When being a "good Democrat" makes one a stooge for conservatives

[cthulu2016]

The funniest aspect of the Miranda detention arguments is watching people cheer the actions of a proudly Right Wing government, cluelessly thinking that they are cheering some unanimous British expression of solidarity with their own atavistic notions.

The detention, a stark abuse of British law by the current RIGHT WING government of the UK, is controversial in the UK.

The liberals there are not cheering it.

Blair being Bush's poodle was tragic.

Certain American liberals (sic) being Cameron's poodles is farce.

[geek tragedy]

1. That's not being a good Democrat, it's just stupid nt

[xchrom]

2. Du rec. Nt

[whatchamacallit]

3. Being a democrat now appears to be about reflexive wagon circling around Obama

Anything goes and it's all good.

[DissidentVoice]

11. Unfortunately so

I voted for President Obama twice. If he were eligible for a third term, that would by no means be assured.

[cthulu2016]

14. If he got the nomination I'd vote for him

Unless there was some other huge change in the political landscape.

But doing a thing and liking it are not the same.

[DissidentVoice]

16. No, they're not (doing it and liking it)

I held my nose in the past when I voted...in 1996 I almost voted for Ross Perot because I was so disgusted that Bill Clinton rolled over and played dead on health care and then jumped on Newt Gingrich's bandwagon.

[jeff47]

4. No, the funny part is the people trying to apply the US Constitution to it.

Seen a bunch of "What happened to the 1st amendment?!" posts around the Internet.

Almost as amusing as those arguing that the US should have stopped the UK. They've yet to provide the date we conquered the UK.

[Pretzel_Warrior]

5. No doubt. Pretty loony posts striving to blame Obama

Oh, and calling Cameron government "right wing" when compared with political leanings in the U.S. is ludicrous.

[cthulu2016]

8. Not on press freedoms

Last edited Wed Aug 21, 2013, 11:41 PM - Edit history (1)

On healthcare, an British conservative would be an American liberal.

On government surveillance and searches and freedom to publish (the topic at hand, and thus the only one relevant to anything) a British Labour-moderate would be an American conservative.

[cthulu2016]

6. I would have agreed if not framed as a contradiction

The argument you cite is a dumb one, but it is hardly "the funny part" (singular)

[4bucksagallon]

17. Exactly....... When did we defeat them and force our government on them?

Some people can't stand for another country to do what they deem right, even if it's wrong, it is none of our business.

[Scootaloo]

28. well, there you have it folks

Americans have no business being concerned about the laws of other nations. So shut the fuck up about the anti-GLBT laws Russia has enacted, or the brutalization of women under Saudi law, or the fast and loose way Indian states treat rape, or the legalized slavery China uses, or the single-party laws of several nations besides. It's not your fucking business!

[frazzled]

9. Being a Democrat, good or otherwise, has nothing to do with this.

Let's stop trying to slide the discussion of this incident (which by the way, is not the biggest topic anywhere but here, at the Guardian, at firedoglake, and the Ron Paul sites) into some commentary on domestic American political beliefs. This litmus test stuff is authoritarian and offensive.

PS: If you recall, it was the Liberal Democratic Party in Britain (an amalgam of the former Liberal and Social Democratic Parties) that formed a coalition with the Conservatives, with their leader, Nick Clegg becoming Deputy Prime Minister to David Cameron, and other Liberal Democrats as Cabinet members and ministers. In other words, the Liberal Democrats form a central part of the current Conservative Government, which would not be in power without them.

PSS: If you don't want people to be good Democrats what do you want them to be? Good Libertarians I suppose?

[KittyWampus]

10. what does swallowing the Guardian's outright LIES whole make somebody? Just curious.

They'll allowed their paper to become a rag. It is horrifying to watch.

[cthulu2016]

12. Dunno. A dull boy? Healthy, wealthy and wise?

[RC]

13. I'll go with Healthy, wealthy and wise, because I have a problem with the unconstitutional

hoovering of our private information by private companies, that are outsourced by a renegade government agency, that has the backing of the Administration.
How some people think this somehow OK is beyond me.

If they have nothing to fear, why are they hiding so much?

[Bluenorthwest]

18. Margaret Thatcher is the definitive British conservative, decidely right wing. By any standards.

Maybe you mean the Britain from PBS shows. The real one has a full political spectrum.

[hrmjustin]

20. Are you a British conservative?

[hrmjustin]

24. Sorry, it sounded like you were for a moment in the post like you were from the UK.

[hrmjustin]

26. I have heard of it, but I only post here.

[cthulu2016]

21. You are mistaken, as relates to the topic being discussed

Saying "being a British conservative is hardly right-wing, by our standards" is simply incorrect in the arena of press freedoms, surveillance issues, search and seizure issues.

(Which is the only arena relevant to the argument.)

Even a middle-of-the-road British liberal would fall outside both American parties in his or her view of the issues we in America think of as 1st and 4th Amendment rights.

By international standards, America has an unusually free press and an unusually strong sense of privacy.