason this idiot browser no longer shows them, but only large blank spaces. So I blew right by it without noticing because I came home $#@!-tired from a day working construction... not that I'm complaining mind you.

There's a reason that the generations of Americans who have come before us have pointed back to the Constitution as a landmark not only of its time, but for future generations (including us!) The more you study it, the more the genius of the founding fathers comes through.

While there is some genius in the Constitution's contrivance, there is at least an equal proportion of very severe shortcomings. The simple fact that a "government" was "ordained" qualifies as the worst of it. The power to tax. Representation. I could go on.

Just to remind the world, I wrote my own constitution maybe 30 years ago as an exercise. It is far and away superior to the US Constitution, not because I'm smarter than the Framers, which I'm certain I am not, but because I'm smart enough AND have the benefit of over 200 years of hindsight in my hip pocket. The sad truth of it is that no matter how well contrived a document one might spew forth into the world, WE are always the weak link. The US Constitution was written for virtuous people. If you have not yet noticed, we are not even on the same planet as virtuousness. Regardless, the results we now enjoy is all the proof anyone needs to conclude that the Constitution is a failure, precisely because WE are failures. We are endowed with the 2A and could put "government" to ends in a heartbeat, but we do nothing in our own better interests. The politicians are not the problem - they are but a symptom. We are the problem and that problem is cancer.

As a philosophical anarchist[1], I understand the "constitution of no authority" argument, on purely rationalistic grounds. And if we lived in a world populated only by rational people, I think a state-less/constitution-less society would be ideal. But humans not only have reason, they also have heart -- the heart makes the world vastly more complex, but it also makes life worth living.

While I understand your sentiment, it is grossly incorrect. There are plenty of rational people on this planet. The problem is not rationality, but corruption. As for "heart", that is a lame excuse for tolerating the intolerable. Were the consequences for "hav[ing] heart" sufficiently severe, "heart" would all but disappear after about the tenth public execution of those who acted criminally, pursuant to their "heart".

You cite complexity, but that is all the result of our willful choices, and not that of powers and tides beyond our control. The fact is that the average human being is a rotten cur, regardless of how "nice" they may be in fair weather. This assertion is proven every day in great steaming heaps, if one is willing to look and see.

So throwing out heart is not the solution. The solution is to return to the landmarks of history, to point our ships at the lighthouses and set a course. Therein lies their great power -- my opinion is just one more opinion in a heap of hundreds of millions of opinions, most of which disagree with mine, but the landmarks of history give us a sensible common-ground, a common target to shoot for. It doesn't need to be perfect, or even great, just good enough. If you land safely on a nearby shore, you can trek the short journey on foot to join the main body and, together, we can figure out what to do next.

Depends on what you mean by "landmarks of history". I have a far better solution: freedom. Let freedom reign supreme and I guaRONtee that after a period of adjustment, mannerly interaction would make a roaring comeback in the world of humans. Freedom would allow men to duel, for example, an activity/solution of which I am in utter and absolute support. No, I'm not joking. Words, for example, are important. They are ultimately important, and so when I assert that your sister is a filthy slut, you then would have the opportunity to demand satisfaction, which places my life in immediate peril. Is the prospect of being killed in a duel worth opening my stupid yap about another man's beloved, and perhaps virtuous, sister? Unless I am a flaming idiot, the answer is a decided "no". Therefore, I hold my idiot's tongue and remain mannerly in my interactions with you and leave you sister out of them.

Consequences are a MAJOR element of freedom. You are free to burgle my home and I am free to send you to Jesus in response to your trespass.

The period of adjust might well be a blood-soaked horror, and to that I say "so what?". That might be the price we have to pay to free ourselves of the chains and manacles that have turned our lives into real-time hells. I am certain that the wild west would last but a short while, if even it were to manifest at all. The moment stupid people are faced with existential choices, they seem to consistently undergo miraculous boosts in their IQs. Funny how that works - remove the tolerance for stupidity such that it is met with gruesome consequences, and the stupidity vanishes almost universally.

There was a VERY rational reason why people used to speak in complex sentences that were delivered with the greatest and most circumspect care: consequences. When one's words, even misunderstood, could end one's life, one tended to become effusively polite to all around him. This is a good thing; a VERY good thing.

Why do we not find millions of people throwing themselves, feet-first, into running wood chippers? Because the consequences are severe, real, and immediate. Now extend that reality to all such human stupidities and what will you get? Hint: it's not a world of endless bloodshed, but rather a humanity who gets quickly wise to the "new reality" to which they rapidly adapt. Before you know it, you have a couple new generations who have been raised up on the principles of proper human relations and the world has become a better place, not because it is tolerant, but precisely because it is intolerant of the intolerable.

Consequences are the answer, and those come most naturally when men live lives of freedom, rather than the dreary nightmare that comes, courtesy of "government" and all the cancer that it brings to the table.

We have to start by getting serious about our society (politics, commerce, religion, culture) and our moral foundations (personal life, home life, community life), and so on.

Until the incentives exist, there will be no getting serious. Speaking only for Americans, I can say that we are a nation of idiot-children, on average. We want free $#@!. We want the "right" to peddle all manner of lies and bull$#@! without consequence. We want to be able to put our willies wherever we want, whenever we want, regardless of how anyone else feels about it, and the list of our perfidies just starts there, running to the far horizon with no end in sight. We are so rotten, words fail me, and until this all changes, the death spiral will continue to steepen. There is no easy way back from this precipice. No matter how we might try, salvation is going to cost us deeply in ways most people cannot even conceive. But I will tell you once more that the ONLY solution is freedom, and I mean actual freedom and not pretty slavery, which is the avenue of choice of the corrupt who think they can have liberty at no cost to themselves.

