The Back Alley Archives

Ah, where was this sort of worry for the past eight years? Really, the paranoia is over the top.

If you'll excuse me now, I have to go steamroll over some Dixie Chicks cds and demand that they leave the country.

Love the arrogance--it's rather becoming on you. The worry was sitting right here wondering what had happened to this once great nation. This isn't a left/right issue. You need to wake up to the fact that the government cannot be our savior and is more often than not the enemy of freedom.

Nobody's saying the government has to be anyone's savior. But neither are corporations going to be. And again, the rhetoric is ridiculous. Take a deep breath and stop with the drama queenery.

The rhetoric coming from the left on this issue is that without government health insurance the health care system is completely unsustainable. That sounds pretty much like they think government is going to be our savior.

I apologize for invoking rhetoric that embraces such naive concepts as freedom and liberty. I realize that's always going to draw immediate criticism from statists.

Ah, where was this sort of worry for the past eight years? Really, the paranoia is over the top.

If you'll excuse me now, I have to go steamroll over some Dixie Chicks cds and demand that they leave the country.

Whatever you want to say about Bush, he didn't ask for people to rat on their neighbors. The outcry against the Dixie Chicks was from
private citizens. This mandate to report casual conversations is from the White House. It smacks of Hitler Youth. Maybe you don't know
history, but Hitler used these tactics in his early years in power. I'm not saying Obama will, or even can, go as far as Hitler did, but he's
using similar tactics. It's no different than McCarthy era politics either. It's bad stuff, and people from all sides should be worried that
the administration is heading this route.

Get ready to be called some sophomoric names and labeled a nutjob, Kyle.

I can handle being name-called. I have a great life. I'm young, successful, married, a father, in great shape, strong, and good-looking.
I've made my own way. I think it's ok for me to be scared by a government that's overstepping it's bounds and trying to invade my
private life.

I completely agree. Just wanted you to be ready for it ;D

A1...McCain is not the President. As far as the last 8 years go I would guess AA felt the same way about gov't intrusion no matter who is President.

As for me, there are not a whole lot of politicians I've trusted but Bush had the Press and a liberal congress keeping him honest most of the time. No Child Left Behind was written by Ted Kennedy. The medicare drug stuff was also a very left of center move on his part. I don't see Obama EVER taking a conservative stand on anything. Except of course he does believe marriage should be one man and one woman. But really he's only losing a small fraction of the voting public on that one so it's all good.

What I want to know is where have YOU been AFTER the last 8 years? Many were eager to distrust W, but they believe hook line and sinker everything this guy says...even when they see him speak words that contradict what he says now.

Fortunately he has the benefit of the MSM on his side although I'm hopeful that they will get back on track and start doing their job which is to hold politicians accountable to what they say and promise (among other things).

That's my opinion and as long as free speech is still allowed, I will participate in the debate without chastizing those that disagree.

I can handle being name-called. I have a great life. I'm young, successful, married, a father, in great shape, strong, and good-looking.
I've made my own way. I think it's ok for me to be scared by a government that's overstepping it's bounds and trying to invade my
private life.

My post above was before I saw Kyle's...and yes, I can attest to the good-looking part! :ninja:

i think kyle hit everything on the MF head except the good looking part

Well, that is a bit subjective, but my wife seems to like my looks and that's what matters most.

Of course, I just saw this on the news but can't find it anywhere to provide a link but there is a congressman or senator who sent a letter to the White House asking what was going to be done with this information they collect...what will they do with the email addresses and other PII, etc. Anyway, I can't remember the guy's name...of course he's a Republican so he will be dismissed I'm sure.

Time to squash the rebellion by squashing freedom of speech.

Personally this bothers me.

So pointing out that someone sent you a stupid fucking fact bereft conspiracy theory email is squashing freedom of speech? When did conservatives become such whiny ass titty babies?

Thanks for the name calling, that advances the discussion.

We don't even really know what is in the final bill, so who is to say what is true and what isn't? Are you so confident that our Gov't wouldn't then use a forwarded email that didn't agree with their agenda, true or not, to determine where it came from and try to squash the source? To me it has the look of a slippery slope of trying to sensor debate on the issue.

Ah, where was this sort of worry for the past eight years? Really, the paranoia is over the top.

If you'll excuse me now, I have to go steamroll over some Dixie Chicks cds and demand that they leave the country.

Guess it shows how much of this particular board you've read. I've called out both sides as being at fault for a lot of this mess we're in. Didn't agree with the Patriot Act, nope again on the prescription drug bill, and didn't agree with big budget spending and deficits and have said so here. So I show concern over potential data gathering of "casual conversation" and now i'm a whinny ass tittie baby. Your panties seem to be in a bigger wad over my post than the potential threat to our freedoms which have already been eroded enough for my taste. And that is said wrt both sides of the aisle.
Sure I'll admit I voted for Bush both times and McCain in this last election, but each time I held my nose because it was a selection of the lesser of two evils. Which is the problem here, there are only two options with any legit chance of winning, so if my choice is Bush/Gore, Bush/Kerry, or McCain/Obama I made my choice. Give me an honest third option that wasn't any of those and had a chance of winning and I'd have listened. Never meant I agreed with every policy they promoted.
So I'm not sure where you can get off telling me what I can and can't question regarding the current administrations tactics.

