The GOP war on Privacy and Personal Liberty

[whiskeytown]

my fav. quote -

[ QUOTE ]
As reflected by the observations at National Review's Corner of Andrew Stuttaford (a genuine believer in individual liberty), Republicans have now almost completely abandoned any belief in limitations on the power and reach of the federal government to regulate every aspect of our lives, while Democrats, imperfect though they are, have taken the role of insisting upon the right of citizens to be free from unwarranted federal government intervention.

[/ QUOTE ]

[BriMc]

What I find most shocking about the current state of affairs is the radical nature of the changes the Bush Movement has been able to effect in the government. Checks and balances out the window. I can be spyed on without court order, government agents, on the order of the President alone can arrest me in America, take me to a secret place, keep me there indefinitely with out any right to habeus corpus, and torture me. ALL ON THE ORDER OF ONE MAN WHO CLAIMS TO NEVER EVER BE WRONG. I'm so glad we "won" the cold war and got the right to become the new old Soviet Russia.

[pvn]

[ QUOTE ]
Checks and balances out the window.

[/ QUOTE ]

Checks and balances are a myth, and always have been. You're talking about the federal government checking itself? Come on.

[morphball]

People should not be allowed to do what pleases them. People who think differently are terrorists. Why do you hate America?

[Utah]

[ QUOTE ]
I read Glenn Greenwald's blog regularly, I figured I'd post this one here because it mentions the new GOP led antigambling efforts.

http://glenngreenwald.blogspot.com/2...te-sphere.html

The GOP war on the private sphere

Article deleted due to copyright violation

[/ QUOTE ]I believe I was dead wrong on my original take on the motivations of the Republicans. I was for the patriot act and I was for giving the government a long leash to go after terrorists. It appears that the Republicans have given up all pretense anymore as to their real intentions.

I hope the Republicans get freakin trounced in the elections.

[CaptainFreedom]

Utah I can't tell if you are being serious or not but I had no idea about the "new" rules of making porno in the USA. That is completely beyond the pale of what I thought was going on and having FBI agents waste their time on crap like this instead of terrorism is just nauseating. Here is an Op-ed from a newspaper is Kansas (wtf) that is endorsing a majority of Democrats for like the first time in 50 years.

"This is a sneak preview.

As we prepare ourselves to make political endorsements in subsequent issues, I can tell you unequivocally that this newspaper has never endorsed so many Democrats. Not even close.

In the 56 years we have been publishing in Johnson County, this basically has been a Republican newspaper. In the old days, before the Republican civil war that fractured the party, we were traditional Republicans. That is, we happily endorsed Jan Meyers for Congress, Bob Dole for U.S. Senate, Nancy Kassebaum for U.S. Senate; virtually every Republican state legislator from here, with a few rare exceptions; and most governors, although we did endorse the conservative Democrats George and Bob Docking and John Carlin.

The point is, I can name on two hands over a half century the number of Democrats we have endorsed for public office.

This year, we will do something different. You will read why we are endorsing Kathleen Sebelius for governor and Mark Parkinson for lieutenant governor; Dennis Moore to be re-elected to the U.S. Congress; Paul Morrison for Kansas attorney general; and a slew of local Democratic state legislative candidates. These are not liberal Democrats. They are what fairly can be described as conservative Democrats, and we can prove that in our forthcoming endorsements.

But I could not help but put in perspective a more global phenomenon that has led us to re-evaluate our traditional support for Republicans.

This change may come as no surprise to our most cynical conservative readers who would dismiss me (and others on the editorial board) as being a moderate Republican and, therefore, the same as a Democrat. To them, there is no difference. "

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1...G=461&rfi=9


I think this editorial perfectly sums up what a lot of conservatives who are taking a long look at their party/legislators are thinking right now. You should read the whole thing its quite good.

[whiskeytown]

great article -

the fact it's in KS is even more telling -

I've used to barely be on the side of the Religious Right, and I bailed for the Religious Left - and I am finding more and more in increasing frequency that I am no longer the only one who jumped ship - it's been a great relief.

rb

[adios]

Patriot Act - Basically supported by both political parties and by the U.S. public.

Anti Porn Laws - Kiddie porn absolutely condemned by both political parties and by the U.S. public. My take on adult porn is that basically the majority of the public is not very interested in it as the public probably has a live and let live attitude for the most part. Since the public's right to view adult porn isn't that important to them, the public doesn't really care about the issue. This opens the door for attacks on adult porn from special interests.

UIGE - IMO the public doesn't care very much about this issue either. Probability and having edges in "gambling" games is something the public is very ignorant about (a basic reason why good poker players win FWIW). A great many people that gamble don't do so very often and when they do they expect to lose. Therefore online gambling doesn't mean much to them. This opens the door for attacks on internet gambling from special interests.


The author's implication that the Republicans are facists based on their stance in these issues is a stretch. The problem to me is that many people are very ambivilant about the government and very ignorant about what it does. I dare say that many folks on this site have become alot more interested in the government and how it operates after the passage of the UIGE legislation.

In the Congressional District where I live there's a close contest between the Republican and the Democrat. I'm fairly certain the Democrat lines up with my views of internet gambling more so than the Republican. I'm voting for the Republican though because there are many more issues where her views and my views line up.

Also I'm in Denver this weekend typing on a notebook from my hotel room. Apologies for any unusual wierdness in this post. I think it was the San Juan range in southern Colorado that were covered in snow, a truely beautiful scene. Not too much snow yet on Pike's Peak though.

[AlexM]

[ QUOTE ]
The joint GOP and Democrat war on Privacy and Personal Liberty

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Title fixed.