A divinely-overseen crisis may be just the catalyst that is needed to drive all who are not in active rebellion against the Good and the True, into true unity with one another.

This is speculative, at best, and blindly so. Therefore, it is of no value in the immediate and practical scheme of things. If it proves otherwise one day, I will be the first to cry tears of relief-laden joy. But until then, we have only ourselves upon whom to rely and the choice stands before us every moment of every day: stand tall or fold like cheap suits. Thus far, we do the latter almost exclusively.

So we should not fear crisis just because it's crisis.

We should fear asserting our sovereign rights before the false throne of the Tyrant. We should fear slitting the Tyrant's throat. We should fear it all, and proceed in the face of our terror, for that is what we know as "courage"; acting in accord with what is right and necessary, despite the soiling of our undergarments.

That is why faith is the starting-point of any lasting revolution that will not just wither away after a couple generations, at most.

But faith in what? Faith in God certainly has not done the job.

I say intolerance of the intolerable such that anyone in positions of special, public trust quake with stomach-wrenching terror at the prospect of violating that trust. There is nothing wrong with putting people in positions of authority, but the structure, specifications, and procedures for all of it must be spelled out such that the cost of trespass is simply too horrific to risk. It is a simple as that, which is why I drafted a 28th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, wherein I specify the draconian punishments that would await anyone who violated the rights of those to whom they swore their oaths and failed to make amends. Make me king and America would be dragged into actual liberty, kicking and howling if necessary.

Imagine if you had a time-machine and you could go back in time to show Josef Stalin and all of the top Bolsheviks the fall of the Berlin Wall and explain to them the futility of everything they were about to do. I don't know whether it would change their evilness, but it would surely take the wind out of their sails.

Incorrect. It would result in your disappearance, never to be seen or heard from again. You give such men far too much credit for sense and, more significantly, basic humanity.

So, the goal is God's kingdom. That's not an abstraction. That's not a call to "wait until we all die and go to the next world". It starts right here, right now.

It is VERY much an abstraction. More importantly, it is pure speculation and therefore of little value, again, in the practical world. What people need is a set of universally undeniable precepts that leave them zero wiggle rom insofar as the basics of human relations are concerned. This can be done, yet nobody has taken the time to do it... to my admittedly paltry knowledge, other than myself, and I'm sure I've done a less than complete job of it. But at least I have given it a first swag, to which the world has thumbed its nose. How surprising.

As things stand today, we are hopeless. That may change, but I'm not holding my breath.

[ClaytonB]

...

Thanks for the detailed reply. I was writing ad lib (I didn't expect a detailed reply) so I think some of my points were misunderstood. I'll provide clarifications below...

While there is some genius in the Constitution's contrivance, there is at least an equal proportion of very severe shortcomings. The simple fact that a "government" was "ordained" qualifies as the worst of it. The power to tax. Representation. I could go on.

Yes, I understand. But let's take "power to tax", for example. When you dig into it, the framers did not perceive that a magical "government" has some magical "power" to take money from people... just-because. No, rather, it went the other way around -- the people gave the government certain duties/responsibilities and they also determined (by Constitution and law) the specific manner in which the government was to raise its revenues for those purposes. To give the government duties without giving it a way to raise revenues would, of course, be ridiculous and pointless. So, the original form of the Constitution was nearly "ancap" on this point.

Just to remind the world, I wrote my own constitution maybe 30 years ago as an exercise. It is far and away superior to the US Constitution, not because I'm smarter than the Framers, which I'm certain I am not, but because I'm smart enough AND have the benefit of over 200 years of hindsight in my hip pocket.

To be sure, the US Constitution needs some serious updates. A lot has changed since 1789 and some serious holes/leaks have been exposed. However, the problem with writing new Constitutions from scratch is, well, who gives a damn? Everybody can write their own Constitution, so what? I say tomayto, you say tomahto. So, the existing Constitution at least gives us a common starting-point. It's like one of those old wood barns, half leaning over, shot through with holes and the rain pours straight through the roof. So, it's in really bad shape and, for all practical intents and purposes, it is currently useless. Just a ceremonial document that the crooks in DC pretend to pay homage to, so that they can go on raping and pillaging Americans. We urgently need to prop some 4x4's on the corners of the barn and set them in concrete to keep it from collapsing completely. I know that feels pretty futile at the moment, but I think if we start taking the tools we have seriously, we could witness a miracle unfold that we never imagined possible.

The politicians are not the problem - they are but a symptom. We are the problem and that problem is cancer.

This is true. Hence, the Gospel.

"heart" would all but disappear after about the tenth public execution of those who acted criminally, pursuant to their "heart".

This is the part that got lost in translation. I wasn't talking about heart in the sense of sentimentalism or fuzzy, illogical feelings. I mean something more abstract, like culture-itself. Think of a Mexican villa during Dia de las Muertas or New Orleans during Mardis Gras... it is overflowing with joi de vivre... this is the beating heart of culture and it's what makes life worth living. The modern US has been built with machines and, in the process, we have become machine-like whether anybody meant for that to happen or not. This loss of humanity is not a reason-and-logic thing, it's a heart thing, and it's playing a bizarre and inexplicable role in the corruption you noted above. The rest of the world does not suffer from the sickness that afflicts America, certainly not to the extent that we do. It's a strange poison that has poisoned our culture, which is almost completely dead. We need to revive not just our laws, but also our culture. We need to bring back the bustle, the foot-traffic, the family dinners, the nuclear family, and so on. With the pink-haired transgenders taking up all the oxygen in the room (and then some), this can feel impossible. But it's not. It just feels that way.

