taratemima | How warmongers screw themselves (Reply)

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!
From A Man for All Seasons

Don't these ninnies willing to sell out the Constitution to be protected against the 'OMG ISLAMOFASCISTS!1!!!11' realize that all they advocate could be used against them in a hypothetical Islamic Republic of America[1]?

Warrantless wiretaps can be used to enforce promotion of virtue and the denigration of vice. In short, 'they' will know if you are buying porn, guns, or Bibles. The War on Some Drugs already busted up the Fourth Amendment, so no luck there.

Calling people traitors who hate freedom/the troops/puppies could do if people look at you funny when you tell them they are committing shirk. Plus, 'civil liberties mean nothing if you are dead' is a great line to scare people. Anyone, even the hypothetical rulers of a Muslim theocracy, can use it.

Heck, just imagine if the United Kingdom used it against the American revolutionaries. "Oh sure, that tax was to pay for the French-Indian War. Taxation with representation doesn't matter when the Indians burn your house down!!!" Or not.

Plus, it is really easy to get the big networks on your side: "It’s actually a pretty simple transaction: Disney spends $40 million on this movie in exchange for billions of dollars in tax breaks, copyright protections, laws that allow even more media consolidation, etc. etc. etc."

Getting the sniggering warbloggers on your side? Give them bigger targets to be scared of, and cash. Just imagine the interfaith connections that can be made over 'gay marriage'?

Who needs death threats to get the votes you want when you have Diebold?

An Egyptian democratic activist got arrested thanks to something like these measures. A commentator said "They told us that they would only use it against terrorists and drug dealers." Reminds me of what they said about warrantless wiretaps.

I'm writing this on one major assumption. Islam is a big religion. It follows that for every crazy person kidnapping Fox journalists, there are a few who are wondering how to get them on their side. If theocracy comes to America, it will because someone knew how to game the system.

This post brought to you by staying up too late reading about foaming war-drum beaters who want others to sacrifice for their principles, that docudrama, and a amusing example of Muslim in-fighting about Ibn Abdul Wahab, which I got when I tried to remember how to spell a word.

[1] Because really, the dark dystopian theocracy in America is most likely to be Christian. They have a head start on the buttons to push. Hypothetical Muslim aspiring theocrats have more of an, let's just say, image problem. Also, no Murikan will learn a funny furriner language with inflections and a whole new alphabet.