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Not saying the US presidents are innocent by any means, but as far as I know they haven't been suspected of killing American journalists or political opponents.

Not saying the US presidents are innocent by any means, but as far as I know they haven't been suspected of killing American journalists or political opponents. Propaganda or not, anti-Putin Russians have a bit of a track record of untimely death.

grandalf 9y ago
> killing ... political opponents Uh, what are terrorists if not political opponents? Killing people who are deemed to hold certain beliefs without any judicial process linking them to specific criminal activity is simply killing political opponents. This follows from the adage that war is politics with guns. I also do not draw a major distinction between attempting to prosecute American journalists under the espionage act and simply having them killed. Arguably prosecuting them creates at least the same kind of chilling effect on journalism as a whole as murdering them does, and both leaders have the same goal of quelling dissent and intimidating reporters.
- accountyaccount 9y ago
  >I also do not draw a major distinction between attempting to prosecute American journalists under the espionage act and simply having them killed I'm no expert, but _attempting_ to prosecute and actually killing is probably a worthwhile distinction.
  - grandalf 9y ago
    > I'm no expert, but _attempting_ to prosecute and actually killing is probably a worthwhile distinction. You're being too charitable. Both have the same intent. The more asymmetrically powerful the ruler is, the less lethal the threat needs to be to create a chilling effect. For example, rival gang members (with power parity) must kill each-other because they lack other mechanisms of coercion and must play their only card in the moment. Creating martyrs is always sub-optimal compared to catching and incarcerating "criminals" or forcing compliance by the threat of capture or alienation/ostracism. As a thought experiment, which state has stronger control over its citizens, Russia or Singapore?
crdoconnor 9y ago
>Not saying the US presidents are innocent by any means, but as far as I know they haven't been suspected of killing American journalists Was the US bombing of Al Jazeera's office better because the journalists killed didn't have American passports?

grandalf 9y ago

> killing ... political opponents Uh, what are terrorists if not political opponents? Killing people who are deemed to hold certain beliefs without any judicial process linking them to specific criminal activity is simply killing political opponents. This follows from the adage that war is politics with guns. I also do not draw a major distinction between attempting to prosecute American journalists under the espionage act and simply having them killed. Arguably prosecuting them creates at least the same kind of chilling effect on journalism as a whole as murdering them does, and both leaders have the same goal of quelling dissent and intimidating reporters.

accountyaccount 9y ago
>I also do not draw a major distinction between attempting to prosecute American journalists under the espionage act and simply having them killed I'm no expert, but _attempting_ to prosecute and actually killing is probably a worthwhile distinction.
- grandalf 9y ago
  > I'm no expert, but _attempting_ to prosecute and actually killing is probably a worthwhile distinction. You're being too charitable. Both have the same intent. The more asymmetrically powerful the ruler is, the less lethal the threat needs to be to create a chilling effect. For example, rival gang members (with power parity) must kill each-other because they lack other mechanisms of coercion and must play their only card in the moment. Creating martyrs is always sub-optimal compared to catching and incarcerating "criminals" or forcing compliance by the threat of capture or alienation/ostracism. As a thought experiment, which state has stronger control over its citizens, Russia or Singapore?

crdoconnor 9y ago

>Not saying the US presidents are innocent by any means, but as far as I know they haven't been suspected of killing American journalists Was the US bombing of Al Jazeera's office better because the journalists killed didn't have American passports?