How do you feel about the Patriot Act now?

[Guest Schwarzgebrannt]

I've taken crap from "republicans" for years, calling me a commie, America hater, Democratic Undergrounder, etc, all because I tried to point out how lovely life would be if someone like the Clintons were in power with the Patriot Act.

Well.

Looks like I was right all along.

How does it feel?

Thanks, guys. I do appreciate the schadenfreude of knowing that I was smarter than you were, although none of the people who supported it will have the balls to admit it now.

[towerclimber37]

ok..back on topic.

I've been skeptical of it...but I haven't found any instance yet of it being mis used...so I supported it.

why? because in order to actually pull something like this off, too many people would have to be in on it..and that means that it's more likely to be cut off if there's a mis use.

notably, many of the major telephony carriers would run the risk of losing their consumer base...and they value the income more than to take that kind of risk.

word of mouth is an awesome thing...you'd be suprised at how quickly it can send a company into bankruptcy..or worse..position them for a hostile takeover...it happens in communications companies all the time.

[Guest jdavis]

The patriot act really does nothing but make what all the "special" agencies already have the power to do legally admisable in a court, these agencies arent interested in any of us, hell son do you think they would waste their valuable time on you after reading your posts on this site alone they know your not a threat they wouldnt even have to listen to your phone calls.

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

I've taken crap from "republicans" for years, calling me a commie, America hater, Democratic Undergrounder, etc, all because I tried to point out how lovely life would be if someone like the Clintons were in power with the Patriot Act.

Well.

Looks like I was right all along.

How does it feel?

Thanks, guys. I do appreciate the schadenfreude of knowing that I was smarter than you were, although none of the people who supported it will have the balls to admit it now.

This gibberish didn't make much sense at first. Then I read the thread and realized what was going on: you're being shrill like a petulant child. There was some objection to the Patriot Act thrown in there, but your contribution to the thread has basically been a simple attempt to call attention to your feelings.

Lots of us despise the PA, myself included. Lots of us realize that no government has ever wielded power judiciously or honestly. Ever. We consequently feel that small, relatively powerless governments are the ideal. You will not, however, be able to convince anyone of your position by being so confrontational. Most grown men aren't going to cower before your words and essentially submit themselves to your will. You need to learn a bit of salesmanship. We all get worked up occasionally, but it isn't conducive to winning hearts and minds. If your encounters are all win/lose with people, they are going to resist you. Who wants to lose?

Incidentally, I'm curious as to why you voted McCain/Palin if you find the PA so distasteful? Neither of the two major parties has the slightest bit of respect for the Fourth Amendment.

[G27]

Schwarzgebrannt, if I may...

You're obviously new around here, and so I'm assuming you don't understand the vibe of this forum - it's not a flame-forum like most around. If you're willing to discuss the subject at hand maturely, you'll likely find there are more than a handful that agree with you and even those that don't will be respectful - as it stands you are coming across like a teenager and/or a troll.

[TGO David]

This thread appears to have far outlived whatever redeeming qualities it may have had originally. I'm not about to spend the hour it would take to sort through eight pages worth of nonsense from new members and veteran members alike just to figure out where it went wrong or who caused it to happen.

Rather let me just say this:

Everyone needs to revisit our Code of Conduct and read up on what is considered acceptable behavior for our members. Everyone is expected to treat each other with mutual respect. Sadly I'm not seeing much of that here from either new members of TGO or from those who have been with us for much longer.

New people, be warned. If you're here just to troll for reactions and incite discord, you will be removed from the community.

Veteran members, you are held to an even higher standard. You know what the rules are. Attacking people rather than issues is not and won't ever be tolerated. You are just as vulnerable to being shown to the door for rude behavior as a new person is.

Play nice!