@ElChoclo
Yes, but would Jefferson have approved, after all, its his memorial?
Look at that, the FIRST guy to pick up on the irony here. Bravo my friend
The problem is so many people do not really study their history. Anyone can look up a few facts on Wikipedia, but that does not equal real understanding. While it's true he was a racist bastard who owned slaves, Thomas Jefferson was a champion of freedom in his own right, and would certainly not stand for this nonsense.
Some quotes from the man:
- "It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own."
- "The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive."
- "Rightful liberty is unobstructed action according to our will within limits drawn around us by the equal rights of others. I do not add 'within the limits of the law' because law is often but the tyrant's will, and always so when it violates the rights of the individual."
- "Timid men prefer the calm of despotism to the tempestuous sea of liberty."
- "I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than those attending too small a degree of it."
Yeah, I think it's safe to say he would not be cool with people getting arrested for expressing themselves at his memorial.
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@SharinganUser
Ninja Dude, it's lying hippy scum like you that are the reason people start going to the right.
This may come as a shock to you but my views tend to sway to the right. Not the NeoCon/warhawk/sellout fake right, but the original, small-govt/no-nonsense/conservative right. While I am quoting Jefferson:
"The republican is the only form of government which is not eternally at open or secret war with the rights of mankind."
That's OG republican right there. People have forgotten what it truly means to be a conservative!
Groups like Code Pink do more damage to their "cause" then they do good. If you think a video showing some ***** screaming "Police State!" because he got arrested for dancing in public is going to change anything, then you are just as brain dead as they are.
The first video I posted has clocked in 762,261 views. That's over three-quarters of a million people who are now aware of a trite and stupid law which has no place at the federal level of government. Maybe you are right and legally, nothing comes of it. But to say there is no change is extremely short-sighted. Public opinion is changing, and in the past we have seen that this can be a major deciding factor throughout the course of history.
If you and your self righteous, hippies really want to step up to the plate, I'd suggest you go to Burma, or North Korea, and when you get there, tear up your passport. Then scream dictatorship as much as you want.
FWIW I don't perceive America as a dictatorship, that would imply that we have one supreme leader. What we have here is more so a plutocracy built on the unholy union of corporate interest and legislation where government bends to the will of business instead of the people it is supposed to be serving. The result is absolute corruption
As for your suggestion, thanks but no thanks. I still love my country, which is precisely why I feel that these topics are worth discussing. This whole "Love it or leave it" attitude is really trite and counter-productive to any form of intelligent dialogue.
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@Atom Smasher
These are the guys you want to worry about. And I'm not talking about the shooting of that piece of sh!t low-life. I'm talking about the ILLEGAL actions the cops took to get rid of video evidence.
I agree that's way more fücked up. Though as with my initial example I do believe that such events are merely symptoms of more deeply rooted problems. It's easy to condemn a bad cop (and deservedly so) but I am more interested in what sort of climate/system manufactures these types of individuals (not to mention serial killers, career criminals and asshóles in general).
I'm no bleeding heart mind you. People should be held accountable for their actions, but we are foolish to think there is no root cause for such behavior.
If you have the time this is an excellent documentary which digs a bit deeper into just one of the underlying problems, which is the government deliberately shaping our attitudes and behaviors via experimentation and highly unethical/unorthodox practices. It's long and at times painful to watch, but very educational:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9R85eo2rA70
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@ArcBound
Like I said I agreed with a lot of your points. But once again you start a thread on one thing and completely diverge onto radically different things and then get mad when we should have seen what was so "obvious" and call everyone who disagrees with you either a person being of "low intellect" or "a pvssy". That's why regardless of the validity of your arguments and views no ones gonna take you seriously.
Said the guy who basically called my a retarded 5th grader
But you are right, and once again I apologize for the previous remarks. I did not call you a puss btw, just rhetorically saying that if you are scared instead of angered by these events then chances are you need to check what's in your pants. That is all.
I've learned my lesson and am done with the patronizing attitude, it's just not an effective form of sharing information. Thanks for calling me on my shít. Not being a wiseass either - I do appreciate the honesty.