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We don't even need to evoke Hitler. Let's look at a more recent American president: Nixon. From Wikipedia: > Nixon and his close aides ordered harassment of
by nostromo 13y ago
We don't even need to evoke Hitler. Let's look at a more recent American president: Nixon.
From Wikipedia:
> Nixon and his close aides ordered harassment of activist groups and political figures, using the FBI, CIA, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Imagine empowering Nixon with the abilities of today's intelligence community.
- mikeash 13y agoI sometimes amuse myself by thinking about how Nixon would be far too liberal to get elected today. Of course, a Nixon coming of age in today's climate might be quite different.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y agoBarry Goldwater too.
- thwest 13y agoThe man did found the EPA.
- malandrew 13y agoThis. As cliché as it may sound, John Dalberg-Acton was very very accurate when he said ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Right now, the way this agency is being run and the way it is being handed power by the few in Congress that know all the details is as close to absolute informational power as you can have.
- malandrew 13y agoThis. As cliché as it may sound, John Dalberg-Acton was very very accurate when he said ""Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." Right now, the way this agency is being run and the way it is being handed power by the few in Congress that know all the details is as close to absolute informational power as you can have.
- fnordfnordfnord 13y ago>Imagine empowering Nixon with the abilities of today's intelligence community. Imagine the President as an irrelevant figurehead doing the bidding of the NSA/Military.
- gph 13y agoI think people overlook this because it seems too far-fetched. But I don't think it's so outrageous that it shouldn't be considered. And whether the system is being used for these purposes or not, the fact that a system exists that could is a very dangerous situation.
- pradocchia 13y agoInsofar as national policy is overdetermined, who the president happens to be for a given term is irrelevant. So the question becomes, is the surveillance state overdetermined? There's certainly a strong collation behind it--the money alone makes it so. I suspect the president has very little freedom in these matters. Yet I wonder who's on the other side. Have all the major players just said, "sure, that works for me?" Surely someone powerful feels the risk. Remember that it wasn't the Washington Post that drove Nixon's disgrace, it was the FBI using the Post as an instrument. It was government feuding, and I wonder if this latest episode is another instance of feuding. Maybe I hope it is.
- jlgreco 13y agoImagine another J. Edgar Hoover.
- selimthegrim 13y agohttps://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dummies/5c1648202163034465700692fe282ea99dae9038/ https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dum... https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dummies-ii/27b4dbcea7b9fed7545edb8ccf6881111d3de2ec/ https://www.nsfwcorp.com/dispatch/nsa-whistleblowers-for-dum...
- mindcrime 13y agoImagine the President as an irrelevant figurehead doing the bidding of the NSA/Military. Or the bidding of J. Edgar Hoover.
- dobbsbob 13y agoThe difference is Nixon did this illegally while Obama cleared everything through those ridiculous secret courts. He has carte blanche to trample on the constitution all he wants
- flyinRyan 13y agoI see no difference at all. Nixon did something illegal and Obama wrote "this is legal" on a piece of paper that few people get to see. Hell, how do you know Nixon didn't scribble something in his private bathroom that said what he was doing was legal?
- mikeash 13y agoThere's an important difference, in that Obama is using authority granted him by Congress and affirmed by the courts, whereas Nixon did his stuff independently of the other branches of government. The consequences of this can be seen in what happened when they were found out. Nixon got drummed out of office, while Obama gets essentially a free pass. Sure, Congress is asking a few inconvenient questions, but about unimportant details.
- sporkologist 13y agoImagine Michele Bachmann requiring Congresspeople to undergo a "patriotism" test, and surveilling them to make sure they are "patriotic".