I’ve been waiting for a White House response to Aaron Swartz’s death.

Let’s hope this isn’t it.

It would be nice to see the White House go after Goldman Sachs with this sort of fervor.

The elite’s wet dream: the internet as one huge veal pen complete with carefully controlled “Free Speech Zones” acting as safety valves for the discontented.

It’s already being done, not by the government, but it’ll find a way.

I recently got myself red-lined (banned) from The Atlantic blog sites for countering the false propaganda of the Zionist Jeffrey Goldberg. (I did it with facts, nothing personal. No ad hominems — that’s not my style.) Goldberg was particularly extremely verbose in his lies about Iran, and I blogged the truth.

It was a bit of a hassle but I used another email and a new name and am blogging again on The Atlantic — but not on Goldberg. I’ve been stifled there. The Atlantic doesn’t detect that it’s the same computer, but I guess the government could.

Then there’s this:
Amendment I – Freedom of Religion, Press, Expression. Ratified 12/15/1791.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

I have to think that this is not a battle they want to take on; imho,
the internet horse has left the barn and won’t be going back (to mess
up an analogy).

Being bounced from a site for your views , if they are anathema to the site editors and owners views is not just a problem on right wing or centrist sites. I find Firedog to be one of the most tolerant sites on the left, but it’s not the case if you go to other leftist sites and express the wrong or contrarian views on certain topics, which I’m not going even mention here, because that’s not the pt. So the whole freedom of speech thing is indeed an issue, but it’s ideologically wider then just one side or another.

Actually zap, thats what these websites and blogs are all about right now. They allow people to vent harmlessly, in private, without gathering the power of being in a physical group.

Shorter: the internet is gaining in power and we have not figured out a way to dominate it yet, this scares us.

I didn’t believe the net would get as far as it has. The government has been right there at the inception of all the newest turns in technology ensuring they have access “if needed”. They fought encryption and mandated GPS in the slightly earlier cell phone service. As far as I know, there is a requirement in all communication technology that the government has access in “emergencies”.

I believe that a site owner’s rights extend to banning. Freedom of speech does not mean freedom from consequences. As to the internet as a whole, censorship is far more problematic, but I can imagine speech that should be banned. Political speech should have very wide boundaries, but commercial speech could well be more limited. I would not put up much of a fuss if the spammers got shut down, for example.

I’m somewhat shocked…..But delighted to see a post on FD that is actually tethered to both reality and Individual Freedom/Liberty. Very impressed.
Now if you guys could just accept the reality of mathematics and the absurdly phoney clown playing President as being what he is….Merely the latest extension of every anti-American presidential poseur since H.W. then the full scope of this brutal undermining of our human dignity may begin to become noticeable to you….
Now that would be PROGRESS(ive)
:)

I have had posts deleted by a blogger here on FDL because I was defending another poster who kept getting his posts deleted by this blogger; all because the blogger didn’t like his opinions. It does happen here as well.

LOL It’s libertarians that aren’t tethered to reality. They can’t do anything past linear thought and believe any attempt at societal rules is some vast conspiracy against their own personal liberty(and they totally have a God given right to be morons and bigots in their opinion.)

Then there is the brain trust known as the right. Their idea of math is telling the CBO that the dog ate their homework and can they please turn in the budgets next year, or better yet, let the smart kids have the Presidency for 4 years and let them balance it.

Actually… I think they have don a good job. Pre-9/11 the net was bit different. Borders didnt mean much, country states were seeming old fashioned and people were moving toward a common community.

Before the attacks, more often than not most things I did online had a big mix of users, brits, canandians, germans, indians etc. After Bush revved up the TERROR!!!!! that seemed to change. Part of it was the US cocooning, part was other people thinking we were crazy assholes but for what ever reason its changed. Now most everything I do is just Americans with the occasional canadian but IMO the net has balkanized in the past decade

The suppression of free speech under the guise of protection. Like the nazis anything that government determines as not acceptable, is deemed radicalization. I’m sure the king of England considered the Declaration of Independence as radical, from his myopic self interest.

What clearer manifestation of fascism does America need to realize fascism, corporate style is here. Madison and Jefferson did not use the term fascism, during the revolutionary period. It did not exist. They where fearful of the the concentration of power in that natural aristocracy of men. Law which that aristocracy has challenged and bought to the detriment of the republic. Now that corporate aristocracy with government wants to determine what is alleged radicalized speech and what is not?

How’s this for the legitimate expression of political free speech. Fuck this fascist assault on the first amendment by government at the behest of corporations one again under the facade of protection….

I recommend taking an hour and listening to Jacob Applebaum’s keynote address to the 29th Chaos Communication Congress this past December. Despite being the object of significant lawless surveillance at the hands of the US gov (primarily as a result of his association with Wikileaks, Assange, and Manning. And Tor.), he is hopeful that we can still defeat the constant security state.