Ah, Hitler references. The awesome is over the top.

I'll be honest--there's a part of me that doesn't want the right to keep going the way you guys are going, just like you don't want a friend who's had too much to drink to get in the car and drive. But the conspiracy theories, the whiny claims of constant victimization, the constant screamed refrain of "LIBRUL MEDIA!!!" every time they fail are just too much.

Honestly, step away from conservative media for a time. You guys are talking to an echo chamber.

Now I remember why I always thought Too Hot was idiotic.

I'm comparing the tactic he's using. Tell me how I'm wrong? The tactic is similar, that is all I stated.

Now I remember why I always thought Too Hot was idiotic.

Because people have the audacity to dissent from the official position? LMMFAO welcome to Amerika bro, it's nice to have you.

And for the record, right wing media has nothing to do with my fears. The wording comes straight from the Obama regime. Their position and wording is what scares me. Talk to your boy if you have a problem with that--he came up with it. Not the "right wing media".

Of course, I just saw this on the news but can't find it anywhere to provide a link but there is a congressman or senator who sent a letter to the White House asking what was going to be done with this information they collect...what will they do with the email addresses and other PII, etc. Anyway, I can't remember the guy's name...of course he's a Republican so he will be dismissed I'm sure.

Here you go m7:

“I am not aware of any precedent for a president asking American citizens to report their fellow citizens to the White House for pure political speech that is deemed ‘fishy’ or otherwise inimical to the White House’s political interests,” Cornyn writes today in a harshly worded letter to President Barack Obama in which he asks the president to immediately halt the effort.

It’s not the first time the Obama operation has asked supporters to report back on misinformation spread about the president on the Web—but those efforts were largely conducted through his campaign operation and more recently through the party’s political arm at the Democratic National Committee.

Cornyn, a former member of the Texas state Supreme Court, further suggests that the data that is collected by the White House could “raise the specter of a data collection program.”

“As Congress debates health care reform and other critical policy matters, citizen engagement must not be chilled by fear of government monitoring the exercise of free speech rights.”

http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/08/05/cornyn-questions-administrations-call-to-report-fishy/

The bolded and underlined portion is the bottom line on this. No questions asked.

Would you have trusted W with the same collection of information? Somehow I doubt it. I'm not screaming liberal media. I'm saying this looks like potential data collection. How that gets used is anyone's guess but my first inclination is not on the trusting side. Call that a conspiracy if you like but on this type of thing I'd prefer to err on the side of not trusting the gov't. Your choice if you trust BHO or all of the folks on his staff.

Oh, and for the record, I wouldn't have trusted W with it either.

I wouldn't trust any President with it. No matter how much I respected them as a person. No matter how much I agreed with their views.

I'm comparing the tactic he's using. Tell me how I'm wrong? The tactic is similar, that is all I stated.

Sorry, dude, but my experience has been that as soon as someone starts in with the Hitler comparisons, they don't have an actual argument. Such hysteria. And in this case, conspiracy theories.

Would you have trusted W with the same collection of information? Somehow I doubt it. I'm not screaming liberal media. I'm saying this looks like potential data collection. How that gets used is anyone's guess but my first inclination is not on the trusting side. Call that a conspiracy if you like but on this type of thing I'd prefer to err on the side of not trusting the gov't. Your choice if you trust BHO or all of the folks on his staff.

They've asked to hear from people about rumors and misstatements about their policies. You know, like the nutty stuff that's been put out there, sans proof, that they are going to euthanize the elderly. That's not collecting data on people and you haven't offered a single fact to back up that claim. If you have actual facts, rather than hysterical conspiracy theorizing, let's see them.

I love American politics. Someone disagrees with you....call them a nutjob...problem solved. For fuck's sake man. How can you not see the legitimate problems with stuff like this?

I love American politics. Someone disagrees with you....call them a nutjob...problem solved. For fuck's sake man. How can you not see the legitimate problems with stuff like this?

Still waiting on a single fact, Wes, to back up Kyle's original allegation. Just give me one single fact. I know that's harder to do than just throw stuff out there and claim it's true because you really really want to believe it's true, but it is still a simple request for an empirical statement of evidence.

Fact: Obama wants citizens to inform on nonbelievers.

Fact: Hitler did the same thing.

I'm sure that won't be sufficient for you. But this is not the sort of thing that can be proved by one simple fact. It's called 'mission drift' and it's nearly impossible to identify as it's happening. It's a slippery slope. I realize that may be too complicated for you to understand because your leaders have brainwashed you to think they know what's best for you and everyone else in this country (or world).