General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Time for me to say goodbye to DU. Wish you all well It isn't for me anymore /nt [View all]BlueStreak
(8,377 posts)There is indeed a parallel. In both cases, it is the use of the full power of authoritarian government to deny freedoms to Americans. In the case of DOMA, this was targeted at LGBTs, whereas the NSA thing is much more universal, so the comparison only goes so far. But at their core, they are similar.
Or let me put it to you a different way. Does the state have any legitimate interest in deciding which loving couples shall be recognized as married? Surely the answer is obviously not. And the same question is at the hard of the NSA thing. Does the state have any legitimate interest in conducting the extra-Constitutional and extreme surveillance and dossier-building measures revealed of the NSA? I believe not, and many here evidently believe the state does have such an interest. But I note that over a month has passed and I have yet to see a single post that convincingly makes that case. Instead, all those supporting a more authoritarian state want to talk about is what a bad person Snowden is.
That is a level of dialog that one would expect at Free Republic. Sad that this is where the DU seems to be now.