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Terran
20-May-2010, 10:23 PM
Initially this was going to be a response within the Rand Paul thread.
In that thread I made a comment that its hard to take the Tea-Party seriously with the various craziness associated with them. I used various protest signs of Tea-Party supporters to illustrate this.
Publius then responded

Yeah, but that pretty much boils down to it being hard to support any political movement. Because pretty much any political rally you care to go to, whatever part of the political spectrum, will have some loons carrying outrageous signs that you can single out
Publius providing various signs used by people protesting former President Bush as an example.

Initially the first thing I wrote was this:

Yeah the signs and imagery are very similar. And I would agree that those anti-Bush signs make the Tea-Party signs look tame.
To be fair we should really put these events and protests in prospective…….

It was immediately after I wrote that last line down that I no longer felt it was fair to compare these two movements and the shared imagery that they used.

To remind my lovely audience what two movements and shared imagery I am referring to.
Group 1)Bush Protesters. Imagery: Bush portrayed as Hitler
Group 2)Obama Protesters. Imagery. Obama portrayed as Hitler
As noticed by JDFP:

Funny though, people complained about being too extreme and then voted into office the most radical liberal president the nation has ever had [Obama]. Ah, the swinging pendulum in action!

That old saying popped into my head as it relates to this Protesters.

Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
It seems like this applies to a lot of people.

Not only does it seem that general public does not remember the past, they seem to prefer reinventions of history. Especially if such reinventions validates groups or ideologies that the public identifies with.

Bush protest-imagery in perspective (limiting details due to space):

Brief History

Bush Family achieved wealth through the Petroleum industry (domestic and some offshore platforms)
George Herbert Walker Bush Presidency
Persian Gulf War directly threatens family fortune. Resulting OPEC pressure threatens entire United States economy and way of life.
Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces are removed from Kuwait. Despite pressure from OPEC nations George H. W. Bush stops short of overthrowing Iraqi government quoted saying that such actions would "incur incalculable human and political costs.... We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq."

Enter George Walker Bush presidency
9/11 attack occurs.
Economy is threatened
Administration assigns attributes to these attackers. “Islamic radicals” the perpetrators
Declares war on “Terrorism”
Administration and political party uses strong nationalism and ideological supremacy as a tool to achieve re-elections and increases the governments power.
Patriot Act adopted (contents of which violate the constitution)
Invasion of Afghanistan
Invasion of Iraq
Purposes of Invasions to eliminate the Islamic radicals threat
Conveniently enough the bulk share of the benefactors of these actions were campaign contributors.

Enter the Anti War Protestors with Nazi Imagery:
Many of those people were reacting to their President starting a war.

So a lot of their imagery for protest would naturally be things related to past wars, more specifically "universal" villains of these wars (IE Hilter).


Its necessary to point out that the "war" Bush declared was not directed at country.
Rather a vague conceptual war against "terror”, put simply people that are threats to our society and way of life and general prosperity.
Bush would say "Our 'war on terror' begins with al Qaeda, but it does not end there. It will not end until every terrorist group of global reach has been found, stopped and defeated.”
These terrorists groups target just happen to be militant Islamists who threaten our access to OPEC oil.

"If you not with us, your against us!" and that harboring people or groups that the USA labels as terrorist is equivent to being part of the terrorist group.

Is there portrayal of Bush as Hitler reasonable in respects to their Anti-War protest?

How do these events compare?





Then the Great Depression hit Germany.
Economy is devastated

Hitler/Nazis declared that Jewish financiers around the world had/were actively conspiring to drive the nations of the world into war so that they could convert the world to communism.
Exploiting the German population's general ignorance, Hitler and the Nazis used nationalism and racialism to convince the public that these Jewish financiers were active unprovoked aggressors, literally attacking their nation's and way of life.

As the economy improved and support began to dwindle the Nazis manufactured numerous terrorists acts and attributed them to the various enemies they had so actively campaigned against.

Without using the actual term Hitler and the Nazis had labeled Jewish financiers as Global Terrorists.

