Hacker News Reader

Comment by AnthonyMouse | Hacker News Reader

Ironically, if citizens actually did that then the government officials would classify it as terrorism and use it as an excuse to crack down and demand new powers.

And politicians need to learn not to be so pusillanimous. What do you think would happen if a politician came to the media and revealed that some spook had tried to blackmail him for proposing an anti-surveillance bill? It would cause the bill to pass and the politician to be reelected. It would be like surviving an assassination attempt -- and if you could prove it you would become practically beyond reproach, because anything anyone ever said bad about you again could be attributed to the blackmailers.

View on HN

> would classify it as terrorism

It is terrorism. By definition: the use of violence and/or intimidation for political goals.

Perhaps you could argue that terrorism is a constitutional right?

> It is terrorism. By definition: the use of violence and/or intimidation for political goals.

That's what I'm saying. They've defined terrorism to be "political violence" and declared it to be unmitigated evil -- it's sleight of hand. Is a riot terrorism now? Is a revolution? Were the US soldiers who killed Nazis in WWII "terrorists"? It's propaganda. They're hypocritically condemning political violence while engaging in it. They're equating violence by foreign radicals against a country's people with violence by a country's people against its own corrupt government.

It's putting George Washington, Malcolm X and Osama bin Laden into the same category for the purposes of collective condemnation. The only way it makes for a useful method of categorization is if you're already in power and want to disenfranchise anyone without the political power within the existing system to make change, regardless of the legitimacy of their position.

There are at least 11 definitions of terrorism

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definition_of_terrorisma

I'm sure there are subtle ways to make this threat without making this threat. Like spread a rumor that it already happened and let people see the results.

There isn't a lot of room between saying it in a way that makes the threat clear to the politician and saying it in a way that doesn't make the threat clear to the New York Times reporter listening to the recording.

Also, the NSA could just kill you and make it look like a heart attack. As could the mafia, Goldman Sachs, Ted Bundy or AT&T. Doing the right thing is the right thing even if bad people aren't going to like it.

The real reason they're collecting everything is not to fight terrorism, it's to provoke terrorism. More terrorism means more power to them.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com