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As US custom (e.g. the Federalist Papers) and jurisprudence has anonymity so strongly established, it's hard for me to see such a thing here without a simultane
by hga 12y ago
As US custom (e.g. the Federalist Papers) and jurisprudence has anonymity so strongly established, it's hard for me to see such a thing here without a simultaneous hot civil war. It would tread on a very important part of our Constitutionally enshrined core political free speech.
- sukilot 12y agoPercentage of Americans who know what the Federalist Papers are: <20%
- knd775 12y agoYou know, that is probably true. And if so, that is incredibly depressing and disappointing.
- hga 12y agoHowever the percentage who currently care about freedom of speech and of the press jurisprudence will tend to do so (any guesses on ACLU members?), and if this became an issue that started affecting the other >80% that would change real fast. Or maybe just our cultural "DNA" is sufficient, you don't need to know the details if you know and follow the principles.
- differentView 12y agoYou'd be surprised at what laws could get pushed through should there be another major terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
- hga 12y agoI don't believe anywhere in my statement that I denied such a thing. I'm just, among other things, stating consequences, assuming of course that e.g. the Supremes don't slap it down as they have other threats to anonymous political speech, or we don't "throw the bums out" as happened after the passage and use of the Alien and Sedition acts, etc. etc. It's often formulated at soap box, jury box, ballot box, and bullet box. Preclude the use of the first 3 and we're left with the last.
- JeremyMorgan 12y agoOh we can get anything pushed through as long as you buy the right politicians. The "will of the people" means very little these days.
- hga 12y agoPerhaps. But our current ruling class should remember that we are slow to anger, and I see plenty of evidence of they do.
- Canada 12y agoYour federal government is conducting warrantless searches without any claim of probable cause, at every airport and on public transportation systems in your cities. There is no hot civil war.
- hga 12y agoAnd lots of us have replied by no longer using airports (I believe you grossly overstate the searches in public transportation system. Or my sources on VIPR etc. are woefully inadequate, not to mention my friends and my own personal experiences on the DC Metro and the Boston MBTA systems). It is possible, it's even convenient or required for many people. That's very different from a nationwide, you can't escape this without breaking the law, outlawing of anonymous speech in one or more media.
- Canada 12y agoAnd I bet if this new Chinese policy were implemented in the US, a lot of you would reply by no longer posting comments. And not much else would happen.
- hga 12y agoAnd you base this on what? Americans' famously peaceful and agreeable nature? Our still having the ingrained habit of tugging our forelocks that was required from where we emigrated? That our response to the response of our ruling class to Sandy Hook was to buy every weapon of military utility that was available, finishing the last stock of surplus military bolt action rifles (the Russian and Soviet Mosin-Nagants): http://www.bob-owens.com/2012/12/something-funny-happened-on-the-way-to-the-tyranny/ http://www.bob-owens.com/2012/12/something-funny-happened-on... Look at the adjusted NSSF NICS retail gun purchase figures, all during the grinding Great Recession. We aren't buying these weapons to just polish and admire, as the perpetual post-Obama election ammunition supply problems attests.