Freedom would allow men to duel, for example...

I understand and I agree indirectly. But I think we are a long ways away from that kind of freedom. There are too many cowards hiding in our midst lurking for the opportunity for a "justifiable" homicide. Today, they tend to join a police force because that's the best place to get a chance to shed human blood "legally". As long as these types are hiding amongst us, the kind of freedom you're talking about is not possible.

Consequences are a MAJOR element of freedom. You are free to burgle my home and I am free to send you to Jesus in response to your trespass.

Agreed.

The period of adjust might well be a blood-soaked horror, and to that I say "so what?". That might be the price we have to pay to free ourselves of the chains and manacles that have turned our lives into real-time hells.

No, there's more at stake than that. This is one of the scenarios that the globalists are absolutely slavering for. These mass shooting headlines are no accident. They (globalists) even have a name for it: "stochastic terrorism". It means that they don't directly cause them, they just keep scattering the ingredients for them to happen, and wait for the inevitable combinations of the mixing of social forces to align and produce the fruit they're seeking. Jan6th (already mentioned) was partially such an event. It's obvious what happened -- a legitimate, peaceful protest was infiltrated by agents provocateur and turned into a McRiot, where 99+% of the property damage was done by the agents provocateur themselves. The point is that they themselves are gunning for the bloodbath, because they're prepped to the gills and a Mad Max world (with themselves at the top of the food-chain) is one of the scenarios they actively desire. Watch This Is The End, which is basically an extended fantasy session by wacko Hollywood leftists, imagining how they would live out their most depraved fantasies in the event of a real apocalypse. (Note: has a lot of disturbing sexual content, most people on RPF probably wouldn't enjoy watching it.) They've got the deep underground bunkers, up-armored SUVs and everything else to come out on top. They (globalists, leftists) are actively baiting revolution for that reason.

The moment stupid people are faced with existential choices, they seem to consistently undergo miraculous boosts in their IQs. Funny how that works - remove the tolerance for stupidity such that it is met with gruesome consequences, and the stupidity vanishes almost universally.

Yes. Economists call this "internalization of the costs/benefits of decisions." Our present social insanity is the 100% predictable consequences of the externalization of costs/benefits of decisions (in both directions, thanks to socialism/leftism).

humanity who gets quickly wise to the "new reality" to which they rapidly adapt. Before you know it, you have a couple new generations who have been raised up on the principles of proper human relations and the world has become a better place, not because it is tolerant, but precisely because it is intolerant of the intolerable.

There is another word for what you are describing: the apocalypse (the actual apocalypse described in the Bible). Don't imagine for a second that a primary purpose of those prophecies is anything other than what you have described here. And it is coming, as surely as the sun rises and sets.

Until the incentives exist, there will be no getting serious.

You are correct, however, I think we easily overestimate just how prevalent idiocy is in our neighbors. Yes, I know all about the headlines, but most of our neighbors are not in the headlines. I think that a lot of people are starting to feel some of the consequences of the COVID-tyranny, and I think they're starting to realize that something is deeply out of place. They're working two jobs and literally unable to make ends meet at a standard-of-living that is already a good 25-50% lower than their parents were easily able to maintain, while vacationing regularly, etc. Yes, those are "soft" consequences, but once again, I submit to you that most of our neighbors are not as brick-headed as we would gather from the news or Twitter, etc. That's a good thing, because it means that a non-negligible number of Americans are going to be waking up in waves as we head into increasing levels of consequences from the insane Ukraine/COVID/etc. madness. Yes, the globalists will continue ratcheting even as people are waking up, but my point is that I am hopeful that we don't have to wait until the nukes are literally raining from the skies before a significant number of Americans awaken. Many more are already awake than I think many people on RPF realize. The doomsday virus changed more than the globalists meant it to change.

We should fear asserting our sovereign rights before the false throne of the Tyrant. We should fear slitting the Tyrant's throat. We should fear it all, and proceed in the face of our terror, for that is what we know as "courage"; acting in accord with what is right and necessary, despite the soiling of our undergarments.

I look at it in exact reverse. The tyrant was always the feeble old man, just really clever and completely lacking conscience. That's his only two "superpowers". Everything else is just the house-of-cards he's built on those two "talents". The only one who is to be feared is God. The tyrant doesn't fear God and that is how we know he is damned.

But faith in what? Faith in God certainly has not done the job.

There is "faith" and then there is faith. Until we have been through the crucible, there is no way to tell the difference.

Incorrect. It would result in your disappearance, never to be seen or heard from again. You give such men far too much credit for sense and, more significantly, basic humanity.

I wasn't saying it like that -- it's just a thought-experiment (suppose you appeared to them as an apparition, or whatever).

[osan]

[QUOTE=ClaytonB;7144770]

the people gave the government certain duties/responsibilities

Define "the people". I ask because I sure as the devil gave them no such duty, much less the power to act in accord. So far as I can tell from reading, they gave themselves that power. This may have been naively done with the best of intentions, but that doesn't devolve so much as the least obligation onto myself, and yet if I carry my sidearm in NYC and am discovered, I will be lucky to live through it. Land of the free, my ass.

and

they also determined (by Constitution and law) the specific manner in which the government was to raise its revenues for those purposes.

And how's that all working out? See what I mean?

To give the government duties without giving it a way to raise revenues would, of course, be ridiculous and pointless. So, the original form of the Constitution was nearly "ancap" on this point.

