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I'm ashamed to say that Menendez is my ass of a senator. For the American people, this is also adding insult to injury. This punishment doesn't only hit the Ec

I'm ashamed to say that Menendez is my ass of a senator. For the American people, this is also adding insult to injury. This punishment doesn't only hit the Ecuadorian people, it also hits Americans. Not only are we being spied on, but in the government's fight for its authority to spy, it's also now forbidding Americans from purchasing products that they want (or forcing us to pay higher prices). Menendez either (a) doesn't understand economics well enough to understand that in trade both sides profit; or (b) really does view this as a war [of the US government] against the American people. Personally, I think it's likely that both are true. I'll be writing him another letter, this time saying not only that isn't PRISM and other domestic spying unacceptable, but that the necessary remedy is, at a minimum, the repeal of USA PATRIOT and of the AUMF. EDIT: clarify third paragraph

blueprint 13y ago
What result do you expect from writing such a letter if he is participating in a war against you?
- johneth 13y ago
  > or (b) really does view this as a war against the American people I think CWuestefeld meant that the senator thinks that Ecuador's snub to the US regarding Edward Snowden is the 'war' - not that he and the US government is waging war against the American people.
  - samstave 13y ago
    Well, I am of the opinion that the USG is at war wit the American people.
  - CWuestefeld 13y ago
    No, I really do view this as the American government at war against the American people.
    - johneth 13y ago
      I never said you didn't.
- dasil003 13y ago
  Well since he's elected by us, maybe stick his foot in his mouth and lose his office.
  - coldtea 13y ago
    He's replaceable. You'll be given someone else like him to select.
    - logical42 13y ago
      "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!" - Homer Simpson
      - GFischer 13y ago
        Reminds me of Douglas Adams http://wso.williams.edu/~rcarson/lizards.html http://wso.williams.edu/~rcarson/lizards.html (robot appears, says) "take me to your Lizard." Ford Prefect, of course, had an explanation for this... (snip) "It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..." "You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?" "No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people." "Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy." "I did," said ford. "It is." "So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?" "It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want." "You mean they actually vote for the lizards?" "Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course." "But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?" "Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in.
  - dexterchief 13y ago
    Seems like a good moment for some Emma Goldman: "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."

blueprint 13y ago

What result do you expect from writing such a letter if he is participating in a war against you?

johneth 13y ago
> or (b) really does view this as a war against the American people I think CWuestefeld meant that the senator thinks that Ecuador's snub to the US regarding Edward Snowden is the 'war' - not that he and the US government is waging war against the American people.
- samstave 13y ago
  Well, I am of the opinion that the USG is at war wit the American people.
- CWuestefeld 13y ago
  No, I really do view this as the American government at war against the American people.
  - johneth 13y ago
    I never said you didn't.
dasil003 13y ago
Well since he's elected by us, maybe stick his foot in his mouth and lose his office.
- coldtea 13y ago
  He's replaceable. You'll be given someone else like him to select.
  - logical42 13y ago
    "Don't blame me, I voted for Kodos!" - Homer Simpson
    - GFischer 13y ago
      Reminds me of Douglas Adams http://wso.williams.edu/~rcarson/lizards.html http://wso.williams.edu/~rcarson/lizards.html (robot appears, says) "take me to your Lizard." Ford Prefect, of course, had an explanation for this... (snip) "It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see..." "You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?" "No," said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, "nothing so simple. Nothing anything like to straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people." "Odd," said Arthur, "I thought you said it was a democracy." "I did," said ford. "It is." "So," said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, "why don't the people get rid of the lizards?" "It honestly doesn't occur to them," said Ford. "They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want." "You mean they actually vote for the lizards?" "Oh yes," said Ford with a shrug, "of course." "But," said Arthur, going for the big one again, "why?" "Because if they didn't vote for a lizard," said Ford, "the wrong lizard might get in.
- dexterchief 13y ago
  Seems like a good moment for some Emma Goldman: "If voting changed anything, they'd make it illegal."