The fairness doctrine applied to the internet — will it also spill over to radio & tv?

Have these bozos never heard of The Tor Project?

The government stole much of Tesla’s work. Now sine corporations can make money and governments taxes on wireless communications Tesla’s work is permitted to come to market. No such thing as free market economics.

Freely screwed is more like it….

You must not have read much here………

The government stole much of Tesla’s work.

Bullshit. I point to AC electricity distribution.

And I thought Bush was a Nazi…

I think it’s totally absurd to think the government would be…….

Then there is the brain trust known as the right

“brain trust”….LOL!!Thanks CW, best laught I have had all day.

BUt, concerning “iseeitfix”, he must be new ‘cuz this bunch of regulars here at FDL are ther smartest and most knowleadgeable bunch of people at any interenet site I have run cross. You incluided. Myself, of course, excluded. But, my job is the comedy relief. Everybody knows that.

X2

I’m genuinely concerned. THis shit is gettin’ out of hand.

“The brain trust known as the Right” Setting up oneself as a punch dummy with a constant attack of the stupids only serves to make ‘the left’ forget that they are themselves b.s. What was the last time you saw an anarchist opinion on any mainline blog ? The arc of opinion seems to run from apologists for going to war to cheerleaders for going to war.
Organizations like Global Research.ca and CASMII garner no press – but by and large they blow punditry aside as the irrelevance it is.

The same has happened to me here at FDL. Not of late however… It happens all the time on other sites. Some of the inane creeps reject the emails. I call them fascist scum. Don’t loose sleep. For all intents and purposes it was their ilk that put Da Vinci under house arrest or laughed at the notion of a non linear earth….

Always copy your comments before commenting….. Then resend the comment in another thread, noting the alleged censorship! If that doesn’t show up or is removed fuck them. Like Mr. Walker and his just say yes site. Notorious censorship and I support legalization.

WOW!!!!!!!!!!

Those guys are good. And fast.

THANK YOU.

That was beautiful.

I wish had the ability to do as well what you just did here.

Perfect. Thanks again.

Wow, one that was not crushed? Because it made sense!
Yeh… Nice meter also. Use you’re cellphone today? Aye.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inductive_charging. Note the inventor. No bs here…..

IMO when you say the “left is bs” too depends on which “left” you’re talking about.

There are many who call themselves “left” but are, in fact, right of center when you consider world wide politics. All US Democrats, for example, are pretty far right of center. Thus, in reality, they, too, are part of the brain trust on the right.

True lefties, I often find, really are true lefties. And they are most certainly not apologists for war, or for any of the other grave injustices that are occurring today.

But Democrats are not LEFT, and I can’t help but think that’s who you mean when you say the left is bs too, because yes, the Democrats and those that support them no matter what, are bullshit.

?

… who do you think is sitting on key points of the Tor structure?

Tor is still useful in some cases but it’s not a magic bullet against DHS et al.

Yup!

Btw, government regulated and created regional energy monopolies who by all accounts overcharge and fail to maintain invest in infrastructure of tree cutting and pruning of easements, till after an ice storm and no power for two weeks, with disaster money? Class acts those power gridders….

Fascism has been here for some time, but now it’s coming right out into the open. The groundwork was laid years ago with The Patriot Act being just one tangible manifestation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2f-MZ2HRHQ

Why do they hate us for our freedom?

Huff&Puff is pretty highly censored already. Only politically correct comments welcomed.

the Federal Government is committed to empowering members of the public to protect themselves against the full range of online threats

What an elegantly euphemistic way of saying the government is committed to depriving us of our First Amendments rights to freedom of speech and assembly.

I’ll mention one: The Huffington Post.

The government is working from within to label people who speak their minds and express thoughts that do not jibe with the official theme already.
Being classified as a potential domestic terrorist for speaking up for gun rights, disagreeing with Obama’s policy’s, supporting the constitution are now grounds for having all kinds of government agencies start monitoring your web presence.

I can tell you with absolute certainty that government agencies troll the web looking for dissenters.
All I have to do is look at the sitemeter for my blog.

See, you people agree with there gun control policies, what do you think would be next? Are you so fucked up in the head that you’d think they would stop at guns? They are slowly picking away at each freedom that would restrict them of theirs! But Americans are just a bunch of bitches with there PIMPS on CAPITOL HILL! Just work hard and give me your money and we’ll decide what is good for you, but me first BITCH!

Look…I’m not here attempting to fix stupid. I do appreciate you proving my overall point though regarding ignorance and denial of reality. Not to worried about because time will cure your ignorance and stupidity has a tendency to be self correcting.
It’s nearly all in the math, real math…not lefty math.
http://www.zerohedge.com/

But corporation can? Bullshit….

bluewombat @ #37

yep, have to admit that the dem’s are much better at Orwellian.