And to give those false authorities to hold the people in question EASILY and RAPIDLY accountable in the most grim manners imaginable, for the sake of preventing abuses off office is an error I cannot assess as naive omissions. Those mofos know precisely what they were doing, and cloaked it in sugary language.

To be sure, the US Constitution needs some serious updates.

It needs my Amendment XXVIII. To wit:


https://freedomisobvious.blogspot.co...ment-xxix.html

Amendment XXVIII

Because individuals holding Public office and other governmental appointments occupy positions of Special Trust, they must be sternly held to a higher standard of behavior. Intent of action is irrelevant to the actual results that arise from the choices made by those in such positions. It is only to the results of those choices to which the People, meaning every individual American, must turn their attentions and considerations where such choices result in the violation, diminution, or other disparagement of the Rights of innocent men, for no man holds the least authority to violate said Rights. This is trebly so of those who choose to take up the mantle of the Public Trust, and for that reason we amend this Constitution as follows.


The purpose of this Amendment is to address the unjust results of those Servants who fail to uphold their sworn oaths, whether through design, incompetence, or mishap, and to specify the hazards all such individuals shall face for the commission of Crimes and Violations against those to whom they swore their oaths of good faith and competent service.


Free Men stand under the constant threat of those who would see them subdued and reduced in status to some form and degree of servitude. It matters no whit whence, but when “government” in any form or fraction thereof becomes the source of such threats, the risks to life, limb, and other properties of Free Men are most acutely set to hazard and damage.

This Amendment seeks to reduce the means and abilities by which any government Instrument may be set against the Free Men of America by outlining in detail the limits to be placed upon all such Instruments, as well as the hazards they face in the event of any violation of the Rights of a Free Man. It further reasserts the powers of Free Men to resist violations by “government”.

I. Definitions

This section shall set forth and define all special terms used in this Amendment




Act of Governance


Any action undertaken by an Instrument or group thereof under the authority of either a duly sworn warrant, or as the result of witnessing the real and immediate commission of a criminal act by an individual or group thereof.


Any action taken by Free Men in defense against Violations or other Crimes committed by other Instruments, or other Free Men. Such actions may also be taken when “government” proves itself unworthy of the Public Trust, rendering such Instruments unreliable as to the proper discharge of the duties to which they swore Oaths of Good Faith and Competent Service.




Amended Crime [Violation]


An Amended Crime is one where the perpetrator has made sufficient reparations to his victim for each criminal act to assess said victim as having been remade as whole in terms of every loss suffered at the hands of the perpetrator.

A sufficiently Amended Violation shall be deemed as not a Crime.




Crime [Violation]


For the purposes of this Amendment, a Crime is any Unamended Violation committed in trespass of the Sovereign Rights of Free Men who cannot be demonstrated prima facie to have committed any criminal act warranting governing action. Such action may only be undertaken by Instruments where criminal action is being witnessed as taking place in real time, or has been alleged under oath and affirmation by an individual or group thereof, resulting in an actionable warrant which shall most narrowly specify the actions to be taken and the service of which shall be confined strictly to its specifications and other instructions. Any actions taken outside the metes and bounds of such specifications shall call for in-depth investigation by third-parties unrelated to any individual or his related organizations or agencies, to determine whether such excursions from specifications were avoidable, and thereby punishable.


Any individual, whether Instrument or Free Man, who bears intentional Formal false witness against any individual, whether Instrument or Free Man, shall face the same hazards as those to which he or they put, or would have put, the falsely accused.


All Crimes are Violations, but not all Violations are Crimes. Crimes are a proper subset of Violations.


Criminal


Any human individual living within the territorial borders of the United States of America who has committed a Crime, or is living under Criminal Debt, having been previously and duly convicted of a Crime.


That which constitutes a Crime.




Criminal Debt


That which is owed by an individual in consequence of having been duly convicted of a criminal act in a court of Law, by a jury of one’s peers or, in the case of those who act under sworn oaths of good faith and competent service, those who have been violated or act on their behalf.

A Criminal Debt may include material assets, as well as time such as that comprising a prison sentence, or a death penalty.

Anything penal or compensatory in nature as assessed against a Public Instrument duly convicted of a Crime as part of what they owe in restitution to their victims and/or as punishment for the deeds of which they have been duly convicted.




Formal/Formal Act


A Formal Act is one made so as to incite an official act of governance.


Any act committed as part of an act of governance, such as a trial, sworn deposition, grand jury testimony, etc..




Free Man


Any human individual not living under Criminal Debt.








Instrument, “Government Instrument”, "Public Instrument"


Any individual who has been elected to Public office, whether by the people, by a Public body, or by any other means whatsoever.


Any individual appointed to any Public office or other Public position by any means whatsoever.
Any individual hired as a Public employee to any Public position whatsoever.


Any individual Publicly contracted to discharge any Public duties whatsoever.


This applies not only to individuals, but any group thereof imaginable that might be elected, appointed, hired, or contracted pursuant to Public duties.

These three terms are perfect analogs.


Furthermore, an Instrument is also the product of any individual, or group thereof in positions of Special Trust and service, the enactment or other application of which results in violations of the Rights of Free Men.




Public

Anything or anyone vested in the Public Trust


Anything funded through taxation, whether in whole or in part.


All Public personnel occupy Positions of Public Trust.


All Public endeavors are vested of the Public Trust.


The specifications of this definition applies to any and all levels and forms of governance/"government", whether federal, state, county, city, or village, etc.. There is no form, level, type, category, or degree of “government” to which this definition does not apply. All Public business, positions, and endeavors fall under this definition.


