Pacifists are the enemy?

[yendi]

So, Bush and his Merry Organization of Fascist Scum have placed anti-war activists on the no-fly list. Because if you don't restrict the movement of and harass good citizens, the terrorists win!

Of course, since Bush has conveniently thrown the gay marriage issue front and central, and the conservative-run media is eating it up like candy, don't expect any serious outrage from the sheep over this one, any more than over his last 84 offenses.

Wonder how long before all Libertarians are on the no-fly list. Ditto the Green Party. And then all Democrats. Followed by all Blacks and Jews, of course.

Comments

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Fucking moron. Obviously it doesn't count if you've only been to protests and signed petitions though, since I have flown since 9/11. I'm wondering if I have an alert level though. I have been searched, though I figured it was cause I was wearing a trenchcoat.

[shawnj.livejournal.com]

Can I ride down that slippery slope, Daddy?

[thejunebug.livejournal.com]

But he didn't get a blowjob in the Oval Office, so we can't impeach him.

[justanotherg33k.livejournal.com]

The EFF cofounder John Gilmore has been heavily involved in this issue. He was recently kicked off of a British Airways flight for wearing a "Suspected Terrorist" button. Information on his legal challenges appears at www.freetotravel.org (http://freetotravel.org/).

I'm wondering how bad the lockdown of Atlanta is going to get as the
WTO conference on Sea Island approaches next year.

[zerbie.livejournal.com]

My boyfriend gets detained at the airport for being named Jean-Jacques. Because, you know, we hate the French. Nevermind that he's an American citizen, born in California, with no criminal record and maybe one speeding ticket to his name. But his name sounds French, and he probably speaks the language, and he might get froggy, and we can't have that.

Hrmph.

I did send this link to him, though, because it contains the only decent idea I've heard: file a complaint with the ACLU. The TSA agents he's spoken with won't, of course, tell him anything, and say there's no way to get off the list.

[stormy-brow.livejournal.com]

The Dubya Admin is indeed a fascist organisation. I'm glad I'm not the only one that calls it that.

Why are more people not outraged that no shred of democracy exists anymore? Can't people see what a fascist regime we're dominated by?

[fortunavirilis.livejournal.com]

The most unfortunate aspect of all of this is that I am not surprised in the least.

[vyseryn.livejournal.com]

What is this "conservative-run media"? Fox News? The New York Post? Rush? Sean Hannity? Is that the entirety of the conservative run media? You surely can't be talking about CNN, ABC, CBS, MSNBC, C-SPAN, the New York Time, Boston Globe, LA Times, Miami Herald, Washington Post, etc. Truth be told, the Left still has a strangle hold on the media in this country.

[yendi]

Um, yes, I'm talking about exactly them. The corporate-owned companies that find it in their best interest to preserve the corporate-friendly status-quo. Putting Cynthia Tucker or Ellen Goodman on your op-ed page as a feint, and then killing or burying any stories about Bush's actions, is both conservative and cynical. The difference between the mainstream conservative press and the sources you cite is that they are conservative, not reactionary.

[vyseryn.livejournal.com]

Do you know what a fascist government is like? Think Nazi Germany. Think Mussolini's Italy. Think the Hussein Regime. There is absolutley NO comparison to the Bush administration and these governments. Such a statement is pure rhetoric. Only in politics can people redefine a powerful, negative term to suit their own needs...

Don't think for a moment that this type of stuff wasn't going on in previous administrations. Politics will be politics, and power will be power, regardless of the party the administration represents.

[stormy-brow.livejournal.com]

And how do you think Mossolini and Hitler and Stalin started? Do you think they started as full-blown murderers? No. Look back hard at history. It does repeat itself, and it is doing so now.

Look up fascism in the dictionary. Democracy is dead in this country. The people have no say.

[vyseryn.livejournal.com]

Your statement makes it sound like the conservatives dominate the media, which is entirely untrue.

You make it sound like the idea of killing or burying stories is something new and unique to the Bush Administration. They called CNN the "Clinton News Network" for a reason. This same sort of stuff when on during his administration too, but you didn't hear about it. Why? Liberal president - Liberal media. It was not in their interests to report things that they didn't have to.

Why are all these things coming out in this administration? That is quite simple. Republican President/House/Senate/Supreme Court - Liberal media. It is in their best interests to have a Democrat in power. This is politics... This is how it has been done. This is NOT new for this administration, and to think so is purely biased. I guarantee that if there was a conservative dominated media, you wouldn't be hearing about any of this stuff.

[stormy-brow.livejournal.com]

From dictionary.com:

fas·cism
n.
often Fascism
A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism.
A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government.
Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Take note to the text that I've hightlighted in bold. People are blind if they do not see that this is something that is happening right now. Insert any sort of "ism" where racism exists in that definition.

[vyseryn.livejournal.com]

First - This country is not, nor has it ever been a "Democracy". That is a common misconception people have. The United States has always been a "Constitutional Republic". Constititional Republic is not a democracy.

Democracy is no more dead than it was 8 years ago.

Do people have a say? No more than they normally had.

