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> It doesn't matter who the president is It clearly does as your comment was very pointed towards Obama but fails to mention Trump once. I'm curious as to why

> It doesn't matter who the president is It clearly does as your comment was very pointed towards Obama but fails to mention Trump once. I'm curious as to why that would be? Are you ignoring the massive amount of funding that ICE/DHS has received to invade cities of the President's opponents to crush dissent? Or maybe the threats of face scanning to be put on a "domestic terrorist" list? I don't recall Obama doing those things. A common pattern I'm seeing during this admin is: good things are attributed directly to Trump, but bad things are the government having too much power that his predecessors can be blamed for. "Good tsar, bad boyars"

giancarlostoro 8mo ago
Because it distracts from the point I'm making. Our founding fathers setup this country a certain way, and along the way we left the different branches of government to assume new powers without any amendments, and now we're surprised that they're walking all over the constitution? This problem extends beyond the current administration. It will only get worse before it gets better. Remember, someone FAR WORSE can run for president, someone far worse can absolutely win. Don't make the assumption that your current least favorite administration will be as worse as it gets, because that is how you wind up giving that future administration the keys to the kingdom.
- thrance 8mo ago
  You're freeing this administration from any blame. No system of governance can resist a sufficiently powerful authoritarian push. If the Democratic Party is to share part of the blame, it's in the fact that it is completely bought by special interests and thus unwilling to push pack against the Republicans. But don't be mistaken, this is entirely on Republicans, both their corrupt politicians and stupid voter base who cheer on their rights being trodden upon, as long as the other side suffers more.
  - giancarlostoro 8mo ago
    You are putting words in my mouth and taking away from my point. I equally blame the previous administration for leaving a privacy invasive apparatus, as stated by others here this goes back to the Patriot Act.
    - myvoiceismypass 8mo ago
      You should review actual history if you are trying to pin the Patriot Act on Obama.
      - giancarlostoro 8mo ago
        > I equally blame the previous administration for leaving a privacy invasive apparatus, as stated by others here this goes back to the Patriot Act. I was talking about Bush administration. I don't know a lot about that time period since I was just a teenager during that administration and didn't care about politics back then, but I vividly remember Obama because I've always been passionate about not having the government spying on citizens, and a free and open web. Everything wrong with social media we set ourselves up for.
        sejje 8mo ago
        Didn't Obama call Snowden a traitor, too? They're all pro-spying.
      - sejje 8mo ago
        He had 8 years to dismantle it, but didn't--I think that was the point.
        hypeatei 8mo ago
        Trump, the supposed outsider in 2016, also had ample opportunity to do so and does again this term. Why has he not done it?
        8mo ago
- hypeatei 8mo ago
  > Because it distracts from the point I'm making No it doesn't. If you're saying Obama did <bad thing> then explaining how the things Trump is doing are related is helpful. In this case, I don't see how them going after Snowden for stealing classified info (to be clear I support what he did) is the same as DHS going after meanies on Reddit for speaking out against ICE. One is using the intelligence apparatus for a plausible national security threat and the other is using them to crush dissent. Very big difference.
  - giancarlostoro 8mo ago
    Did I ever said it was helpful or are you just putting words in my mouth? When I was 18 I emptied my bank account to fly my cousins to the US from Venezuela. I was making scraps per hour at the time mind you. But by all means put words in my mouth. All this goes back before Obama, but my point was that literally the president in charge is irrelevant, they should not have this type of power to bypass the other branches of government, neither should other branches. Nobody remembers Bush doing anything specific the way we all here remember Lavabit. Lavabit and Snowden were very deeply discussed here on HN.
    - hypeatei 8mo ago
      > Did I ever said it was helpful or are you just putting words in my mouth? No, I think you're misreading. I said it would be helpful instead of distracting. > Nobody remembers Bush doing anything specific the way we all here remember Lavabit Yes, that's what I'm saying: you're extremely biased and it shows. In one stroke, you simultaneously say that unchecked intelligence apparatus is too powerful (true) and that Obama, specifically, did a bad thing that the goverment (hand wavey deflection) is merely taking advantage of now with no criticism of the current admin. It comes across like you're just a partisan hack who wants to dunk on Obama. There's no substance here. At least this time you mentioned Bush who started all of this, but still no mention of he who shall not be named. > When I was 18 I emptied my bank account to fly my cousins to the US from Venezuela What does that have to do with anything we're talking about now?

