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It's like we have become the enemy we despised during the cold war. We used to make fun of the Stasi and how they spied on everyone to have control over everyo

by mc32 3y ago

It's like we have become the enemy we despised during the cold war. We used to make fun of the Stasi and how they spied on everyone to have control over everyone. We touted a government of the people for the people. We highlighted how anti-authoritarian we were and how suspicious of we were of governments seeking more power... yet, here we are we are become that which we despised. These are things one might expect from a banana republic. Not “the leader of the free world.” Were just as subject to the vagaries of the apparatus in power. When is the Congress going to take back its power from the executive and rein in the abuses? Jefferson and Eisenhower were right. JFK tried and everyone knows how it ended up for him.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
lapcat 3y ago
> It's like we have become the enemy we despised during the cold war. We were already the enemy we despised during the Cold War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism
- mc32 3y ago
  One man isn’t an apparatus in lockstep seeking to perpetuate its power for its own sake. That’s not at all the same. This is the state believing it has preeminence over the people and can ignore laws to further their own goals without public input and without discussion; without hearings.
  - lapcat 3y ago
    > One man isn’t an apparatus in lockstep seeking to perpetuate its power for its own sake. From the linked Wikipedia page: "Historians have suggested since the 1980s that as McCarthy's involvement was less central than that of others, a different and more accurate term should be used instead that more accurately conveys the breadth of the phenomenon, and that the term McCarthyism is now outdated. Ellen Schrecker has suggested that Hooverism after FBI Head J. Edgar Hoover is more appropriate."
    - mc32 3y ago
      So we're back to the apparatus being the baddies, right? That's what we're talking about. They're accountable to no-one, they can't be voted out --only Congress, who seem happy to abrogate their powers can rein them in, yet seem unwilling. It's this that Jefferson, Eisenhower, JFK and others warned us about and we've only allowed them deeper penetration into power.

by mc32 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

lapcat 3y ago

> It's like we have become the enemy we despised during the cold war. We were already the enemy we despised during the Cold War. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McCarthyism

mc32 3y ago
One man isn’t an apparatus in lockstep seeking to perpetuate its power for its own sake. That’s not at all the same. This is the state believing it has preeminence over the people and can ignore laws to further their own goals without public input and without discussion; without hearings.
- lapcat 3y ago
  > One man isn’t an apparatus in lockstep seeking to perpetuate its power for its own sake. From the linked Wikipedia page: "Historians have suggested since the 1980s that as McCarthy's involvement was less central than that of others, a different and more accurate term should be used instead that more accurately conveys the breadth of the phenomenon, and that the term McCarthyism is now outdated. Ellen Schrecker has suggested that Hooverism after FBI Head J. Edgar Hoover is more appropriate."
  - mc32 3y ago
    So we're back to the apparatus being the baddies, right? That's what we're talking about. They're accountable to no-one, they can't be voted out --only Congress, who seem happy to abrogate their powers can rein them in, yet seem unwilling. It's this that Jefferson, Eisenhower, JFK and others warned us about and we've only allowed them deeper penetration into power.