Conveniently enough the bulk share of financing for the Nazi Party, specifically Hitler's political campaigns were paid for directly by German Bankers.

“Jewish Bankers are Terrorists!
This message paid for by the Foundation of German Bankers”.

Politically, the more fear and urgency the Nazi political party generated over this issue the secure they became, and the more powers they were awarded:
Powers like:
Enabling Act (In as few words as possible this abolished the separation of powers. Essentially violating Germany’s Constitution).
Established a One Party System.
The Nazi political party internally discussed how to respond to the 'Jewish Question'.
Meaning that the political party was determining how to geopolitically respond to these "Global Terrorists"


The proposed extermination of this group was euphemistically referred to as the "Final Solution to the 'Jewish Question'".
Effectively declaring “If you are not with us, you are against us”

The rest as they say “is history” the Nazis went about trying to round up all these “terrorists” while destroying the governments that harbored them. And failed.







Summarizing.
From an Anti-war protest perspective the depiction of Bush as Hitler and his various associates as Nazis carries a distinct message.

The apparent protesters message was.

Bush is furnishing the fears of; economic uncertainty, mutual hatred, and the loss of national sovereignty to the point were declarations of war and military action feel like self defense....[B]Just Like Hitler.



And to the slower minded people in the group
"Hitler is bad mKay, this means Bush=Bad






I am running out of space here...but the Tea-Party Obama depictions.


Someone give me some ideas to what the Tea-Party people are trying to say?

Depiction of Obama as Hitler?...In some cases Depicting him as Osama Bin Laden.

You hear the Tea-Party people throw out "Socialist" and the whole world government thing.

Then they seem connecting Socialism to the Nazis and Nazis to Hitler...


Someone help me out


(UG Im tired of working on this....cant proofread or squeeze in any more details):skull:

Danny
20-May-2010, 10:45 PM
i dont say this in any way as some insult so dont take it that way. However, america as a people are a very paranoid, scared people who want to be told they are getting a fair deal and that they are always first to get the touchdown.
In the last twenty years the opinion of the leadership has changed from trusting to doubtful, angry and tired. They no longer think they are getting the top dog deal. Hell, watch a simpsons episode from a decade ago and you ahve lisa pretending to be canadian on vacation because americans think the rest of the world doesnt want to be bff's with america anymore.
This acted as sort of the wakeup call to the american peoples intrinsic isolationist nature. if you think the rest of the world sees you only as drunk, redneck, gun toting couch cows, that you dont have any friends anymore you get on the defensive. You fall back on whats safe.
But in this era when you cannot go a DAY without hearing the word terrorism what you can fall back on diminishes greatly. This isnt the era of pleasantville knowing every neighbor, cheap cars and absolute trust that only stupid hippies dont think "the man" knows best.
Instead most fall back to the "i only trust me and mine" and in a two party political system this tends to cause drift in the "us or them" variety.

Sephen king said "people ask me my political leaning. its technically democrat. but that doesnt mean i must automatically close my ears and mind to every republican idea". Thats the problem though. as a people americans do just that. Its instinctual nowadays. This has no party leaning. If a person is a liberal american all republicans are close minded, puritan bigots form a bygone time. If your democratic all liberals are weak wristed pussies who wanted to disband the military and bend over for any and all threats to america and burn down every chruch and ect ect.
You hear the one you dont agree with on the majority of issues and instinctually due to the isolationist nature you may listen but your waiting for a chance to say "really? sorry to tell you but your completely wrong and heres why". You might not say that out loud but i would bet good money almost everyone from coast to coast subconiously readies themselves that way.
Becuase these arent fellow americans. there the enemy that is reason everythings broken. When you fall back to what you know when your government didnt stop the twin towers from crashing down you can only trust you and yours.
Down the line its just going to become more and more severe and radical elements are only going to rise.
Hell i think in part thats what gathered a few votes for obama, not too many, just a few. - The need to feel safe.
Lets be honest. Americas last president had a foolish reputation, looked like a chimp and was constantly berated as a moron. Along comes a guy who looks like all the opposites. he looks and sounds like a cross between tuvok from star trek and professor X and people will look at this man and think "maybe this guy can do it, after what we've had". I dont think its what won him the election but i think it could have easily gotten him a few thousand votes.

