ANewDomain.net has just posted a column I wrote exclusively for them about the revelation that the U.S. government is demanding that Internet giants turn over your account passwords to them:
It isn’t enough, it turns out, for the government to read everything you write and listen to everything you say. And yes, I said listen. Despite official denials, the NSA has been intercepting Americans’ phone calls via a well-documented, decades-old program called ECHELON.
Now we learn government agencies routinely demand the passwords to your accounts, mostly so they can impersonate you.
You read that right: Uncle Sam is a phisher.
2 Comments.
Good question. Easy answer.
In 1998, just before the elections, the House ‘impeached’ Clinton. They had no idea what ‘impeachment’ means.
It means an indictment, a humble request that the Senate hold a trial and investigate the charges. Instead, the House Bill of Impeachment demanded that Clinton be evicted from office, a demand the House cannot legally make.
And many of those who voted for impeachment were booted out of office by voters who loved Clinton. Republicans remember.
In 1999, after the elections, the Bill of Impeachment went before the Senate, who also did not understand the process. A majority of Senators voted to accept the impeachment and hold an investigation (when they knew they were going to vote ‘Innocent’, and so should have voted to dismiss the impeachment without a trial). After wasting months and many dollars, the Senate found Clinton innocent as a new born babe. He was not guilty of perjury, not guilty of abusing his office by having sex with one of his young interns, completely innocent of all charges!
And, when Honduras impeached and convicted its president in 2009, Obama announced that no impeachment is legal: a president is elected and must serve until the end of his term, no one has the right to remove him (the modification, ‘unless he’s a member of the Brotherhood’ was added this year, but the President of Honduras in ’09 was NOT a member of the Brotherhood, so he’s still the President of Honduras as far as the US is concerned).
So there is absolutely nothing to gain by trying to impeach Obama, only a chance for Republicans to lose the House in the ’14 elections, even with their #1 supporter, the gerrymander, who eats lots of Democratic votes in House races.
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The anti-war protesters of the late ’60s and ’70s didn’t achieve anything until after Watergate: A weakened Nixon ended US involvement in ’73, hoping that would mitigate the impact of Watergate. It didn’t. And Nixon would probably have been acquitted, but he didn’t want to be the second president impeached, so he resigned. Leaving that honour for Clinton.
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So the Congress has learned the dangers (and futility) of an impeachment.
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Why can’t the people revolt? As the anti-2nd-Amendment types write, ‘The US government has overwhelming power. It cannot be challenged by anyone, anywhere on this planet (or, for that matter, anywhere in this solar system). So having guns won’t do you any good.’
And the typical leftist doesn’t even have any guns.
So what to do, except bohica?
This reminds me of a song on Ex-Marillion singer Fish first solo album from 1990.
Listen to me just hear me out, if I could have your attention
Just quieten down for a voice in the crowd.
I get so confused I don’t understand
I know you feel the same way you’ve always wanted to say
But you don’t get the chance, just a voice in the crowd.
I don’t know the score anymore; it’s not clear anymore
I can’t tell right from wrong anymore; I just don’t understand.
I was sitting here thinking of exchanging a new world for old
Like changing channels on the tv, or the dirt we stand in to gold.
When I was young, my father told me just the bad guys die
At the time just a little white lie
It was one of the first but it hurt me the most
And the truth stung like tears in my eye
That even the good guys must die
There’s no reasoning no crimes and I never knew why
Even now it still makes me cry.
If there’s somebody up there could they throw me down a line
Just a little helping hand just a little understanding
Just some answers to the questions that surround me now.
If there’s somebody up there could they throw me down a line
Just a little guiding light to tell wrong from right
Just some answers to the questions that I’m asking you
I keep a vigil in a wilderness of mirrors
Where nothing here is ever what it seems
You stand so close but you never understand it
For all that we see is not what it seems, am I blind?
And you sit there and talk revolution
But can you tell me just who’s in command?
When you tell me the forces we are fighting
Then I’ll gladly join and make plans
But for now only our t-shirts cry freedom
And our voices are gagged by our greed
Our minds are harnessed by knowledge
By the hill and the will to succeed
And if that’s not what you believe
Would you let me know I’m not standing alone
That I’m not just a voice in the crowd
If there’s somebody up there could they throw me down a line
Just a little helping hand just a little understanding
Just a little understanding to the questions that I’m asking you
If there’s somebody up there could they throw me down a line
Just a little guiding light to tell wrong from right
Just some answers to the questions that I’m asking you
I’ll keep a vigil in a wilderness of mirrors
Where nothing here is ever what it seems
I’m scared to shout in case I draw attention from the powers
That preside over our minds and our lives
When they find what I want is the deadliest weapon, that is truth
Day by day it’s getting louder
And day by day it’s getting stronger
But when I can’t scream no more and I need reassurance,
I listen to the crowd.