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It's funny (to me) that people are surprised that Feinstein is so willing to trample over Constitutional protections while blithely ignoring the objections of t

It's funny (to me) that people are surprised that Feinstein is so willing to trample over Constitutional protections while blithely ignoring the objections of the citizens she (in theory) represents. For years, this has been her approach to the 2nd amendment, and to be honest, most geeks have either remained silent, or applauded her actions. Now she's coming for the 4th amendment, and geeks are up in arms (humour intentional).

AdrianB1 7y ago
Many people believe the second amendment is wrong and it does not require protection, but they still care about the 4th. The only thing I always think about when I see this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...
- tialaramex 7y ago
  The Second Amendment was probably a bad idea when it was written. Its proponents made a bunch of assumptions that look laughable in hindsight. Today in the hands of a Supreme Court increasingly disconnected from reality it's interpreted as an excuse to let people who clearly shouldn't have guns at all have as many guns as they can buy. "First they came..." is about people not about ice cream flavors, or video games or constitutional amendments. Changing laws is a normal function of society. It is an anomaly (and a grave defect) that the US has become unable to even think of changing these particular laws, to the point where many of its people enshrine them as holy principles rather than recognising they are just laws of men. It has been forever since America had judges brave enough to argue that something can't be lawful because it is evil, and so the EFF is obliged to frame things as "unconstitutional" instead. In a way that's America's legacy, the observation that slavery was evil pre-dates its founding as a country built on slavery, so it has always been necessary to its function to pretend that it's somehow important to allow evil if it's legal. In such an environment any potential judge with strong moral character could only be discouraged.
  - david_w 7y ago
    How do you propose the People should resist a despotic government. Supposing, as we must, the government literally becomes tyrannical, how do propose people resist it at that point? That is the whole reason we have a 2nd Amendment. That's what it's about. We went in with everything to Iraq and Afghanistan and did we subdue them? No. Why not? Because they had guns, and with guns, they acquired further weaponery to fight us; No other reason. So you remove all the guns from "people who shouldn't have them" and how do you propose people should resist a tyrannical government? Serious question, I am not mocking you.
    - mrguyorama 7y ago
      If the people were ever willing to use those guns to resist a despotic government, then why do we essentially have one now?
      - AdrianB1 7y ago
        Because the easy way to rule over people is to convince them it's a good thing, not to force them. If you find enough people to agree with you and to vote, they will vote ever worse (the worst: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power)
        david_w 7y ago
        Please, move to America... and bring all your friends.
      - david_w 7y ago
        We have an over-reaching central government, but that is not a despotic tyrannical one. The closest thing to a despotic government is to be found in prototype form in the despot-petri dishes of universities with their "free speech zones" and their "hate speech laws" and their sexual harrasment star chamber courts and their chorus of "believe all women" (except Joe Biden's accuser). That's where the fascism is being auditioned and wants to break out of. Nothing radicalized more people than seeing these same professors surface during the Kavanaugh fiasco and hearing their own ideas come out of their own mouths in their own words. The left-wing echo chamber people have no idea the damage their pet obssessions and totalitarian visions are doing to their brand: literally, New York Times' Bari Weiss was on Joe Rogan and revealed she had no idea what the whole "wax my balls " controversy was about- she hadn't heard about it. That my friend is living in a bubble. OrangeManBad squeaked by in 2016. In 2020 it will be a landslide. That my friend is a consequence of living in a bubble.

AdrianB1 7y ago

Many people believe the second amendment is wrong and it does not require protection, but they still care about the 4th. The only thing I always think about when I see this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_.. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...

tialaramex 7y ago
The Second Amendment was probably a bad idea when it was written. Its proponents made a bunch of assumptions that look laughable in hindsight. Today in the hands of a Supreme Court increasingly disconnected from reality it's interpreted as an excuse to let people who clearly shouldn't have guns at all have as many guns as they can buy. "First they came..." is about people not about ice cream flavors, or video games or constitutional amendments. Changing laws is a normal function of society. It is an anomaly (and a grave defect) that the US has become unable to even think of changing these particular laws, to the point where many of its people enshrine them as holy principles rather than recognising they are just laws of men. It has been forever since America had judges brave enough to argue that something can't be lawful because it is evil, and so the EFF is obliged to frame things as "unconstitutional" instead. In a way that's America's legacy, the observation that slavery was evil pre-dates its founding as a country built on slavery, so it has always been necessary to its function to pretend that it's somehow important to allow evil if it's legal. In such an environment any potential judge with strong moral character could only be discouraged.
- david_w 7y ago
  How do you propose the People should resist a despotic government. Supposing, as we must, the government literally becomes tyrannical, how do propose people resist it at that point? That is the whole reason we have a 2nd Amendment. That's what it's about. We went in with everything to Iraq and Afghanistan and did we subdue them? No. Why not? Because they had guns, and with guns, they acquired further weaponery to fight us; No other reason. So you remove all the guns from "people who shouldn't have them" and how do you propose people should resist a tyrannical government? Serious question, I am not mocking you.
  - mrguyorama 7y ago
    If the people were ever willing to use those guns to resist a despotic government, then why do we essentially have one now?
    - AdrianB1 7y ago
      Because the easy way to rule over people is to convince them it's a good thing, not to force them. If you find enough people to agree with you and to vote, they will vote ever worse (the worst: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adolf_Hitler%27s_rise_to_power)
      - david_w 7y ago
        Please, move to America... and bring all your friends.
    - david_w 7y ago
      We have an over-reaching central government, but that is not a despotic tyrannical one. The closest thing to a despotic government is to be found in prototype form in the despot-petri dishes of universities with their "free speech zones" and their "hate speech laws" and their sexual harrasment star chamber courts and their chorus of "believe all women" (except Joe Biden's accuser). That's where the fascism is being auditioned and wants to break out of. Nothing radicalized more people than seeing these same professors surface during the Kavanaugh fiasco and hearing their own ideas come out of their own mouths in their own words. The left-wing echo chamber people have no idea the damage their pet obssessions and totalitarian visions are doing to their brand: literally, New York Times' Bari Weiss was on Joe Rogan and revealed she had no idea what the whole "wax my balls " controversy was about- she hadn't heard about it. That my friend is living in a bubble. OrangeManBad squeaked by in 2016. In 2020 it will be a landslide. That my friend is a consequence of living in a bubble.