Im gonna stop before i go off tangentially but point is americas a big, incredibly varied place and when people dont trust the people in charge and feel they have no allies they will resort to what they know and join either side of the two party coke or pepsi political line. -though now its more often called political argument which is a shame, but its always gonna bring out the crazy which will only further emphasize the differences at there most radical.

It's all fear at the end of the day in some fashion. simple as that.

EvilNed
20-May-2010, 10:48 PM
I like it when people start generalizing about Americans. It's at times like that when I kick back and realize we're talking about a nation of 310 million inhabitants. It's funny.


he looks and sounds like a cross between tuvok from star trek and professor X

So what you're saying is that he looks like a cross between Tuvok and Picard?

Publius
21-May-2010, 10:57 AM
Patriot Act adopted (contents of which violate the constitution)


So, it was promptly repealed once the Democrats took control of the White House and both houses of Congress, right?



I am running out of space here...but the Tea-Party Obama depictions.


Someone give me some ideas to what the Tea-Party people are trying to say?


Suffice to say that comparing the other guy to Hitler always seems more reasonable than comparing your own guy to Hitler, but it's practically never reasonable. "Argumentum ad Hitlerum," they call it. I remember doing it with Clinton in my younger and less temperate days. It wasn't fair then, it wasn't fair with Bush, and it isn't fair with Obama.

Terran
21-May-2010, 01:30 PM
So, it was promptly repealed once the Democrats took control of the White House and both houses of Congress, right?

OF course not besides the point





Suffice to say that comparing the other guy to Hitler always seems more reasonable than comparing your own guy to Hitler, but it's practically never reasonable. "Argumentum ad Hitlerum," they call it. I remember doing it with Clinton in my younger and less temperate days. It wasn't fair then, it wasn't fair with Bush, and it isn't fair with Obama.

To clarify a bit Obama isnt my guy, either...*In my best Eric Cartman voice* "He Sucks Balls"

It just seems like to me that the Anti-war(Anti Bush) protesters depiction made more sense in light of the surrounding events...at least superficially....

Like I mentioned in the bottom of the post...
When I see those Bush Anti War protesters their march and depictions would seem to say

Bush is furnishing the fears of; economic uncertainty, mutual hatred, and the loss of national sovereignty to the point were declarations of war and military action feel like self defense....Just Like how Hitler took his nation to war.
And to the slower minded people in the group and as a generalized message

"Hitler is bad mKay, this means Bush=Bad"

Then I wondered


Someone give me some ideas to what the Tea-Party people are trying to say?

Depiction of Obama as Hitler?...In some cases Depicting him as Osama Bin Laden.

You hear the Tea-Party people throw out "Socialist" and the whole world government thing.

Then they seem connecting Socialism to the Nazis and Nazis to Hitler...

Exatreides
21-May-2010, 06:48 PM
I personally believe while the the left had more meaning with with there protests. It could be possibly be a jaded idea since I'm a leftist.

However the protesters were protesting against
1. The Patriot act (Which while not being repealed was introduced during the Bush Administration)
2. The invasion of Afghanistan which nearly 10 years later we still have no idea where Osama is.
3. The invasion of Iraq on faulty intelligence and the growing number of military and civilian dead.
4. Katrina
5. The if you're not American then you can get out! Mindset during the early half the decade. I think this social and xenophobic fear of the outside, that terrorism is going to get you; could be one of the reasons why America is so strongly anti immigrant right now.

How how easily people forget there history. They can't remember that three to four generations ago there own parents were immigrants, possible illegal ones. Hell my grandparents marked the main language they spoke in the 1920 census form as Yiddish.

You factor in the ties of the Bush administration with Haliburtan and it's family history of the oil industry and I can see how it's very easy for people to form links of a greater evil empire or some shit.