No Public office, agency, Instrumentality, goal, objective, or endeavor may be labeled or categorized as not being Public. Any such mislabeling or false categorization, or misuse, or misapplication shall constitute a Crime.




Public Trust/ Special Trust


"Public Trust" and "Special Trust" are perfect synonyms and are interchangeable.


A Special Trust is the trust of the People, taken as individuals and as an abstract collective, provisionally and conditionally granted to Instruments for the purposes of the discharge of their Public duties, all of which fall under the provisions of their sworn oaths of Good Faith and Competent Service. This trust is special in that it is assumed that those so vested in that trust shall not violate in in any manner or in any degree and any time, or for what reason whatsoever. To violate the Public Trust is to have committed the most grave sort of Crime.

The condition of the grant is that and Instrument never violate the Public Trust, whether through intent, incompetence, or mishap. Any such violation immediately divests the Instrument of his position of Special Trust and places him at risk of facing charges for a Crime.




Restored Man


The moment a Criminal Debt is discharged in full, the convict is restored to full Rights and may no longer be referred to as “convict”, save to state the fact that he was once convicted of a Crime.


In the case of Instruments, restoration is limited as specified herein.




Unamended Crime/Violation


An Unamended Crime is one where the perpetrator is either incapable of, or unwilling to make whole the victims upon whom he has committed a Violation.

In the case of incapacity, the Crime committed may not be regarded as being aggravated beyond the usual measure of such a Crime. For example, in the case of death resulting from the Crime, there is no means of restoring the victim to wholeness.

In the case of no will to amend, the Crime committed may be regarded as being aggravated beyond the usual measure of such a Crime. For example, in the case of theft, the perpetrator refuses to return the stolen items to his victim, despite his ability to do so, or provide said victim with a suitable replacement.


An Unamended Violation shall stand prima facie as a Crime against its victim.






Violation


A violation is any act committed by a government Instrument, as such, in trespass against the Sovereign Rights of any individual. Prevailing circumstances provide no defense for Instruments who act to violate Free Men, but may provide mitigating relief in cases of Amended Crimes where sentencing is to be considered. Unamended Violations and Crimes are perfect analogs.

Any Violation committed that was based on information proven false, shall not constitute a crime, provided all good restitutions are made. In such cases of “innocent” violations, those ultimately responsible for providing false information shall be held to account for their failures in the relevant instances. This responsibility includes all individuals making official statements of facts they cannot substantiate as being true. Such individuals may be Instruments, witnesses, or those of other involvements in the relevant matter.

Regardless of circumstances, any Instrument who commits a Violation, or contributes to the commitment of a Violation, shall at minimum be held responsible in part or in whole for reparations to the victims.


Any and all contraventions, breaches, breaking, nonobservance, disobedience, defiance, flouting, neglect, ignoring, or disruption of one's sworn Oath of Good Faith and Competent Service constitutes a Violation. All Unamended Violations are Crimes.

II. Limits of Action

Under no circumstance, including those of declared “emergencies” and “crises” shall any Instrument be empowered to violate the inherent Rights of Free Men within the territorial boundaries of the United States of America, nor those of any American citizen who may be abroad of those bounds.


The Bill of Rights, as embodied in Amendments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9, reign supreme, all other considerations and purports to governmental authority waning to near vanishing in the shadows of those enumerations, most especially Amendments II, IX, and I.

III. Waiver of Rights

Where matters concerning the duties of an Instrument’s office and position are concerned, prior to perfection of the Instrument, the individual must agree to a waiver of certain Constitutional protections. The waiver shall include the following:

1. Right to privacy
2. Right to free speech (limited)
3. Right to remain silent
4. Right to not self-incriminate
5. Right to legal counsel

Pursuant to these waivers, all Instruments agree to answer fully and with complete candor and honesty, with no omissions of truth, all questions put to them during investigations of possible Crimes and Violations committed by themselves or other Instruments against Free Men.

Refusal to answer in the ways required shall constitute a Crime in sé, shall constitute prima facie proof of one’s criminal intent, and shall result in one year at hard labor with no possibility of parole, for each count.

Instruments deemed by investigating and prosecuting authorities to be of a lesser culpability, may trade sentencing for information deemed to be of extraordinary value by said authorities in pursuit of those of greater culpability. Under no circumstance shall a sentence be reduced below that of one year at hard labor.


In all cases the Instrument shall lose his position as such and shall be forever barred from securing any position of Special Trust.


These restrictions, as they apply to their tenures of service as Instruments, shall remain in effect for twenty years as of the last day of their service as an Instrument.

IV. Amended Violations

Any Instrument convicted of a Crime or other Violation and who amends his deeds sufficient to the victim’s assessment shall have their penalties reduced in severity as judge and victim(s) shall agree.


In all cases, the Instrument shall lose his position as such and shall be forever barred from securing any position of Special Trust.

V. Unamended Violations

Any Instrument convicted of a Crime or other Violation and who is either incapable of making proper amends due to the nature of the Crime, or his incapacity, shall endure the full force of penalties but may be shown consideration if the victims accede to it unanimously.

In the case where the convicted refuses to make amends where he might otherwise be able to do so, the Crime shall stand as aggravated and the convict shall bear the full force of penalties, with neither consideration nor mercy, the victim(s) having no say in the matters of such consideration or mercy.


In all cases, the Instrument shall lose his position as such and shall be forever barred from securing any position of Special Trust.

