Dumb ass college student...

[Q3JR4]

I was out with a friend the other day who brought along someone I know but don't really care for.

We walked by pay phones that had stickers on them, (from
http://www.buyolympia.com/crimethinc/sid=676984423/) that looked like


He mumbled some comment about extremists and their distrust of a government that's only trying to protect us all with the patriot act.

This openly gay male is supposed to be a moderate democrat, but I let him have it.

Me, him


WARNING: Bad language a head.

**********************************

Are you fucking stupid? The government isn't supposed to be able to go to your library and ask them for a list of books that you've checked out. They aren't supposed to be able to tap your phone line without some sort of judicial order. They aren't supposed to be able to get a judge to sign off on a search warrant and enter your home when you're away without telling you about it. This is America dammit!

If you don't have anything to hide why are you getting all bent out of shape over it?

Don't give me that crap. If the Mike Crapo asked you to give up your constitutional rights would you? I didn't think so. The only difference is that they didn't even get your permission!

I trust the government to do what's right.

You know, it was people like you who let the Nazis come to power. It was your kind who stood back and watched it all happen because they trusted their government. When they start putting glbt people into "relocation camps" ran by the same men and women who tortured and killed innocent Iraqi and Afghani civilians because they need yet another scapegoat you'll have only yourself to blame.

How did we move from a law meant to protect America to that?

If you chip away at people's rights long enough soon they won't give a rats ass if something bad happens to a little sliver of the American population. As long as they get their's fuck everyone else's'. It's the same thing that happened in Germany and I can point you at more than one 80 year old German man who's moving BACK to Germany because he sees the SAME THING happening here.

How can people be so fucking blind?

:rant:

[OldLeftieLawyer]

1. Ah, stupidity

It's made me a whole lot of money through the years ..........

:::: sigh ::::

[politicaholic]

5. LMAO!!

Yes, I would imagin stupidity could be a base cause of a lion's share of your clients.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. One reason

they don't teach no history at them fancy darn schools no more

Serious... we were talking about this the other day with a recent HS graduate.

To quote Santayana

Those who refuse to learn from history are condemened to repeat it.

The other... well it is the OTHER.. not ME, so as long as I am getting along no problem

Give him Niermuyer's writings to read... when they came for him, there was nobody to speak for him

[gratuitous]

3. Young -- that's the problem

It's hard not to go off, especially when you're caught off guard by someone's spouting stuff you know they haven't thought through. If it was me, I'd get in touch with the young man again, apologize for my earlier tone, and offer to meet to discuss the matter again.

Then I'd put together a bibliography of everything I could think of, from "Framed" by Curt Gentry to "The Atom Spy Hoax" by William Reuben to "The Hunting of the President" by Gene Lyons and Joe Conason. Considering his sexual orientation, I'd consider including a couple of Randy Shilts books, for sure "And the Band Played On." At the conclusion of our little follow-up chat, I'd give the young man a copy of the list and encourage him to read up a little bit about our government's history of snooping through the lives of its citizens.

But that's just me.

[Q3JR4]

4. He's my age (give or take a couple of months).

His problem is that he just refuses to read anything about anything. Like the rest of this nation, he'd rather have it spoon fed to him without having to thinking about it.

[gratuitous]

7. So spoon feed him

Make it easy for him to become aware. He's in college, so if he has even a modicum of smarts, you'll just need a little push to get him rolling.

Let's see, you might also recommend "Red Channels" and a biography of Joe McCarthy called "Tail Gunner Joe."

[election_2004]

6. Fortunately....

Not all young college students are that ignorant.

I could also go on a rant about all the "dumbass senior citizens" who voted for Bunnypants because he represents *morality* and *values*...but I won't.

[Daphne08]

15. Most of those "dumbass seniors" will

catch the whiff of fascism in the air faster than the young people will, I'm willing to bet.

Just give it time.

[xchrom]

8. well, at least you let him have it.

that's actually the important thing.

but it's astounding how deep this stupidity runs in our country.

[fujiyama]

9. If you don't have anything to hide

why are you getting all bent out of shape over it?

That's how people have justified things in all other authoritarion dictatorships.

Freedom is a meaningless word to these people.

[lynne]

10. I'm just trying to figure out -

- why his being "openly gay" was pertinent to the story and why you felt it necessary to include his sexuality in your post.

:shrug:

[demwing]

11. My impression was that "he should know better"

To be openly gay in this society implies that one has been tempered by the fires of adversity, and in the process developed a strength of character and a lack of naivate.

Therefore, said student should know better than to trust the government to make decisions regarding--and take actions violating--our privacy.

The idea that the government is a benign parental figure is quite naive.

[Bridget Burke]

16. Another sign of the student's ignorance?

Being "openly gay" is far less dangerous than it used to be. Mostly due to gay activists. Not the beneficent "government" the fool trusts implicitly.

[Neshanic]

17. Because historically speaking and generally, gays have been

more distrustfull of government decrees, and edicts, and have had to look for the real reasons behind them. The fact that he is gay is very pertinent, because in this case, he is either monumentally stupid, or incredibly uninformed.

Again generally speaking, gays have always had to look over their shoulders more than the heterosexual population, for their own survival at times, this guy is one of the "free rides", and not unknown to gay guys who have a basic understanding of what came before them, so this person could be in a state of ignorant bliss.

[Jade Fox]

12. One of the hardest things for people to "get".....

is that their innocence will not protect them. Only laws guarenteeing their
rights will protect them. They believe that the justice system is infalable
when, at best, it is run by always-falable human beings. History is full of
innocents who were victimized because they had no defense against slash-
and-burn laws meant to "protect" the populace.

[Jade Fox]

13. Check out this story.....

http://www.komotv.com/stories/37150.htm

[BlueIris]

14. I encountered a lot of this from college students before the election.

It was ultra-frustrating. I've only been out of school four years and when I was there--it wasn't this bad. Little less political activity than I expected, but still lots of intelligent, aware classmates (yeah, okay, it helped that my bigish public university had money and was considered liberal). I COULD NOT BELIEVE the apathy, ignorance, and "oh, that's okay, the government isn't doing THAT bad" I encountered from dumb kids currently in school (and my college friends currently nestled in various graduate departments). It was like talking to a brick wall. I totally get what Hunter S. Thompson meant when he spoke of the real danger in America (this was just before November 2000) being not so much the coming Republican scurge, but the New Dumb--denial-submerged psuedo-intellectuals and "liberals" ignoring the need to be active in protesting the soon-to-be-massive oppression.

[bicentennial_baby]

18. I loooove my Crimethinc stickers!

My favorite one is "Expect Resistance"