These protesters in my eyes at least, simply wanted less killing. They wanted an end to what in there eyes was a corrupt and un just war and the invasion of civil liberties.

While many of there signs may have been spelled or not made much sense, with the Bush=Hitler signs. I think that overall... The protesters and signs were better spoken and more literate then the tea party protesters.


I'm not saying that every tea party protester is an idiot. There are some clever ones when it comes to limiting government expenditures ect. However there are whole websites based around common misspellings and stupid protest signs. How two protesters can hold up a sign with Obama painted as a socialist, right next to a guy with him painted as Hitler.

Do they have any idea the difference between National Socialism and Socialism? Have any of these people taken a political science or economics class in there lives?

Maybe it's because I plan on being a history major, (I wanted to choke a guy out at a truck stop who said Napoleon named mount Arafat that in the 13th century)

But you can not call someone a socialist and hold up a picture of Hitler... It not only would have the small dick one testicled dictator roll over in his gasoline encrusted grave. It goes to show you're own ignorance. If you're to stupid to know Hitler was on the right wing, don't use him.

Christ that would be like leftists holding up signs that said BUSH=Stalin.

I do think that the tea party protesters have not made themselves look good.

Here you have the good old video of Tea baggers throwing money at a man with Parkinson disease.
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2_PX5L_v_7I&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2_PX5L_v_7I&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Here's another video of teabaggers shouting more random ignorant filled things.
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OemUugDSeWk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OemUugDSeWk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Brits another folks, can you tell me what your general perception is of this American movement?

Arcades057
21-May-2010, 08:57 PM
I personally believe while the the left had more meaning with with there protests. It could be possibly be a jaded idea since I'm a leftist.

However the protesters were protesting against
1. The Patriot act (Which while not being repealed was introduced during the Bush Administration)
2. The invasion of Afghanistan which nearly 10 years later we still have no idea where Osama is.
3. The invasion of Iraq on faulty intelligence and the growing number of military and civilian dead.
4. Katrina
5. The if you're not American then you can get out! Mindset during the early half the decade. I think this social and xenophobic fear of the outside, that terrorism is going to get you; could be one of the reasons why America is so strongly anti immigrant right now.

How how easily people forget there history. They can't remember that three to four generations ago there own parents were immigrants, possible illegal ones. Hell my grandparents marked the main language they spoke in the 1920 census form as Yiddish.

You factor in the ties of the Bush administration with Haliburtan and it's family history of the oil industry and I can see how it's very easy for people to form links of a greater evil empire or some shit.

These protesters in my eyes at least, simply wanted less killing. They wanted an end to what in there eyes was a corrupt and un just war and the invasion of civil liberties.

While many of there signs may have been spelled or not made much sense, with the Bush=Hitler signs. I think that overall... The protesters and signs were better spoken and more literate then the tea party protesters.


I'm not saying that every tea party protester is an idiot. There are some clever ones when it comes to limiting government expenditures ect. However there are whole websites based around common misspellings and stupid protest signs. How two protesters can hold up a sign with Obama painted as a socialist, right next to a guy with him painted as Hitler.

Do they have any idea the difference between National Socialism and Socialism? Have any of these people taken a political science or economics class in there lives?

Maybe it's because I plan on being a history major, (I wanted to choke a guy out at a truck stop who said Napoleon named mount Arafat that in the 13th century)

But you can not call someone a socialist and hold up a picture of Hitler... It not only would have the small dick one testicled dictator roll over in his gasoline encrusted grave. It goes to show you're own ignorance. If you're to stupid to know Hitler was on the right wing, don't use him.

Christ that would be like leftists holding up signs that said BUSH=Stalin.

I do think that the tea party protesters have not made themselves look good.

Here you have the good old video of Tea baggers throwing money at a man with Parkinson disease.
<object width="640" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2_PX5L_v_7I&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2_PX5L_v_7I&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="385"></embed></object>

Here's another video of teabaggers shouting more random ignorant filled things.
<object width="480" height="385"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/OemUugDSeWk&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/OemUugDSeWk&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="480" height="385"></embed></object>

Brits another folks, can you tell me what your general perception is of this American movement?

