Another Excellent Qoute
June 23, 2011
– Comments (11)
"For someone who has no real interest in challenging government claims or undermining official actions, these policies will have no direct, perceptible effect. It's always true that those who are supportive of institutions of authority or who otherwise have no interest in challenging them are never targeted by measures of this sort; why would they be? That's why supporters of all Presidents -- Republicans during the Bush years and now Democratic loyalists under Obama -- are rarely disturbed by such developments." - Glenn Grenwald, Salon.com
The policies in question are the increasing Obama administration attacks on whistleblowers, the free press, and the 4th amendment. These attacks are continuations of Bush/Cheney policies, only under Obama the attacks have become more vengeful.
So much for the Moral Leader of Our Time, the Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the man who attacked the Bush administration's unconstitutional actions on many occasions. In this respect, Obama is more like Socialist dictators such as Chavez than any Glenn Beck/Michael Savage loyalist could understand. It's not really the economic ideas that make Obama a closet Socialist (many of his most significant economic undertakings, such as Obamacare, have been closer to Fascism), but rather his administration's intense desire to silence opposition - especially left wing opposition - that makes him similar to other Socialist dictators. It is a common theme among Socialists to extinguish dissent from within their own ranks with greater vigor than dissent from without. Here, Obama excels.
To understand just how pernicious and downright evil the Obama administration has become, I invite you to read Greenwald's latest article, which is really the tip of the iceberg.
Greenwald's excellent observation that I quoted above resonates for me, and should for many Fools here, as we have witnessed many denials of the creeping totalitarian state in debates right here on this website. As Glenn points out, those who support the state are less likely to feel these effects. That should be unsurprising, but I admit that I was not prepared for these stubborn denials.
Another excellent quote from Greenwald's piece drives home the importance of this debate:
"Uncontrolled search and seizure is one of the first and most effective weapons in the arsenal of every arbitrary government," Justice Robert H. Jackson, the former chief United States prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, wrote in 1949. "Among deprivations of rights, none is so effective in cowing a population, crushing the spirit of the individual and putting terror in every heart." (Emphasis in article)
On Fool, we discuss many topics. Investors are interesting people from all walks of life. But a high level of intellectual curiosity appears to be a common trait of CAPS Fools. That's not stated to butter you up, or any of that nonsense. It's what I see. It's why I keep coming back.
So I bring up this topic. Does it relate directly to investing? Not really, although it is correct to note societies that respect property rights are more favorable to investors than those who don't. Should the behavior exhibited by the Bush and Obama administrations matter to investors? I think so.
David in Qatar
RSS Headlines
Fool UK