Obama Says Internet, Social Media Are Threat To Democracy

Discussion in 'Latest US & World News' started by Horhey, Nov 18, 2020.

  1. LoneStarGal

    LoneStarGal Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Obama did all that. He had "a list" of Tea Party organizers and had the IRS hunt them down. They were singled out for tax audits for no other reason than that they opposed Obama, and DINO/RINO policy stances.

    "The Obama administration repeatedly used an obscure century-old federal statute — the Espionage Act — to pursue government sources who provided information to journalists. His Justice Department’s war on leakers was, in the words of former Post editor Len Downie, “the most aggressive I’ve seen since the Nixon administration.”

    "Obama’s administration continued the punishing treatment of a National Security Agency whistleblower, Thomas Drake, and threatened to send James Risen, then a revered New York Times investigative reporter, to jail for insisting on protecting his confidential source.

    Maybe worst of all, his administration went after James Rosen, a Fox News reporter, using security-badge access records to track his comings and goings from the State Department. Shockingly, it even called him a co-conspirator in a leak about North Korea’s nuclear program. “They traced the timing of his calls with a State Department security adviser suspected of sharing the classified report. They obtained a search warrant for the reporter’s personal emails,” The Post reported in 2013.


    “If Donald J. Trump decides as president to throw a whistle-blower in jail for trying to talk to a reporter, or gets the F.B.I. to spy on a journalist, he will have one man to thank for bequeathing him such expansive power: Barack Obama,” he [Risen] wrote in late 2016."

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/life...5e305a-28cb-11eb-8fa2-06e7cbb145c0_story.html
     
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  2. yardmeat

    yardmeat Well-Known Member

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    I've seen no evidence that Obama played any personal role in demanding anything when it came to the IRS fiasco. As for the rest, hey, that's part of the reason I repeatedly said he should have gone through impeachment hearings.
     
  3. kreo

    kreo Well-Known Member

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    It is a law
     
  4. kreo

    kreo Well-Known Member

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    What are talking about?
    Dem party promote special privileges special rights for blacks, women and pederasts.
    Until we fix that injustice there is nothing to talk about.
     
  5. Oh Yeah

    Oh Yeah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    It's only a threat when Obama, Clinton, Biden, the FBI, NSA, CIA, NSA, liberal Media, Career deep state, RINO's use it in conjunction with foreign powers to undermine our Constitution and then use the unhallowed halls of Congress to try and depose a duly elected President with a corrupt scam dossier of made up lies.
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
  6. Giftedone

    Giftedone Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Don't disagree with you that the Dems are violators - so we already know that - What I was discussing was the Red side and their abuses of individual liberty and the founding principles .. towards totalitarianism.

    and to be sure - I have much better examples than yours on the Dem side - although what you state is an issue - and the whole Nazi fembotism in general . "women must be believed " which equals men must be guilty before proven so - . but this is one of numerous problems stemming from "Utilitarianism" Utilitarian justification for law - which looks only at "What will increase happiness for the collective" paying no attention to the rights of the individual

    Then you have "Fallacious Utilitarianism" - arguments that are not even valid Utilitarian arguments ..

    but to the point - an example - "If it saves one life" or "Harm Reduction" as justification for law - Is this valid justification for law ? - on its own merit. The answer is no - but it is sold as such - and thus does an end run around the main safeguard protecting essential liberty.

    You see these arguments sound good on the surface - Who does not want to save a life ? - You bad person .. why would you be against saving a life. ..

    OK - so lets accept this as valid justification for law .. and ban skiing tomorrow .. would this not save one life - or two.. how about boating - that is really dangerous - one could drown. Driving a car ? - forget it.. one of the most dangerous things you can do.

    Fact is you should probably not rise from bed in the morning as one might fall and break neck.

    In a free society - one has the right to incur a reasonable amount of harm to oneself - and not be forced not to because someone else's insurance rates might go up.

    You are inundated with these arguments .. so much that if we went through them - you may well have bought into a few too many.

    know thy enemy - cause how can you fight one who you do not know ?
     
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  7. Oh Yeah

    Oh Yeah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Sometimes foreign input is way ahead of the US media. I get much news from friends in Australia and New Zealand way before I hear about it here. We are suppose to be the most free country in the world. Were not. We rank about 12th in Economic Freedom. https://www.worldatlas.com/articles...19.html#:~:text=1 New Zealand. New Zealand is.

    In Political and Civil Liberties we rank about 52. https://freedomhouse.org/countries/freedom-world/scores.
     
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  8. Oh Yeah

    Oh Yeah Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    What disturbs me is the censorship on the political forum over stupid stuff. A rose is a rose is a rose. A lie on the forum cannot be called a lie because you are calling the poster a liar, you can't say they are talking with forked tongue because that's a personal insult, we have to say things like I THINK YOU MAY BE MISINFORMED, ARE YOU SURE OF YOUR FACTS, WHERE DID YOU GET THAT INFORMATION, what a bunch Bulls--t or Heifer Hockey. A Lie is la lie is a lie.
     
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  9. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    the government labels true news fake news and the right is all up in arms cause a free service fact checks Trump's lying tweets

    Trump is trying to silence Twitters free speech rights and Trump is the Government
     
    Last edited: Nov 18, 2020
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  10. undertheice

    undertheice Well-Known Member

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    so it is only those with whom you disagree that are dangers on the internet?
     
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  11. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    Leakers are not whistle blowers, there is a difference, leakers do not get whistle blower protections
     
  12. FatBack

    FatBack Well-Known Member

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    Guess you need to ignore this too, then!

    Obama's war on whistleblowers leaves administration insiders ...
    www.theguardian.com › us-news › mar › whistleblower...