Your lack of knowledge on the things you're referencing makes baby Jesus weep. I'll give you one chance to prove you have an opinion that isn't regurgitated by morons on TV to answer me this:

1: What portion(s) of the PATRIOT Act are unconstitutional and have been deemed thusly by judges? (these judges' opinions must not have been overturned at a later date)

2: OK, where is Osama, chief? Don't just say "Pakistan, either. Give me an exact location or a way of finding him that conforms to international/American laws and treaties.

3: Show me where the intelligence was known ahead of time regarding Iraq not being a true threat to the security of the region. IE: Prove to me that Bush knew there were no WMDs and Saddam was just as cute and cudly as all you leftwingers know him to have been.

4: Prove that it was Bush's fault that Mayor Ray Nagin didn't dispatch the buses to evacuate people out of Katrina's path. Also, prove to me that Bush "hates black people" or whatever else it is you're trying to say by including the word "Katrina" in your post.

5: Show me where the official position of the United States was "if you're not American get out." I can show you quite a few pages of innocent Muslims being targeted by jerk offs where said jerk offs were promptly arrested and tried under hate crime laws, but I'm assuming you can refute that with pages of your own.

darth los
21-May-2010, 09:37 PM
Better yet. Show me a political debate that doesn't break down into this nonsense.

:cool:

Terran
21-May-2010, 10:52 PM
1: What portion(s) of the PATRIOT Act are unconstitutional and have been deemed thusly by judges? (these judges' opinions must not have been overturned at a later date)


I just wanted to point out that this particular part appears to be a loaded question (informal fallacy)....

Typically when someone says:
"This or that is unconstitutional!"

They dont mean that the Supreme Court has already found a given law or to be unconstitutional, because if that were the case the law or act in question would not exist anymore and there would not be any reason to mention the act or law in the first place.

For example we typically dont start arguments these days saying
"The segregation of public schools is unconstitutional"
We dont say this because (Brown v. Board of Education) decided that it was unconstitutional....using the logic in your statement regarding the Patriot Act, Prior to 1954 segregation of public schools was constitutional....

Here is some "nice" abuses of the Patriot Act...
I would characterize them as Unconstitutional.


Violation of Privacy

On March 9, 2007, a Justice Department audit found that the FBI had "improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA PATRIOT Act to secretly obtain personal information" about United States citizens.

On June 15, 2007, following an internal audit finding that FBI agents abused the USA PATRIOT Act power more than 1000 times, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates ordered the agency to begin turning over thousands of pages of documents related to the agency's national security letters program


This followings use of the Patriot Act I find particular scary because it is being used like Nazi Germany's Enabling Act

Seven United States Attorneys were dismissed by the United States Department of Justice on December 7, 2006. Senior members of the White House and the Department of Justice participated in compiling the list of dismisees. The USA Patriot Act Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, which was signed into law on March 9, 2006, extinguished the former 120-day term limit of interim United States Attorneys appointed to fill vacated offices.
This in effect gave the U.S. Attorney General greater appointing authority than the president, since the interim U.S. attorneys did not need Senate confirmation, and the presidential nominees do. (An interim U.S. attorney's term expires upon the confirmation and swearing in of a presidentially appointed U.S. attorney, if one is put forward.) Critics have claimed the dismissals were either motivated by desire to install attorneys more loyal to the Republican party or as retribution for actions or inactions damaging to the Republican party. At least six of the eight had positive internal Justice Department performance reports.

A bill, S-214, filed in January 2007, to rescind the no-term-limit interim U.S. attorney provision was approved by very large majorities in both the Senate and the House, and was signed into law by the President on June 14, 2007, designated Public Law No: 110-34 and called the Preserving United States Attorney Independence Act of 2007. The new law also specifies that all Attorney General-appointed interim attorneys then in office on shall have a term that ends 120 days from the signing of the bill.
As of June 14, 2007, the Department of Justice has more than twenty United States attorney positions that are not presidential appointees, which are filled by either acting US attorneys (held by civil service first U.S. attorneys) or interim U.S. attorneys appointed by the Attorney general.

