Lowering the Bar dissects a FOIA response:
- The government dropped a bomb on a U.S. citizen,
- who, though a total dick and probably a criminal, may have been engaged only in propaganda,
- which, though despicable, is generally protected by the First Amendment;
- it did so without a trial or even an indictment (that we know of),
- based at least in part on evidence it says it has but won't show anyone,
- and on a legal argument it has apparently made but won't show anyone,
- and the very existence of which it will not confirm or deny;
- although don't worry, because the C.I.A. would never kill an American without having somebody do a memo first;
- and this is the "most transparent administration ever";
- currently run by a Nobel Peace Prize winner.
Merry Christmas!
"nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law" my ass.
on the bright side, at least we now have proof that Obama is not a seekrit muslim.
Actually, this doesn't show that at all. Sunnis and Shi'ites hate each other with a hatred eclipsed only by their loathing of the Jews.
The last decade or so has been fun because Democrats have learned that the government can be a murderous dick, so matter which party is in charge.
The last decade or so has been fun because Republicans have learned that the government can be a murderous dick, so matter which party is in charge.
The last decade has NOT been fun because there's no apparently solution to the issue.
Not being a murderous dick?
“Not being a murderous dick” is outside of current matrix parameters. On an unrelated note, would you please stand out in the open for a minute?
Don't worry, Bourne will bring the whole thing down in a spectacular fashion.
"President Obama ... disproved my hypothesis that we are a country with basically good institutions brought low by poor quality leadership"
So why do people continue living in the US, again?
'Cause living elsewhere is no protection? (I mean, given that al-Awlaki wasn't in the U.S. when we assassinated him...)
Ugh, I knew some 'tard would think this was what I meant.
Think long-term: if the intelligent and productive tax base grows tired of this shit and emigrates, they won't be able to continue doing much of anything, much less assassinating their own citizens. It's a "vote with your wallet" sort of game, now.
Ugh, I knew some 'tard would think this was what I meant.
Happy Holidays to you too!
Probably because no place else is objectively much better. What would happen in Germany if I wore my Nazi Punks Fuck Off armband?
That wasn't intended, btw, to be Germany-bashing.
You'd go to the same place that you'd go in the USA if you threatened to harm the president. There isn't absolute freedom of speech anywhere. Germany is a million times more free than the USA.
I am German and have no idea what would happen. Was that a reference to some news item I missed? Was it just about our gov't being paranoid about the left-wing underground?
no, just an armband that came with the single of a Dead Kennedys song a long time ago. It's got a swastika on it, inside a circle slash.
Oh, that issue you mean. A few years ago, it has been cleared up that slashed swastikas are not swastikas and can be worn openly. But even before that, it was a mere legal WTF.
There are worse problems in Germany IMHO, and the current gov't is the biggest of them.
As opposed to where?
Personally, I'd be all too happy to move out of the US, but the obvious alternatives for someone who only speaks English, like Canada or the UK, have immigration requirements even many highly productive Americans can't easily meet. Lack of a college degree is a huge minus, for example -- I'm a skilled developer, a degree would gain me very little in practice, but immigration authorities don't understand that, and it's basically an automatic rejection.
I moved to Germany, myself, once it became crystal-clear that the NYPD was never going to stop violating people's basic freedoms and that the USA PATRIOT Act would never get repealed. It sucks leaving all of your family and friends behind, but life is way better here.
Germany's immigration requirements are, if anything, even harder for someone like me to meet, and that's without getting into the language barrier (and I have little desire to live somewhere I don't speak the language, I had that particular experience during an extended business trip recently).
You want to know why we keep living here, the answer is most of us don't have anywhere else to go. The proper response to that is not "well, I did!".
I dropped out of high school and don't speak German. The immigration requirements in Berlin are minimal for white people.
That's at odds with what little English-language information I can find online, for Germany or most other countries. Are there any resources you can point me at?
How convenient should immigration be?
I'm not saying it should or shouldn't be more convenient. OP asked "So why do people continue living in the US, again?" -- this is one of the reasons why. It's not about a political, moral, or ethical judgement of the system(s), it's a matter of practicality.
Getting a degree to meet immigration standards doesn't strike me as particularly less practical than other life-changing, decades-long commitments.
I'm glad you can sacrifice 4+ years of your life and tens of thousands of dollars without bankrupting yourself and leaving disabled family members to fend for themselves. Not everyone has that luxury. Hence, not all of us will be able to get out of the US.
I'm the disabled one in my family, the student loans and research assistant job kept me from bankruptcy and set me up with the opportunity to go to Finland or a Commonwealth country for grad school and make arrangements for us to emigrate from there.
This is not to disrespect people for choosing to maintain their family's lifestyle instead of moving to a freer country, but you need to own up to the fact that you are making that choice.