Why don't people have a say? That is pretty simple. They don't pay attention to politics or how it affects their lives. This means they don't vote. Because the average American does not vote, that means that the fringe elemements represent the American people at the polls. Why do you think Howard Dean is leading the Democratic Primary so far? Because the average American is supporting him? No, it is because the Far left in the democratic party is supporting him. If the average american cared about primaries or chosing the people who would run for President, the leader would probably be Joe Leibermann.

The only way to change the direction of the country is to bring it back to the center. Not further right, and not further left. The only way this will happen is if the people speak. Since they believe their votes won't make a difference, they don't vote. Sadly, their lack of voting DOES make a difference.

As for Hitler, Mussolini, and Stalin - What happened there is alot more difficult to start here, because the government does not control the media - That is where it all starts. There are certain checks and balances in our model of government that did not exists in the Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, or Mussolini's Italy. So long as the constitution is followed, we will never suffer the same as these other nations. No administration will be so bold as to strip the bill of rights from the constitution. If the supreme court does the job they are being paid to do, it will never happen. In those nations there was a central political body who decreed all policy. Such is not the case in this country.

[stormy-brow.livejournal.com]

There are aspects of your arguments that I agree with. Surely, the apathy of the general public has a great deal to do with it.

However, I beg to differ that the government does not have control over the media. Well, it doesn't have absolute control, and thankfully there still is some alternative press out there, but it weilds strong influence. Why do you think our government hired a PR firm to put a positive spin on our need to get involved in the first Gulf War?

[mfree.livejournal.com]

So, if you've got conservatives calling the media leftist, and liberals calling the media right-wingers, then is there the possibility that *gasp* the media might be centrist?

Or at the very least pivoted in the middle and swinging. or reactionary.

[yendi]

Your statement makes it sound like the conservatives dominate the media, which is entirely untrue.

How so? Seriously, I'm fine with saying that the reporters lean left (I haven't seen any stats one way or the other, but I'm not sure how easy it would be to prove, either way). Maybe even editors. But publishers? Name a prominent newspaper that's not a corporate cog (even the NY Times is now a part of a larger empire). Ditto television (and don't get me started on Clearchannel, the Medium Formerly Known as Radio). They have no interest in anything that hurts the corporate agenda.

As for Clinton, what didn't get reported? Newsweek, that so-called liberal bastion, wasted 50 pages in an issue on the travesty that was the Starr Report.

As for your last paragraph, you're mistaking the need for the media to always maintain a partially adversarial relationship with the powers-that-be for liberalism. If Leno is busy cracking wise about Bush's stance gay marriage, and the Times is reporting on a minor Bush slip-up from months ago, then the big stuff happening right now just conveniently falls through the cracks, and the sheep are entertained.

[vyseryn.livejournal.com]

This definition does NOT fit the description of the current administration.

I must be missing the terror thing. The only exception to that is the IRS. I live in fear of them. Are you being forced by the government to do something by way of Terror?

There is no "Central" authority in this country that dictates policy. We still have a system of check and balances between Congress, the President, and the Supreme Court. So long as the Supreme Court upholds the constitution, there will never be a supreme authority that can dictate policy at a whim.

Belligerent Nationalism? If this was the case, the borders would be closed, and all of the illegals would be rounded up and shipped out. Since all administations are afraid to touch this one less they be labled a racist, this will never happen. Funny how it is that every country in the would can show nationalistic pride, but when it happens in this country, it is looked down upon a fascist. Sad, very sad.

Censorship - The government does not control the media. The government does not control the content of the WWW. People are free to speak their minds. You aren't going to get locked up for standing on the sidewalk of the white house and criticizing the president. In a fascist regime, you would be shot on the spot or locked up for life.

This administration is not oppressive, or dictitorial. If you belive it is, you should really spend some time in a country where this is an every day thing. You will be longing for the Tyranny, and Fascism of the US rather quickly.

[yendi]

I've actually noted that my reactions of anger to articles I read in The Week (the best news magazine for the buck, imho) are likely a result of their centrist attitude. But that's always struck me as the exception, not the rule.

[vyseryn.livejournal.com]

No, the media is NOT centrist. Not by a long shot. Being centrist would mean providing news and commentary that was not slanted by a political point of view. The day that this happens will be the day the sky falls.

[yendi]

Of course not! Violating the sanctity of marriage is the only impeachable offense!

[vyseryn.livejournal.com]

There is some news that even the media can't conveniently not report. I didn't read the Newsweek report of the Starr report, but I am sure much like everything else they print, it is slanted to the left.

As a side note: I use to be a registed democrat and voted that way. I will even admit I voted for Clinton in his re-election campaign. I abandoned the Dem party once it started sliding too far left. Sadly, there are elements in the DNC that believe they have not gone far enough left. If either party slides that far from center, this country will be in SERIOUS trouble if they ever come to power. If you think Bush is a far right winger, think Pat Buchanan or Ann Coulter... That is far right.

[dwivian]

Lying to a Grand Jury is impeachable.

Lying to everyone else....is politics.

[dwivian]

Because it doesn't control the media, and can't mandate what they print, so instead had to produce a story interesting enough that the media might swallow?

The government has to spin to get the story told the way they want, and the press still has the right to ignore them and their spin, or report it as spin, which happens quite a bit...

[dwivian]

Woo hoo! You got it! :)