Using the Patriot Act against the Homeless....
Blocking the less desirable peoples of the country from using the legal system.

Summit, New Jersey invoked the USA PATRIOT Act to defend itself from a lawsuit over removing homeless people from its train station.

The city said that its conduct is protected by the Patriot Act and that a homeless man's federal lawsuit should be barred. The city cited a section of the law regarding "attacks and other violence against mass transportation systems.





Article One of the United States Constitution Violated by the Patriot Act?


In September 2003, the New York Times reported on a case of the USA PATRIOT Act being used to investigate alleged potential drug traffickers without probable cause. The article also mentions a study by Congress that referenced hundreds of cases where the USA PATRIOT Act was used to investigate non-terrorist alleged future crimes. The New York Times reports that these non-terrorist investigations are relevant because President Bush and several members of Congress stated that the purpose the USA PATRIOT Act was that of investigating and preempting potential terrorist acts.


This is also seen by some as a violation of constitutional rights as Defined in Article One of the United States Constitution which states, "No bill of attainder or ex post facto Law shall be passed."

Prohibiting a bill of attainder means that the US Congress cannot pass a law which deems a specific person or group guilty and then punish them. Prohibiting an ex post facto law (Latin - literally - after the fact) means that the US Congress cannot make any given act a crime (or a more serious crime) after the time when that act has been committed. It is arguable that this applies to some uses of the Patriot Act and those who watch the Supreme Court are waiting for a case to make its way up so that the judges can rule on it.

Wrongful accusations under the Act

In May 2004, Professor Steve Kurtz of the University at Buffalo reported his wife's death of heart failure. The associate art professor, who works in the biotechnology sector, was using benign bacterial cultures and biological equipment in his work. Police arriving at the scene found the equipment (which had been displayed in museums and galleries throughout Europe and North America) suspicious and notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The next day the FBI, Joint Terrorism Task Force, Department of Homeland Security and numerous other law enforcement agencies arrived in HAZMAT gear and cordoned off the block surrounding Kurtz's house, impounding computers, manuscripts, books, and equipment, and detaining Kurtz without charge for 22 hours; the Erie County Health Department condemned the house as a possible "health risk" while the cultures were analyzed. Although it was determined that nothing in the Kurtz's home posed any health or safety risk, the Justice Department sought charges under Section 175 of the US Biological Weapons Anti-Terrorism Act—a law which was expanded by the USA PATRIOT Act. A grand jury rejected those charges, but Kurtz is still charged with federal criminal mail and wire fraud, and faced 20 years in jail before the charges were dropped. Supporters worldwide argue that this is a politically motivated prosecution, akin to those seen during the era of McCarthyism, and legal observers note that it is a precedent-setting case with far-reaching implications involving the criminalization of free speech and expression for artists, scientists, researchers, and others.
FBI agents used a USA PATRIOT Act "sneak and peek" search to secretly examine the home of Brandon Mayfield, who was wrongfully jailed for two weeks on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings. Agents seized three hard drives and ten DNA samples preserved on cotton swabs, and took 335 photos of personal items. Mayfield has filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government, contending that his rights were violated by his arrest and by the investigation against him. He also contends the USA PATRIOT Act is unconstitutional.


There are dozens of these abuses under the Patriot Act....

The most hilarious thing about the Patriot Act is that its stated purpose is to 'give powers to the government so they can fight "terrorism"', but its practical usage is to circumvent citizen's civil liberties.
:rolleyes:

Arcades057
21-May-2010, 11:35 PM
Terran, while I agree fully that any law can and will be misused, the PATRIOT act is a piece of legislation people always point to as an unconstitutional abuse of power--usually the same side which took advantage of the Commerce Clause to pass gun-control legislation and health care reform, both CLEAR violations of the Constitution--but they rarely stop to think of the sheer number of attorneys out there who would already have gotten the Act overturned if in fact it was unconstitutional.