Correct…

Yup…. Fascist scum…..

We have lost our resident trolls, however. I don’t know if they got bounced or just got tired of being trounced. Probably the latter. This is not a safe have for trolls, because too many people here know what they are talking about, and can make their points stick.

Actually this place was crawling with Paultards during the election season.

Indeed. Political correctness, all manifestations of it, is probably a bigger threat than any of us realise. However, the lunacy of this proposition is such that it would ensure the downfall of any institution or government which advocates it. I will defend everyone I know, including my most sworn enemies, their right to speak. The suppression of speech, of essence, is the ultimate incitement to violence. It denies expression of thought(s). It is fine if humans were poorly designed robots, absent feelings, lacking ambition, capacity for independent reasoning. But we are not. The removal of any human capacity to express, is a grand renunciation of the pursuit of truth as far as humans can possibly understand it.

See, you people agree with there gun control policies

That’s “their,” of course.

And yes, we do agree with gun control policies; I do, anyway. Every gun should be registered and every sale or purchase of these deadly weapons should be recorded.

I laugh at the gun-nut propaganda that guns are so available so that we can storm Washington with our pop guns (or assault weapons) and get the government to restore Periclean Democracy. Baby Bush was the most tyrannical President we’ve ever had (not that Obama has relinquished any of the powers Bush usurped), and gun nuts applauded him like trained seals.

If I was to be cynical, maybe the point of removing so many present freedoms is a deliberate provocation. It then provides the prima facie justification for any subsequent desirable crackdown.

I’m wounded. Stupid and non reality is insisting that your opinion of me or anything else for that matter is akin to a statement of fact.

I don’t generally hang with the “sky is falling” crowd that hangs at Zero Hedge nor do I have a desire to convert to the gold standard.

What? You haven’t heard of all those drive by prepositional phrases that kill hundreds of people each year. ;)

I’m a moderate when it comes to gun control but even I do not see how saying we should have background checks to try and stop mentally ill people from killing people is exactly the same as saying we’re going to police what you say because that is easier than actually providing mental help to someone who actually thinks that Ann Coulter means what she says when she suggests we poison a Supreme Court Justice.

It is a passive aggressive government action seeking a justifiable response, to a trauma inflicted by government to then justify a beat down on the governed. Like pulling pubic hair from scrotum then when you react to scrotum hair pulling, you get billie club in back of head.

The War on Terror has always, first and foremost, been about domestic control. And ever since the internet became popular, “Big Government and Big Business” have been hard at work trying to turn it into television, which is to say a medium of passive consumption designed to tell citizens what to think and do. They are succeeding.

The funny part is the invention of the phrase, “online radicalization to violence.” Imagine taking that phrase seriously–even as a ruse to control the population–as if the mere exposure to something online would incite a person to commit a violent act. It is ridiculous idea made bizarre in that it is uttered with a straight face and will be believed by many. The only legitimate, sane response to such delusional ideas is for everyone to point and laugh.

“…which is to say a medium of passive consumption designed to tell citizens what to think and do. They are succeeding.”

The “little black box,” Kierkegaard warned of taken to the next level?

Point and laugh. That’s why guys like Stewart and Colbert exist. Today I see to many people working very had and getting nowhere. Meanwhile I see those born into money having few worries as it relates to life’s basic needs take it all for granted with no empathy or concern for those considerably less fortunate and lacking privilege.

No wonder we have “online radicalization to violence?”

Now we know the real reason Elvis’ s waist and below was blacked out on national TV?
The Elvis induced real time instant radicalization leading to intense female masturbation, a perceived violent action must not be tolerated.

These folks really do suck the big big one…

Well, prior to the Obama government, whistle blowers didn’t face the kind of prosecution and intense judicial attacks they have for the past 4 years. Worse than Bush, actually.

This should give us all fair warning that this president, this Nobel Peace Prize laureate, this Constitutional adjunct professor, this ostensible Democrat, this Corporatist is willing to do whatever his Corporate sponsors feel they need.

Protection from prosecution? Certainly, for Big Banksters and their attendant businesses and lackies.

Protection for whistle blowers? Good grief, why ever would DOJ not go after them with all the power of the Federal government?

Why stop with whistle blowers? Why stop with entrapped “terrists”?

We have all got to be in their sights. They think Big in this administration.

And don’t get me going on the drone (or whatever methods work for them) kill lists.

Yep!

So remember, next time Obomber tells you his murders and drone programs are perfectly legal and “for your own good,” don’t be incited toward murders and drone strikes of your own! For such are the exclusive sports of kings.

Double yep.

This should tell you more than anything that there is another financial collapse coming and the powers that be are terrified of our response to it.

“…as a matter of last resort to protect the people from the tyranny in government?”