VI. Penalties and Exoneration

Those convicted of Crimes or other Violations as Instruments of government shall bear the following penalties:

1. Immediate loss of office/position, as well as all benefits, Rights, privileges, and protections attached thereto.
2. Prohibition from holding any Public office or other position of Public Trust, whether elected, appointed, hired, or contracted, for life.
3. All properties and other assets of the Instrument and his immediate family shall be forfeit. Any properties transferred to other parties, which can be demonstrated to have been so transferred as a measure to avoid forfeiture, including those so transferred within two years prior to having assumed his first position of Special Trust, shall come nonetheless equally under forfeiture.
4. Any family member, friend, or other associate of the Instrument who can be proven to have had knowledge of the Crime(s) in question and who failed to come forward to expose said Crime(s) shall be held equally guilty and shall endure equal penalties.
5. Unamended Crimes shall be punished with not less than one year at hard labor and not more than life at hard labor, save those that constitute Treason, which shall punished by Public execution.
6. Instruments may not be pardoned for their Crimes by anyone, including the President. Any attempt to pardon a convicted instrument shall constitute a Crime.
7. Any Instrument falsely convicted of a Crime and who has been exonerated through sufficient post-trial evidence shall be immediately restored in all ways to his pre-conviction condition. All parties responsible for such miscarriages of justice shall be held criminally culpable for the results of false conviction, including all witnesses who bore false testimony. There shall be no exceptions.
8. Any failure of responsible parties to bring the proper charges against those for whom formal charges have been made and a prima facie case exists, shall be guilty of a Crime and shall be punished without trial to not less than one year at hard labor.
9. Any Instrument convicted of intentionally obstructing justice pursuant to his service as an Instrument, or that of any other Instrument, shall be sentenced to not less than twenty years at hard labor with no possibility of parole.
10. Any individual convicted of falsely formally accusing, or intentionally bearing false witness against an Instrument shall be sentenced double that which the Instrument would have received.
11. Any individual convicted of having caused the false conviction and punishment of an instrument shall be sentenced trebly to that which said Instrument received. The individual shall be held accountable, along with his immediate family, for all material losses incurred by the victim of such a crime.

VII. False Accusation

Pursuant to truer justice, and given the severity of the penalties for Instruments convicted of Crimes or Violations, government Instruments must enjoy proper protection against false accusation. To that end, anyone who accuses an Instrument of Crimes and/or Violations in a Formal manner shall face the precise same hazards of those whom they so accuse. In the case where accusations prove to be intentionally false, the accuser shall suffer the punishments that would have been meted to the Instrument, had said Instrument been convicted. Where false accusations have been made where it can be demonstrated that proper care would have lead to no charge, the accusers shall be punished by six months at hard labor.

VIII. Defense Against Crimes and Violations

Free Men retain the right to resist Crimes and other Violations perpetrated against them by government Instruments, using any means they deem necessary to preserve the integrity of life, limb, freedom, and other property. It is only by the non-violent presentation of a validly sworn and issued warrant that a Free Man may be compelled to cooperate with Instruments in the immediate term. Any violence initiated by Instruments in the service of a warrant renders the warrant invalid, leaving subject(s) of the warrant free to take defensive measures. Any violence initiated by the subject of a valid warrant gives the serving Instruments leave to take defensive measures to affect service and preserve life, but nothing more.


Anyone who acts in false defense against actions ultimately proven valid, those false actions may be deemed as aggravating factors if the actor is convicted of crimes which are directly related to said valid acts.


Free Men may convene courts of their own making to address Crimes and Violations, particularly when it is deemed that governmental courts have not, cannot, or will not discharge their duties in accord with the protections against Crimes and Violations. Such failures in themselves constitute Crimes and shall be treated in accord with the specifications of this Amendment. The convethg of such courts renders all who become administratively involved with the proceedings as Public Instruments for the tenure of said proceedings, and shall bear the precise same obligations and face the identical risks, hazards, and penalties as any other Instrument in the discharge of the relevant duties.

IX. Limited Restoration

All Instruments convicted of crimes shall be restored to their Rights upon completion of their sentences, with the following exceptions.

1. They may never again seek positions of Public Trust, doing so constituting a felony to be punished by not less than one year at hard labor and not more than five years at hard labor.
2. All restrictions of Article III as apply to their service as an Instrument shall remain in effect for the remainder of their natural lives.
3. They and their immediate family shall remain under official scrutiny for twenty years after the date of lapse of their sentences.
4. Immediate family members shall be debarred from securing any position of Special Trust for a period of twenty years from the date of conviction of an Instrument.

X. Oath of Good Faith and Competent Service

Prior to perfecting any governmental Instrument, the individual(s) in question must take the following oath, which shall remain in force for the duration of the Instrument’s tenure. The requirement to answer questions relating to duties of said tenure shall persist for not less than thirty years after lapse:

“I , <state full name>, do solemnly swear under pain of penalties I acknowledge and to which I accede in advance, to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America and to defend it from all enemies, foreign and domestic.


I do further solemnly swear, under even penalties, to abstain from committing Crimes and other Violations of the Rights of those to whom I swear this oath, the entirety of the People of the United States of America.


I do finally and solemnly swear, under pain of even penalties, to make whole all those whom I unjustly damage, whether through accident, incompetence, ignorance, or unjust intent. Any refusal to make my victims whole shall stand as prima facie proof of criminal intent against them.


Pursuant to the above sworn oath, I hereby waive my Constitutional Rights in all matters as they may relate to every facet of my sworn duties of office, and my position of Special Trust as a Public servant, as specified in Article Three of the Twenty Eighth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America. Namely, I waive my right to Right to privacy, my Right to free speech, my Right to remain silent, my Right to not self-incriminate, and my Right to legal counsel.