Until one of those many people who, since the time of he bill's passage, have tried to find an unconstitutional aspect of the Act succeed, it will remain constitutional in fact, if not in name.

And you would think that, given the examples you listed, were the bill so great an issue it would have been overturned by now. It took people less than a week to find the unconstitutional bits in the health care reform bill, and likely less time to find the unconstitutional aspects of any number of gun control laws. This argument is like the "Bush is a war criminal" argument: If proof was there, you are out of your mind to imagine that it would not already have been overturned.

Publius
25-May-2010, 10:44 AM
OF course not besides the point

Besides the point how? If the Patriot Act is evidence that comparison of Bush to Hitler is reasonable, doesn't the fact that Obama and the Democratic Congress have retained and continue to make use of the Patriot Act provide evidence that comparison of them to Nazis is reasonable? Add to that the fact that Obama has not withdrawn U.S. forces from either of the countries that Bush invaded (Iraq and Afghanistan), and has expanded Predator strikes in countries besides those two (Yemen and Pakistan).

SRP76
25-May-2010, 10:58 AM
2: OK, where is Osama, chief?

Well, I just can't keep my secret any longer.

The truth is, I've got him tied to a pine tree in my backyard. I captured him back in 2006, and have kept him fed and watered all this time. Sometimes I take my portable television out to him (I refuse to let his ass into my actual house), and we share a laugh over the news whenever the "We've Got a Lead on Osama!" headlines pop up.

Eyebiter
26-May-2010, 01:05 PM
9/11 was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the US intelligence community.

For years they had talked about another 'Pearl Harbor' type event. When the towers fell suddenly they had their opening.

The contents of the Patriot Act were drafted LONG before 9/11. They were part of a contingency plan that no one ever thought the American people would accept.

Using the anger and panic of September 2001, sweeping reductions in the civil liberties enjoyed by Americans became law. Congress was in such a rush to be patriotic that they signed a bill that no one even bothered to read.

As they say "never let a good crisis go to waste."

Terran
26-May-2010, 07:24 PM
Besides the point how? If the Patriot Act is evidence that comparison of Bush to Hitler is reasonable, doesn't the fact that Obama and the Democratic Congress have retained and continue to make use of the Patriot Act provide evidence that comparison of them to Nazis is reasonable? Add to that the fact that Obama has not withdrawn U.S. forces from either of the countries that Bush invaded (Iraq and Afghanistan), and has expanded Predator strikes in countries besides those two (Yemen and Pakistan).

I said "It is besides the point" because of what these particular Tea Party groups are protesting.

The Stimulus Bill.
The Bank Bailouts.
The Auto Bailouts.
The Health Insurance Bill.

These particular events are what the Tea Party are protesting.

They cry out "Socialism!"....and then generate Obama-Hilter Likenesses.
So in the context of their protest's message these likenesses would only make sense to those ignorant of the past and to those who just want to associate him as "evil".


Now if the Tea Party began protesting against issues like the continued war in Iraq, and the Patriot Act then not only would signs of Obama in the likeness of Hitler be more justifiable it would make a hell of a lot more sense.


Instead though, they hold up signs saying "Obamacare" with Obama depicted as Hitler in a protest against the Health Insurance bill .
Put simply, it makes them look like idiots.


So I still think my comment: "thats besides the point" remains valid because the whole point was whether their protest and use of imagery made sense....
and since they are not protesting the issues that are particularly relevant to Hitler, it is besides the point that the same Hitler like issues are going on, because they are not protesting those issues..

Publius
01-Jun-2010, 11:14 AM
I said "It is besides the point" because of what these particular Tea Party groups are protesting.

Fair enough. I'm not about to get into validating claims that Obama is a Nazi because, ultimately, he's my boss. As far as I'm concerned, though, the comparisons of Bush and Obama to totalitarian leaders are about equally valid. Which is to say, pretty darn weak.