As Americans we are here. The relationships between corporations and government is usurping the rights of American citizens in a fascist attempt to gut the “Bill of Rights,” so corporations can continue in the systemic rape of this republic, while they all pay homage to Mammon’s appendage! Fuck them all………

Corporate fascists…

Hitler said the same thing…

Did anyone here actually read the White House post this article is talking about? It’s not nearly as evil as FDL makes it out to be. I wouldn’t give it a total pass, but it’s not plutocracy run amok, either. There are only two references to ‘industry.’ Both are in the third paragraph. The first refers to the tech industry. The second is not as specific. But, if you consider the context of that paragraph, it doesn’t seem to be referring to the Koch brothers or Goldman Sachs, ya know? Please read it.

Go after Goldman Sachs? What on earth for?

Goldman Sachs never posted something unflattering to Obama on the internet.

/sarcasm

Some of this shit is up to voters. Unfortunately, we are just as lousy at performing our part of the social contract as are courts, the media, the Executive Branch and the Legislative Branch.

We elect incumbents mindlessly until they die or retire. (Not all of us and not always, but enough of us enough of the time.)

We allow professional politicians, elected by us or not, to have more say in who primary candidates are than do voters.

In general elections, we vote out of fear. We are afraid to vote against one candidate lest we help his or her opponent.

We allow our elected to ignore us, and we re-elect them anyway.

We almost never never demand impeachment of a federal judge or of the POTUS, even though the Framers obviously gave us the remedy of impeachment for “high crimes and misdemeanors for good reason.

Given the above, we have disenfranchised ourselves to a great degree.

We patronize news sources that give us only one side of a story–as long as it is the side we prefer.

Question:

What kind of government did you give us, Mr. Franklin?

Reply:

A republic, madam, if you can keep it.

Apparently, we’ve had a very tough time keeping it. However, to be fair to us, we’ve had precious little help from politicians, government or the media.

True. And I prefer sites with more freedom. However, message boards are privately owned.

A Catholic Church does not open its doors so that people can try to get its parishioners to agree that the Church messed up the Bible, but Mohammed got it right. A Jewish temple does not open up its doors so that people can preach that Jesus is the Messiah and that he’s come and gone and will return to rapture us all.

But as long as the government does not shut down any church for preaching the “wrong” religious message, we’re okay. We can go to both places and make our decisions. And so it is with Republican message boards, Democratic message boards, etc. We don’t have to be able to say everything we wish in every privately owned place.

But government wanting to control every single private place is a problem. Especially, when government says things like this:

“Violent extremist groups ─ like al-Qa’ida and its affiliates and adherents, violent supremacist groups, and violent “sovereign citizens” ─ are leveraging online tools and resources to propagate messages of violence and division.”

Coming from the federal government, those last two words are pretty scary. Coming from the one of one message board among thousands, meh.

Huh?

Public and private libraries presumably had “left the barn” too–and centuries ago, not just a matter of a decade or two.

Yet, two branches of government gave us the Patriot Act, which would have allowed government to make random searches of libraries to find out which books you and I and the rest of us had been reading.

Both Bush and Obama strongly supported the Patriot Act.

The bit about library books got checked only for two reasons. one was an uprising by librarians. another was the courts. Do you really want to depend on a poor funded and staffed librarians’ association and the likes of Antonin Scalia?

Did anyone here actually read the White House post this article is talking about?

Yes.

It’s not nearly as evil as FDL makes it out to be.

I have not seen any statement by FDL about the WH blog post, only comments by individual bloggers and posters like you and me.

I wouldn’t give it a total pass, but it’s not plutocracy run amok, either.

It’s government run amok. That is plenty bad enough.

Obama has gone well beyond Dimson in a number of areas and Dimson went beyond Obama in others. So, I don’t think it is correct to say that either one was by far more tyrannical than the other.

Moreover, tyranny did not start with either one of them. Just ask the Japanese Americans and the lesser percentage of German Americans and Italian Americans interned during WWII or the people who lost careers thanks to Joe McCarthy and whomever instituted the loyal oaths of the 1950s.

It’s a very old and big animal. We cannot look at any one small part of it and say this part is the worst ever.

Oh, man, I so agree.

It also allows them to vent while being relatively inert beyond fingertips and therefore no threat whatever to government. To believe that posting or signing an online petition or sending their Rep an email is a proxy for real life political activism.

And, with thousands of message boards, we don’t have any idea of how many of us are actually agreeing that government has been failing us.

IOW, in many ways, the internet is only the most recent kind of “opiate of the masses.” Not that it has supplanted the others. All of them work together to sheeple-ize us and keep us in the dark.

Coming again? 1929, 2008. And so many other smaller depressions and “panics.”

What response?

If they, with all their numbers and weapons, are still terrified of our next to nonexistent responses, they must be the most cowardly and paranoid fucks the planet has ever spewed forth.