I vow to answer all questions, officially put to me as they relate to the relevant matters of my duties with the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.


I swear this oath of fealty, good faith, and competent, honest, and honorable service to every individual man, woman, and child of the United States of America.


I so swear this oath in the full capacity to do so with informed will, understanding, and consent without mental reservation or other impediment.


I swear this affirmation and oath upon my honor, my freedom, and my life.



Thus endeth the Amendment.

Put THAT into effect and have "the people" enforce it with bitter intolerance and we would see the Pelosis of the world vanish as if by magic.

A lot has changed since 1789 and some serious holes/leaks have been exposed. However, the problem with writing new Constitutions from scratch is, well, who gives a damn?

I did.

Everybody can write their own Constitution, so what? I say tomayto, you say tomahto

Incorrect. The implication of your tacit reasoning here is that one is as good as another. This is demonstrably false. Language is powerful, if devilish in some ways, but it makes a difference how it is used, the only factor making what you say valid being US. When men are of a sufficient goodness, and that does not mean boyscouts all around, the world they create becomes a demonstrably better place.

So, the existing Constitution at least gives us a common starting-point. It's like one of those old wood barns, half leaning over, shot through with holes and the rain pours straight through the roof. So, it's in really bad shape and, for all practical intents and purposes, it is currently useless. Just a ceremonial document that the crooks in DC pretend to pay homage to, so that they can go on raping and pillaging Americans. We urgently need to prop some 4x4's on the corners of the barn and set them in concrete to keep it from collapsing completely. I know that feels pretty futile at the moment, but I think if we start taking the tools we have seriously, we could witness a miracle unfold that we never imagined possible.

Yes, in all this you are mainly correct. But we don't make proper use, which once again points to US as the root of the problem. That is why I have specifically stated that crawling out of this stygian pit into which we have volunteered to jump, the lot of us, will bring a brutal cost. We as a statistical gestalt are nowhere near the point of accepting this. Therefore, we mosey along, complaining.

This loss of humanity is not a reason-and-logic thing, it's a heart thing,

Aux contraire, mon ami. Logic and reason are every bit part and parcel of the human animal as is "heart". The problem is our will to allow our emotions to rule and often ruin our lives. Were this not true, we would not have the drug problems we now face. People want want want, but reject the notion of pay pay pay. Thus, we suck ditchwater and our lives become shyte.

The rest of the world does not suffer from the sickness that afflicts America

It suffers from variations of it, and in even greater measure. If you disbelieve, I suggest you take a trip to China. Look at pathetic western Europe. Africa is just a wasteland. Australia has gone full-totalitarian, as has Canada. And so the list goes on. Americans aren't the problem any more than are the Sudanese. Human beings, on the whole, REALLY suck; not even out of intent, but from a lack of giving the least of a $#@! about their neighbors... so long as they get their free stuff.

just our laws, but also our culture. We need to bring back the bustle, the foot-traffic, the family dinners, the nuclear family, and so on. With the pink-haired transgenders taking up all the oxygen in the room (and then some), this can feel impossible. But it's not. It just feels that way.

We need to bring back basic first-order knowledge and a grim intolerance for trespass by one man upon another.

No, there's more at stake than that. This is one of the scenarios that the globalists are absolutely slavering for. These mass shooting headlines are no accident. They (globalists) even have a name for it: "stochastic terrorism". It means that they don't directly cause them, they just keep scattering the ingredients for them to happen, and wait for the inevitable combinations of the mixing of social forces to align and produce the fruit they're seeking. Jan6th (already mentioned) was partially such an event. It's obvious what happened -- a legitimate, peaceful protest was infiltrated by agents provocateur and turned into a McRiot, where 99+% of the property damage was done by the agents provocateur themselves. The point is that they themselves are gunning for the bloodbath, because they're prepped to the gills and a Mad Max world (with themselves at the top of the food-chain) is one of the scenarios they actively desire. Watch This Is The End, which is basically an extended fantasy session by wacko Hollywood leftists, imagining how they would live out their most depraved fantasies in the event of a real apocalypse. (Note: has a lot of disturbing sexual content, most people on RPF probably wouldn't enjoy watching it.) They've got the deep underground bunkers, up-armored SUVs and everything else to come out on top. They (globalists, leftists) are actively baiting revolution for that reason.

This is certainly plausible, and even likely to my eyes. I fully agree that Theye are poking and prodding in the hope we start shooting. We should start hunting. That, of course, is unlikely in the extreme.

Yes. Economists call this "internalization of the costs/benefits of decisions." Our present social insanity is the 100% predictable consequences of the externalization of costs/benefits of decisions (in both directions, thanks to socialism/leftism).

Good to know Im not the only insane person on the planet.

There is another word for what you are describing: the apocalypse (the actual apocalypse described in the Bible). Don't imagine for a second that a primary purpose of those prophecies is anything other than what you have described here. And it is coming, as surely as the sun rises and sets.

Agreed, but I try to avoid the religious angle because that is all a matter of faith. Faith cuts no muster with most folks, no matter how much they claim to the contrary. Were it otherwise, the world would be a very different place.

You are correct, however, I think we easily overestimate just how prevalent idiocy is in our neighbors.

This isn't about idiocy as much as it is about corruption of the individual, mostly in the form of wanting free stuff. They want freedom without having to bear the associated costs of attaining it and keeping it, the latter being the far more difficult thing to do, especially when times turn good.

I am hopeful that we don't have to wait until the nukes are literally raining from the skies before a significant number of Americans awaken. Many more are already awake than I think many people on RPF realize. The doomsday virus changed more than the globalists meant it to change.