    Mar 16, 2015 — Five key political players enjoy 'virtual impunity' – while four lower-level figures are in prison or facing time.

    Chelsea Manning Doesn't Erase Obama's Whistleblower Legacy
    time.com › Ideas › White House

    Jan 19, 2017 — President Obama's good deed of commuting Chelsea Manning should not obliterate his otherwise awful legacy on whistleblowers and leakers.

    Obama's Legacy: A Historic War on Whistleblowers
    www.longislandpress.com › 2017/01/14 › obamas-lega...

    Jan 14, 2017 — The Obama administration has prosecuted more people under the Espionage Act, a World War I-era law, than all previous presidents ...
     
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  13. JET3534

    JET3534 Well-Known Member

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    When did Trump propose government censoring of the news or Internet? I must have missed it.

    Please understand that here in America we have a Constitution and a Bill of Rights. Why do you find freedom of speech to be insane? Isn't this right (in theory) part of the UN's declaration of human rights?

    First Amendment
    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.
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
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  14. Mandelus

    Mandelus Well-Known Member

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    For example here ...
    https://www.forbes.com/sites/waynec...ats-to-regulate-social-media/?sh=5d090b6b2642

    I am German and we also have a constitution etc. which also guarantees the right to freedom of expression, as well as freedom of the press and other things like freedom of religion. And this constitution of us is done out of worst experiences during Nazi time and took widely your US constitution as model too.
    Only there are 2 decisive differences between us ... and in my opinion we have the better option, because we had with Hitler the experience which make these differences very necessary ... for us, but in my opinion also for everyone else too, because the threat is not a special German one:

    #1
    Article 1 of our constitution says: "Human dignity is inviolable"!
    This article stands above all other rights and is unalterably anchored. In plain language, this means that the right to freedom of speech and expression, as well press and religion can never be abused to attack the dignity of another person!
    Every attempt is therefore a criminal offense against the constitution and is not protected by the right to freedom of speech etc.!

    #2
    Anyone who wants to abuse their constitutional rights to abolish the constitution that guarantees these rights also loses these rights and is liable to prosecution! It is just insane to allow someone to abuse the right to freedom of speech to eliminate this constitution, isn't it?
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
  15. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    I think you meant Trump
     
  16. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    not sure what you're saying, we should not know cause sometimes it is good? what is the harm in knowing
     
    Last edited: Nov 19, 2020
  17. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    when did democrats do that, neither has done it, but Trump did threaten companies verbally
     
  18. Mandelus

    Mandelus Well-Known Member

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    Well ... nothing to say against it ... but then the US should stop their anonymous propaganda in other countries the same way!
    There is evidence that the US interfered in the elections of other countries over two dozen times, etc. As for BS propaganda itself ... the "alternative truths" are not a foreign invention, eh?

    Says someone who is so obscured by Trump's propaganda that the term "neutral" only applies to him if it is "pro Trump", regardless of the truth or the facts!

    With a properly elected president, you can't mean Trump. And interesting that everything you write fits 1: 1 to Trump and his current attempt to destroy democracy in the USA with the help of "legal rats" and to make the USA a rogue state ...
     
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  19. FreshAir

    FreshAir Well-Known Member Past Donor

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    agree, the USA does it to other countries too, and we won't stop, the other countries will need to do this as well
     
  20. Sallyally

    Sallyally Well-Known Member Donor

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    Did you read this?

    http://www.politicalforum.com/index.php?threads/obama-says-internet-social-media-are-threat-to-democracy.581428/page-3#post-1072226487
     
  21. Mandelus

    Mandelus Well-Known Member

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    Well ... said a little less sarcastically:

    Since realistically, neither the USA nor the others will stop these "activities" in the elections of others, one can only protect oneself against it as well as possible with appropriate measures.

    The main problem here is above all and especially the social media. The "normal" media are mostly not good or generally good ... but most of the fake news BS and propaganda etc. undeniably comes from social media.
    Unfortunately, it is a disease that many people also believe even the worst stupidest BS that is spread on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or whatever in the www ... mostly against all logic and human understanding.
    And yes ... of course it will be used accordingly ... let's say "by state organs" of others in foreign election campaigns as a tool!
    But it's not just the bad other countries ... a lot of that BS comes from locals too!
    The big question is, how can you fight that in order to reduce it ... I emphasize reduce, because you can never prevent it completely! An important point here is education and the admonition to use your own mind, i.e. not to switch off your own brain while reading!
     
  22. fmw

    fmw Well-Known Member

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    Says someone with no knowledge of what he said who decided to project his own hatred onto someone else. I realize it is common in politics to confuse opinions with fact so I will forgive the insult.
     
  23. kreo

    kreo Well-Known Member

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    Both parties want to control people, no doubt about that.
    However the bottom line is
    Republicans are for the rule of law and constitution.
    Democrats are for selective rules of law (i.e. essentially for lawlessness). and against constitution.
     
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  24. Mandelus

    Mandelus Well-Known Member

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    :roflol::roflol::roflol::roflol::roflol:

    Sure man ... sure! I never denied to hate Trump and not only since he became POTUS ... but if you would have read the complete post of me whcih you quoted, then I did neither acuse Trump corner, nor Biden corner!

    But anyway ... forget it. No desire of a new posting battle with you about such Bullshit topics which you understand / rate wrong!
     
  25. Eleuthera

    Eleuthera Well-Known Member Donor

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    Do you think there is any chance you might have been deceived by the Obama administration? Do you think it's possible or likely that POTUS activities might be kept away from public view? Is there secrecy in Washington DC?
     
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