giancarlostoro 8mo ago

Because it distracts from the point I'm making. Our founding fathers setup this country a certain way, and along the way we left the different branches of government to assume new powers without any amendments, and now we're surprised that they're walking all over the constitution? This problem extends beyond the current administration. It will only get worse before it gets better. Remember, someone FAR WORSE can run for president, someone far worse can absolutely win. Don't make the assumption that your current least favorite administration will be as worse as it gets, because that is how you wind up giving that future administration the keys to the kingdom.

thrance 8mo ago
You're freeing this administration from any blame. No system of governance can resist a sufficiently powerful authoritarian push. If the Democratic Party is to share part of the blame, it's in the fact that it is completely bought by special interests and thus unwilling to push pack against the Republicans. But don't be mistaken, this is entirely on Republicans, both their corrupt politicians and stupid voter base who cheer on their rights being trodden upon, as long as the other side suffers more.
- giancarlostoro 8mo ago
  You are putting words in my mouth and taking away from my point. I equally blame the previous administration for leaving a privacy invasive apparatus, as stated by others here this goes back to the Patriot Act.
  - myvoiceismypass 8mo ago
    You should review actual history if you are trying to pin the Patriot Act on Obama.
    - giancarlostoro 8mo ago
      > I equally blame the previous administration for leaving a privacy invasive apparatus, as stated by others here this goes back to the Patriot Act. I was talking about Bush administration. I don't know a lot about that time period since I was just a teenager during that administration and didn't care about politics back then, but I vividly remember Obama because I've always been passionate about not having the government spying on citizens, and a free and open web. Everything wrong with social media we set ourselves up for.
      - sejje 8mo ago
        Didn't Obama call Snowden a traitor, too? They're all pro-spying.
    - sejje 8mo ago
      He had 8 years to dismantle it, but didn't--I think that was the point.
      - hypeatei 8mo ago
        Trump, the supposed outsider in 2016, also had ample opportunity to do so and does again this term. Why has he not done it?
        8mo ago
hypeatei 8mo ago
> Because it distracts from the point I'm making No it doesn't. If you're saying Obama did <bad thing> then explaining how the things Trump is doing are related is helpful. In this case, I don't see how them going after Snowden for stealing classified info (to be clear I support what he did) is the same as DHS going after meanies on Reddit for speaking out against ICE. One is using the intelligence apparatus for a plausible national security threat and the other is using them to crush dissent. Very big difference.
- giancarlostoro 8mo ago
  Did I ever said it was helpful or are you just putting words in my mouth? When I was 18 I emptied my bank account to fly my cousins to the US from Venezuela. I was making scraps per hour at the time mind you. But by all means put words in my mouth. All this goes back before Obama, but my point was that literally the president in charge is irrelevant, they should not have this type of power to bypass the other branches of government, neither should other branches. Nobody remembers Bush doing anything specific the way we all here remember Lavabit. Lavabit and Snowden were very deeply discussed here on HN.
  - hypeatei 8mo ago
    > Did I ever said it was helpful or are you just putting words in my mouth? No, I think you're misreading. I said it would be helpful instead of distracting. > Nobody remembers Bush doing anything specific the way we all here remember Lavabit Yes, that's what I'm saying: you're extremely biased and it shows. In one stroke, you simultaneously say that unchecked intelligence apparatus is too powerful (true) and that Obama, specifically, did a bad thing that the goverment (hand wavey deflection) is merely taking advantage of now with no criticism of the current admin. It comes across like you're just a partisan hack who wants to dunk on Obama. There's no substance here. At least this time you mentioned Bush who started all of this, but still no mention of he who shall not be named. > When I was 18 I emptied my bank account to fly my cousins to the US from Venezuela What does that have to do with anything we're talking about now?