4 ms·

Evidently, since people in government feel the US Constitution is no longer the law, we end up with this sort of thing. Get used to it: there's no going back no

Evidently, since people in government feel the US Constitution is no longer the law, we end up with this sort of thing. Get used to it: there's no going back now, as they've tasted the awesome guava-flavored Kool-aid and they like it.

nsmartt 13y ago
I refuse, and so should you.
- chris_mahan 13y ago
  Yeah, I'm not all excited about that, but they have guns, lots of them, and they are not shy about using them. I live in Los Angeles, so a special hello to my favorite trigger-happy police department: the famed LAPD!
  - nsmartt 13y ago
    Change comes with perseverance and reason. Violence is far from the only way to effect political change.
    - chris_mahan 13y ago
      Agreed. I'm not promoting violence. Rather, through hard work, kindness toward others, and a unwavering faith in the general benevolence of mankind, I press on to make a better place for all. Oh, and +1 for correct use of "effect". Such a feat is rarely seen nowadays.
      - nsmartt 13y ago
        Change within the government and legal system is necessary, so I'm more inclined to think being quietly vocal will help, rather than social changes outside those systems. I actually complained to a friend, as I posted it, that it's becoming increasingly common for correct English to be misinterpreted as incorrect. +1 for noticing.
rayiner 13y ago
What exactly is unconstitutional here? Gag orders, preventing people from trying to play a case out in the media instead of the courtroom have been commonplace forever. This is a public trial in a public court. He'll have his say and it'll all be published for public consumption.
- chris_mahan 13y ago
  I'm not talking about the gag order. I'm talking about a journalist publishing. I'm adding the relevant quote from the article: "Moreover, it's passing strange that a federal judge would gag a journalist, effectively declaring the court a First Amendment-free zone– particularly in a case where the nature and practice of journalism is the core issue."
- Nimi 13y ago
  Could you please provide the common guidelines for placing a gag order? Surely, not every lawyer talking to the media and claiming his client is innocent receives one, so what's different here?
j_baker 13y ago
I don't plan on getting used to it, nor should you. Protecting liberty is an ongoing battle that every generation has to fight.
criley2 13y ago
I am so shocked that people believe that before now, justice was just and the US Constitution was followed. Do we honestly believe that every judge in the country was honest in the 1820's? The 1890's? During industrialization, before any form of workers rights -- are we going to sit here and believe that the average man got a fair shake in front of a judge every time? Do we honestly believe that every man got a fair trial in the 1960's? That every black man who has stood in front of a white judge has, up until these modern revelations, has gotten a Constitutionally just trial? I think this is exactly like autism. People think autism is occuring more, when in reality the understanding and awareness is growing, so the cases are being diagnosed more accurately. What we're seeing today, for the first time in our history, is an honest assessment of how government operates. Technology, specifically computers and networking, are a Pandora's Box. Government HAD to adopt it because the benefits are too good and they must be competitive on some level. But by adopting it, they've given us the opportunity to walk away with all of their secrets. Frankly, I bet our governments have been cleaning themselves up over the past few decades, full well knowing the implications of technology. When I think about McCarthyism and the Cold War, and the measures our government was willing to take... how much of those records were never kept or were destroyed? How much of abuse of our rights as citizens occurred in ways that can never be tracked or recorded? I'm sure they control digital as best they can, but between Manning and Snowden, I think we've seen that it's uncontrollable, and we get to see more than we've ever seen before.
- saraid216 13y ago
  There's a libertarian religion that's got an upsurge from Paul's bid for presidency in 2008. It has a Hesiodic Ages of Man feel in how America has descended from the Golden Age of George Washington to the present suffering and misery of the Iron Age of the 21st century. Its creation myth is that the Constitution is a sacred and inviolable document of the ancient ages past and that its sole purpose was a magic spell that summoned and bound a Hobbesian demon called Government, and that the founding Wizard-Fathers of our past bid it do good, but our warding runes have been slowly failing over the last two centuries. I just find it funny.
  - stan_rogers 13y ago

nsmartt 13y ago

I refuse, and so should you.

chris_mahan 13y ago
Yeah, I'm not all excited about that, but they have guns, lots of them, and they are not shy about using them. I live in Los Angeles, so a special hello to my favorite trigger-happy police department: the famed LAPD!
- nsmartt 13y ago
  Change comes with perseverance and reason. Violence is far from the only way to effect political change.
  - chris_mahan 13y ago
    Agreed. I'm not promoting violence. Rather, through hard work, kindness toward others, and a unwavering faith in the general benevolence of mankind, I press on to make a better place for all. Oh, and +1 for correct use of "effect". Such a feat is rarely seen nowadays.
    - nsmartt 13y ago
      Change within the government and legal system is necessary, so I'm more inclined to think being quietly vocal will help, rather than social changes outside those systems. I actually complained to a friend, as I posted it, that it's becoming increasingly common for correct English to be misinterpreted as incorrect. +1 for noticing.

rayiner 13y ago

What exactly is unconstitutional here? Gag orders, preventing people from trying to play a case out in the media instead of the courtroom have been commonplace forever. This is a public trial in a public court. He'll have his say and it'll all be published for public consumption.

chris_mahan 13y ago
I'm not talking about the gag order. I'm talking about a journalist publishing. I'm adding the relevant quote from the article: "Moreover, it's passing strange that a federal judge would gag a journalist, effectively declaring the court a First Amendment-free zone– particularly in a case where the nature and practice of journalism is the core issue."
Nimi 13y ago
Could you please provide the common guidelines for placing a gag order? Surely, not every lawyer talking to the media and claiming his client is innocent receives one, so what's different here?

j_baker 13y ago

I don't plan on getting used to it, nor should you. Protecting liberty is an ongoing battle that every generation has to fight.

criley2 13y ago

I am so shocked that people believe that before now, justice was just and the US Constitution was followed. Do we honestly believe that every judge in the country was honest in the 1820's? The 1890's? During industrialization, before any form of workers rights -- are we going to sit here and believe that the average man got a fair shake in front of a judge every time? Do we honestly believe that every man got a fair trial in the 1960's? That every black man who has stood in front of a white judge has, up until these modern revelations, has gotten a Constitutionally just trial? I think this is exactly like autism. People think autism is occuring more, when in reality the understanding and awareness is growing, so the cases are being diagnosed more accurately. What we're seeing today, for the first time in our history, is an honest assessment of how government operates. Technology, specifically computers and networking, are a Pandora's Box. Government HAD to adopt it because the benefits are too good and they must be competitive on some level. But by adopting it, they've given us the opportunity to walk away with all of their secrets. Frankly, I bet our governments have been cleaning themselves up over the past few decades, full well knowing the implications of technology. When I think about McCarthyism and the Cold War, and the measures our government was willing to take... how much of those records were never kept or were destroyed? How much of abuse of our rights as citizens occurred in ways that can never be tracked or recorded? I'm sure they control digital as best they can, but between Manning and Snowden, I think we've seen that it's uncontrollable, and we get to see more than we've ever seen before.

saraid216 13y ago
There's a libertarian religion that's got an upsurge from Paul's bid for presidency in 2008. It has a Hesiodic Ages of Man feel in how America has descended from the Golden Age of George Washington to the present suffering and misery of the Iron Age of the 21st century. Its creation myth is that the Constitution is a sacred and inviolable document of the ancient ages past and that its sole purpose was a magic spell that summoned and bound a Hobbesian demon called Government, and that the founding Wizard-Fathers of our past bid it do good, but our warding runes have been slowly failing over the last two centuries. I just find it funny.
- stan_rogers 13y ago