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Why is Biden opposing the warrant requirement? Shouldn’t he be careful regarding 2024? Or is the hope that the alternative is so bad people will still come out

Why is Biden opposing the warrant requirement? Shouldn’t he be careful regarding 2024? Or is the hope that the alternative is so bad people will still come out to vote for someone who supports warrantless searches? Maybe most people don’t care, but at least in my circle this is a big deal.

bogantech 3y ago
It would stop them spying on his political enemies
- bequanna 3y ago
  I don't disagree with your assertion that the Executive branch has probably weaponized agencies against political rivals but what we really need is clear evidence of this happening so we can stop it. Regardless of who is doing it, it is wrong. Even if you think its great that <your party> had their political opponents audited by the IRS, investigated and harassed by the FBI, etc. remember that in a few years the party in control can change and those same dictator-like tactics are now available to them to use against <your party>.
bradleyjg 3y ago
Shouldn’t he be careful regarding 2024? No. A decent, but my no means huge, number of people have opinions about this subject. But the number for whom it is a high enough priority issue that it would determine if they would vote or who they would vote for is infinitesimal.
- empyrrhicist 3y ago
  [flagged]
- sidewndr46 3y ago
  if you asked the voters in federal elections to describe what a warrant is, why they exist & the historical significance of them most would fail to articulate it any meaningful matter.
- pc86 3y ago
  And this is even less important for an incumbent president than someone running for the nomination on the other side. If you're POTUS, you can pretty safely assume you're getting the nomination - safely enough that "losing the nomination to someone in my party" can be ignored as a realistic outcome to any single action. It's pretty reasonable to think about $ISSUE_X as something that might cause a primary voter to vote for one candidate over the other. But the number of issues that would cause someone to vote for the other party because of that one issue is almost zero. Biden could issue an executive order repealing the NFA and saying machine guns are legal to manufacture and purchase without ATF review, and most hardline 2A advocates would still vote for whoever the Republican ends up being. Trump could have issues an EO making abortion legal at any time and making college free and Biden would have gotten just as many votes in 2020. Really the only thing Biden has to worry about is not doing so many things his base gets upset about that they don't turn out to vote. There's very little he could do to turn someone from "strong D" to "strong R" at this point.
- DennisP 3y ago
  I took that another way: that with Trump giving speeches lately saying he'll prosecute all his political enemies, we should probably tighten up the judicial restraint, just in case he wins.
moretrashplz 3y ago
Because Biden is, in reality, no different from his republican counterparts. Nor has he ever been.
- empyrrhicist 3y ago
  With respect to surveillance? Perhaps. In general? I think that's a pretty transparently absurd statement to make.
Der_Einzige 3y ago
Trump is worse on mass surveillance too.
- bigstrat2003 3y ago
  Didn't Trump veto the extension of the Patriot act back during his term? I seem to recall that being the case, at least. I didn't like him as president either, but one must give credit where it's due.
dboreham 3y ago
> Maybe most people don’t care Correct. Nor do they even understand, or want to understand. They're going to tell you that 5G implants chips under their skin though...
plagiarist 3y ago
I'd choose someone who supports warrantless searches over an actual insurrectionist whose buddies are holding federal appointments open. Unfortunately, that's the choice we may have.

bogantech 3y ago

It would stop them spying on his political enemies

bequanna 3y ago
I don't disagree with your assertion that the Executive branch has probably weaponized agencies against political rivals but what we really need is clear evidence of this happening so we can stop it. Regardless of who is doing it, it is wrong. Even if you think its great that <your party> had their political opponents audited by the IRS, investigated and harassed by the FBI, etc. remember that in a few years the party in control can change and those same dictator-like tactics are now available to them to use against <your party>.

bradleyjg 3y ago

Shouldn’t he be careful regarding 2024? No. A decent, but my no means huge, number of people have opinions about this subject. But the number for whom it is a high enough priority issue that it would determine if they would vote or who they would vote for is infinitesimal.

empyrrhicist 3y ago
[flagged]
sidewndr46 3y ago
if you asked the voters in federal elections to describe what a warrant is, why they exist & the historical significance of them most would fail to articulate it any meaningful matter.
pc86 3y ago
And this is even less important for an incumbent president than someone running for the nomination on the other side. If you're POTUS, you can pretty safely assume you're getting the nomination - safely enough that "losing the nomination to someone in my party" can be ignored as a realistic outcome to any single action. It's pretty reasonable to think about $ISSUE_X as something that might cause a primary voter to vote for one candidate over the other. But the number of issues that would cause someone to vote for the other party because of that one issue is almost zero. Biden could issue an executive order repealing the NFA and saying machine guns are legal to manufacture and purchase without ATF review, and most hardline 2A advocates would still vote for whoever the Republican ends up being. Trump could have issues an EO making abortion legal at any time and making college free and Biden would have gotten just as many votes in 2020. Really the only thing Biden has to worry about is not doing so many things his base gets upset about that they don't turn out to vote. There's very little he could do to turn someone from "strong D" to "strong R" at this point.
DennisP 3y ago
I took that another way: that with Trump giving speeches lately saying he'll prosecute all his political enemies, we should probably tighten up the judicial restraint, just in case he wins.

moretrashplz 3y ago

Because Biden is, in reality, no different from his republican counterparts. Nor has he ever been.

empyrrhicist 3y ago
With respect to surveillance? Perhaps. In general? I think that's a pretty transparently absurd statement to make.

Der_Einzige 3y ago

Trump is worse on mass surveillance too.

bigstrat2003 3y ago
Didn't Trump veto the extension of the Patriot act back during his term? I seem to recall that being the case, at least. I didn't like him as president either, but one must give credit where it's due.

dboreham 3y ago

> Maybe most people don’t care Correct. Nor do they even understand, or want to understand. They're going to tell you that 5G implants chips under their skin though...

plagiarist 3y ago

I'd choose someone who supports warrantless searches over an actual insurrectionist whose buddies are holding federal appointments open. Unfortunately, that's the choice we may have.