7 ms·

I'm an African. I've lived through fantastically corrupt, despotic, authoritarian rule riddled with nepotism and kleptocracy. I find GOP politics to be disturbi

I'm an African. I've lived through fantastically corrupt, despotic, authoritarian rule riddled with nepotism and kleptocracy. I find GOP politics to be disturbingly familiar. And it reeks of regulatory and state capture.

ensignavenger 6y ago
"Republicans" in this case is not the entire GOP, but rather only three politicians who also happen to be Republicans. There are probably plenty of other Republicans who would support this, and plenty who would not. And probably plenty of Democrats who would support it, and plenty who won't. Hopefully the won't category will be much larger than the will category, but I doubt the support will be exactly along party lines.
deleted 6y ago
[deleted]
dfsegoat 6y ago
I don't really think it is that cut and dry. Case in point, a similar bill (as I understand it) - The EARN IT Act was spearheaded by the same people as this bill, plus Dianne Feinstein (Democraft of CA): "The EARN IT Act was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (Republican of South Carolina) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Democrat of Connecticut), along with Sen. Josh Hawley (Republican of Missouri) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat of California) on March 5." https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/3/12/21174815/earn-it-act-encryption-killer-lindsay-graham-match-group https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/3/12/21174815/earn-i... Also: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/17/earn-m17.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/17/earn-m17.html
- TulliusCicero 6y ago
  Feinstein is widely despised by progressives for, among other things, being a hawk. That she would also be anti-freedom here is not a huge surprise.
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    There's plenty of others like her. Neither party seems to have many in congress who want the government to have less dragnets and power to micromanage.
    - TulliusCicero 6y ago
      I think there's quite a few Democrats like that, actually, but certainly not all.
      - nickff 6y ago
        There are a bunch of Republicans too.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Caucus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Caucus
- ilstormcloud 6y ago
  Of course, nothing is ever black and white. I did not mean to imply all of the GOP is terrible and the other side is good. I am merely stating, looking from afar, it's the GOP politics that seems most familiar, in general.
dependenttypes 6y ago
Both parties push that. This case happened during clinton for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States This is the real problem with america. Not that one party is evil but that both parties are, there is no choice.
- season2episode3 6y ago
  While both parties are certainly beholden to big donors, I think the equivalency argument ends there. When it comes to issues of money in politics (e.g. campaign finance), issues of government transparency (e.g. financial disclosures), or environmental protection, the differences are night and day. You do have a point about civil liberties though. Both parties have become pretty extreme (on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum) about where to draw the line between acceptable/unacceptable discourse. I fear that the Dems have become too toothless to take on big tech companies due to the vast sums they receive from said companies. Nevertheless, anti-cryptography legislation still seems to be the GOP's play these days. The Dems of the 1990s are hardly equivalent to the Dems of 2020, especially with an ascendant activist wing running more and more of the show.
  - Consultant32452 6y ago
    Democrats increased the spying powers and war budget of a President they genuinely believed to be a Russian puppet.
    - nickff 6y ago
      Well, there is also the possibility was that they were exaggerating the degree to which they actually believed he was a puppet.
      - Consultant32452 6y ago
        Democrats impeached a President over something they didn't really believe was true.

ensignavenger 6y ago

"Republicans" in this case is not the entire GOP, but rather only three politicians who also happen to be Republicans. There are probably plenty of other Republicans who would support this, and plenty who would not. And probably plenty of Democrats who would support it, and plenty who won't. Hopefully the won't category will be much larger than the will category, but I doubt the support will be exactly along party lines.

deleted 6y ago

[deleted]

dfsegoat 6y ago

I don't really think it is that cut and dry. Case in point, a similar bill (as I understand it) - The EARN IT Act was spearheaded by the same people as this bill, plus Dianne Feinstein (Democraft of CA): "The EARN IT Act was introduced by Sen. Lindsey Graham (Republican of South Carolina) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (Democrat of Connecticut), along with Sen. Josh Hawley (Republican of Missouri) and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (Democrat of California) on March 5." https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/3/12/21174815/earn-it-act-encryption-killer-lindsay-graham-match-group https://www.theverge.com/interface/2020/3/12/21174815/earn-i... Also: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/17/earn-m17.html https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2020/03/17/earn-m17.html

TulliusCicero 6y ago
Feinstein is widely despised by progressives for, among other things, being a hawk. That she would also be anti-freedom here is not a huge surprise.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  There's plenty of others like her. Neither party seems to have many in congress who want the government to have less dragnets and power to micromanage.
  - TulliusCicero 6y ago
    I think there's quite a few Democrats like that, actually, but certainly not all.
    - nickff 6y ago
      There are a bunch of Republicans too.[1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Caucus https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liberty_Caucus
ilstormcloud 6y ago
Of course, nothing is ever black and white. I did not mean to imply all of the GOP is terrible and the other side is good. I am merely stating, looking from afar, it's the GOP politics that seems most familiar, in general.

dependenttypes 6y ago

Both parties push that. This case happened during clinton for example https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernstein_v._United_States This is the real problem with america. Not that one party is evil but that both parties are, there is no choice.

season2episode3 6y ago
While both parties are certainly beholden to big donors, I think the equivalency argument ends there. When it comes to issues of money in politics (e.g. campaign finance), issues of government transparency (e.g. financial disclosures), or environmental protection, the differences are night and day. You do have a point about civil liberties though. Both parties have become pretty extreme (on opposite sides of the ideological spectrum) about where to draw the line between acceptable/unacceptable discourse. I fear that the Dems have become too toothless to take on big tech companies due to the vast sums they receive from said companies. Nevertheless, anti-cryptography legislation still seems to be the GOP's play these days. The Dems of the 1990s are hardly equivalent to the Dems of 2020, especially with an ascendant activist wing running more and more of the show.
- Consultant32452 6y ago
  Democrats increased the spying powers and war budget of a President they genuinely believed to be a Russian puppet.
  - nickff 6y ago
    Well, there is also the possibility was that they were exaggerating the degree to which they actually believed he was a puppet.
    - Consultant32452 6y ago
      Democrats impeached a President over something they didn't really believe was true.