My intuition leads me to suspect that you will be disappointed. Nukes? Perhaps not, but blood-soaked civil war... That is what Theye want, as you noted above. Why should Theye do the killing when they can get us to do all the heavy lifting for them? On the whole, we are suckers.

I look at it in exact reverse. The tyrant was always the feeble old man, just really clever and completely lacking conscience. That's his only two "superpowers". Everything else is just the house-of-cards he's built on those two "talents". The only one who is to be feared is God. The tyrant doesn't fear God and that is how we know he is damned.

And look at how wildly successful it has all been for him. That aside, the men with guns are in place. They want to be on the "winning side" and if that means shooting down your children, do not make the error of assuming that they will not follow those orders. "Us and them" is now firmly established in America and one must give credit to Themme for having done their work well. Theye placed the bait, and most of us lapped it up like cats and antifreeze.

I wasn't saying it like that -- it's just a thought-experiment (suppose you appeared to them as an apparition, or whatever).

I understand, but my point is that there is no appealing to men's humanity when they have none. Could you imagine such appeals working for the victims of Dahmer? That's my point.

Whatever may play out is yet to be seen. I hope I prove wrong on every point and that humanity comes to sense, but I shall not hold my breath for it.

Cheers.

[acptulsa]

A battle of walls...

[Madison320]

Almost everyone where, exactly?

Right here.

I was about the only one here who didn't want Trump to use antitrust laws and liability lawsuits to get back at big tech companies that weren't "acting right".

Except for the ones that didn't think big tech had a left wing bias.

I think both groups are wrong. You have to be blind not to see an overwhelming left wing bias in the media. But the solution is not for the government to force big tech to be balanced.

[osan]

Right here.

I was about the only one here who didn't want Trump to use antitrust laws and liability lawsuits to get back at big tech companies that weren't "acting right".

Except for the ones that didn't think big tech had a left wing bias.

I think both groups are wrong. You have to be blind not to see an overwhelming left wing bias in the media. But the solution is not for the government to force big tech to be balanced.

Well, Trump did relatively very good things. Did he perform to my standard? No. Could he have? Unlikely. Not to defend the man's clearly off-kilter understanding of freedom, but he was so hamstrung by the Congress, it's a small miracle he accomplished what he did. His big failing, of course, was huge: failure to drain the swamp.

Supposedly, Obammy signed into law NDAA provisions that gave presidents effectively vast powers. Were he to run in '24 and win, I would expect him to rout the bastards out... a very naive position, I know, but just as with the Stupid, hope springs eternal.

[Madison320]

Well, Trump did relatively very good things. Did he perform to my standard? No. Could he have? Unlikely. Not to defend the man's clearly off-kilter understanding of freedom, but he was so hamstrung by the Congress, it's a small miracle he accomplished what he did. His big failing, of course, was huge: failure to drain the swamp.

When you say "failure to drain the swamp" if you mean "reduce the size of government" then I agree with you. And he didn't need any help, all he had to do was use his veto power. But he never did.

By far the most important criteria for socialism is the size of government. Massive government and free market capitalism don't go together. Trump moved us towards socialism and away from capitalism more than any other president in history. He DOUBLED the size of government in 4 years!

We need someone with the balls to reduce the size of government. Trump is a populist, he would never consider it.

[osan]

When you say "failure to drain the swamp" if you mean "reduce the size of government" then I agree with you.

That too, but mainly putting the crooks on the ends of ropes.

And he didn't need any help, all he had to do was use his veto power. But he never did.

He fell way short on many fronts, but the swamp thing was the worst of it. Pissed me off.

By far the most important criteria for socialism is the size of government. Massive government and free market capitalism don't go together. Trump moved us towards socialism and away from capitalism more than any other president in history. He DOUBLED the size of government in 4 years!

That is an assertion I don't know to be either true or false. Nothing would surprise me, though.

Most Americans are political morons, or so it seems.

We need someone with the balls to reduce the size of government. Trump is a populist, he would never consider it.

Such a president would not live long.

[Madison320]

T
That is an assertion I don't know to be either true or false. Nothing would surprise me, though

Spending under Trump went from 4.1 trillion to 7.2 trillion

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/stat...ts-and-outlays

What's really annoying is all the economically illiterate Trumpsters criticizing inflation. Government spending is by far the biggest cause of inflation and there's a long lag. At least half of the inflation we're experiencing was caused by Trump.

Not that Biden is any better on govt spending, he's worse but not by that much.

[Occam's Banana]

I was about the only one here who didn't want Trump to use antitrust laws and liability lawsuits to get back at big tech companies that weren't "acting right".

About the only one, maybe.

But not the only one:

Although I understand and sympathize with the impulse to use them, I'm no fan of anti-trust laws, either, though - or of their application against Google, et al. in the name of dealing with their censorship & "misinformation" shenanigans. [...]

[Madison320]

About the only one, maybe.

But not the only one:

I remember that.

[Brian4Liberty]

CIA Had been doing it long before Trump,,and Obama Legalized it as I remember.

Operation Mockingbird

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1589606899569377282

[Occam's Banana]

https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1589606899569377282

https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/statu...27275640987648


Items referred to by Greenwald:
- NBC News: The GOP needs a counterradicalization strategy
- The Intercept: Beyond BuzzFeed: The 10 Worst, Most Embarrassing U.S. Media Failures on the Trump-Russia Story
- Axios: Media trust hits new low
- The First Amendment Encyclopedia: Snepp v. United States (1980)