4 ms·

Isn't that how America was founded?

jjoonathan 7y ago
I like how the US Department of Defense became the US Department of War right about the time it changed its name from the Department of War to the Department of Defense.
- codr7 7y ago
  Newspeak, attack is defense, war is peace.
  - Udik 7y ago
    And arbitrary armed violence is "world police". And militias we decide to back are "rebels", the ones we don't are "terrorists". And governments we don't like are "regimes". And acts of terrorism from our side are "targeted killings". And killed civilians are "collateral damage". The list is endless.
    - igravious 7y ago
      Watched Vice[0] recently starring Christian Bale as a corpulent power-grabbing[1] vengeful, power-behind-the-throne, Dick Cheney; Amy Adams as his steely missus; Sam Rockwell as a likable "W"; and Steve Carell (of all people) playing Donald "Don" Rumsfeld. They get to the part post 9/11 where the gloves come off and they sit down with corrupt legal advisers (Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo), many who are advocates of the Unitary Executive Theory[2], to concoct a legal firewall around their actions. The twisted logic is: The US does not torture therefore the varieties of "enhanced interrogation" being used cannot, ipso facto, be torture. Alongside "enhanced interrogation techniques" (torture) we have those other Newspeak euphemisms[3] "extraordinary rendition" (state-sponsored kidnapping) and "enemy combatants" (any fighting-age male present in a combat zone). Then there's the legal limbo that is Guantanamo Bay, the suspension of habeas corpus[4] (a foundational legal right in modern democracies), and the frankly draconian USA PATRIOT Act. Ah, good times. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ [1] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/network.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/networ... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory [3] https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glossary.htm https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glo... [4] https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas-corpus-3321847 https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas...
krapp 7y ago
Sure, if you conveniently forget about all of the French support, American independence was entirely due to those plucky militias. Gosh that Second Amendment sure is wonderful and has absolutely no downsides whatsoever.
- drdeadringer 7y ago
  The French supported "America gorilla revolution" against the British. America has supported "gorilla revolution" for revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries against multiple nationals, at least some of which involved the CIA selling cocaine domestically for money to fund foreign weapons. Which is half of a dozen? Which is six of the other?
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]
- dang 7y ago
  This breaks several of the site guidelines. Would you please stop doing that on HN? You've been doing it a lot lately (to pick just one of many: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22450681 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22450681) and it's not ok. We need senior users like you to set good examples, not bad ones. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

I like how the US Department of Defense became the US Department of War right about the time it changed its name from the Department of War to the Department of Defense.

codr7 7y ago
Newspeak, attack is defense, war is peace.
- Udik 7y ago
  And arbitrary armed violence is "world police". And militias we decide to back are "rebels", the ones we don't are "terrorists". And governments we don't like are "regimes". And acts of terrorism from our side are "targeted killings". And killed civilians are "collateral damage". The list is endless.
  - igravious 7y ago
    Watched Vice[0] recently starring Christian Bale as a corpulent power-grabbing[1] vengeful, power-behind-the-throne, Dick Cheney; Amy Adams as his steely missus; Sam Rockwell as a likable "W"; and Steve Carell (of all people) playing Donald "Don" Rumsfeld. They get to the part post 9/11 where the gloves come off and they sit down with corrupt legal advisers (Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo), many who are advocates of the Unitary Executive Theory[2], to concoct a legal firewall around their actions. The twisted logic is: The US does not torture therefore the varieties of "enhanced interrogation" being used cannot, ipso facto, be torture. Alongside "enhanced interrogation techniques" (torture) we have those other Newspeak euphemisms[3] "extraordinary rendition" (state-sponsored kidnapping) and "enemy combatants" (any fighting-age male present in a combat zone). Then there's the legal limbo that is Guantanamo Bay, the suspension of habeas corpus[4] (a foundational legal right in modern democracies), and the frankly draconian USA PATRIOT Act. Ah, good times. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ [1] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/network.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/networ... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory [3] https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glossary.htm https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glo... [4] https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas-corpus-3321847 https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas...

krapp 7y ago

Sure, if you conveniently forget about all of the French support, American independence was entirely due to those plucky militias. Gosh that Second Amendment sure is wonderful and has absolutely no downsides whatsoever.

drdeadringer 7y ago
The French supported "America gorilla revolution" against the British. America has supported "gorilla revolution" for revolutionaries and counter-revolutionaries against multiple nationals, at least some of which involved the CIA selling cocaine domestically for money to fund foreign weapons. Which is half of a dozen? Which is six of the other?
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
dang 7y ago
This breaks several of the site guidelines. Would you please stop doing that on HN? You've been doing it a lot lately (to pick just one of many: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22450681 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22450681) and it's not ok. We need senior users like you to set good examples, not bad ones. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]