re: Robert Lewis Dear. Is there a case for close surveillance of Americans?

[FrodosPet]

Should this, along with other similar cases, open up the door for electronic surveillance and targeting of a wide range of loners and social misfits, particularly those with anti-government and anti-choice viewpoints?

[X_Digger]

1. Feel free to give up your liberties for the illusion of safety. Not mine, thanks. n/t

[darkangel218]

4. +1

[appal_jack]

13. Yup, my liberties are not up for grabs either, thanks. nt

[FrodosPet]

16. Thank you

[jwirr]

2. I can tell you that is what my bi-polar brother is afraid of

every time this happens. He and his wife live on a tiny acreage and stay to themselves. He owns no guns and is only angry at the same kinds of things we are here on DU.

Now there is a difference between Dear and my brother. Dear was showing signs of being a troublemaker for a long time in 3 different states. My brother has not. So maybe that could be the divide on who is watched and who is not.

[Warpy]

3. No, because it obviously didn't work.

He was quietly loony tunes until the day he took his gun and went hunting for women.

Besides, the FBI are far too busy planting stooges in Quaker meeting houses and Raging Granny meetings to bother watching right wing lunatics. I am not joking about this.

[FrodosPet]

17. I'm sure you are not

And that is a sad thing.

[Old Codger]

5. Never n/t

[FrodosPet]

18. Thank you

[HereSince1628]

6. Ja, make the list, give us colored stars to sew on our clothing

the mentally ill, the gays, the undocumented, the muslims, the peaceniks.

Ja, Die Liste, wie sonst werden Sie wissen, wer in den Zügen setzen?

Which is to say... the list must be made so they know who will be put on the trains

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

7. No.

[FrodosPet]

19. Thank you

[tkmorris]

8. Huh?

[FrodosPet]

22. I'm NOT an advocate of domestic spying

So the answer is "Neither".

[grasswire]

9. NO

absolutely not.

[FrodosPet]

20. Thank you

[Shandris]

10. Sure, sounds great!

One question. What is a 'social misfit'? Because, not to put TOO fine a point on it, but...that's just about a nice blanket term for, oh, say, every liberal cause ever.

Yeah, on second thought, I'm thinking this is a right bad idea.

Secondly, I am getting increasingly concerned about the desire of some of my fellow liberals to control other people's thoughts. Lest anyone mistake it for something else, let me spell this one thing out clearly: There will always be loners, people who reject prevailing beliefs, people who simply do not CARE about prevailing beliefs, people who hate you for no reason whatsoever, and so on. Unless you can imagine a world where your causes include those people...they're not liberal causes. They're someone's authoritarian powertrip.

[NightWatcher]

11. Let's start profiling! We'll start with religious, rw, fox watching, rush listening...

Let's round them up for good measure.

[world wide wally]

12. How the fuck can this loser walk into a gun store and get served?

[KingCharlemagne]

14. Do the words 'probable cause' mean anything??? - nt

[FrodosPet]

21. Not as much as they should

This is a battle without a final resolution. But it is one that must be fought, even if permanent victory is impossible.

[Rex]

15. It already goes on, but yeah I guess we can pretend it might start one day.

The government has been caught spying on us since forever. I wish they would pay attention more, evidently they let some real bad people just slip right through their fingers. It's like they are lookng at the wrong people.

[Downwinder]

23. Who is going to babysit the babysitters?

[pipoman]

24. No

[Logical]

25. George W is that you??! Patriot Act Part 2? Nt

[name not needed]

26. Fuck no.

[longship]

27. Security theater?

Security measures which accomplish nothing but make people feel safer. Meanwhile, freedoms are infringed.

No thank you, my friend.

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. What would surveillance have shown, apart from his legal purchase of his gun?

He doesn't seem to have talked to anyone about this before he did it, or 'trained' in any way. He handed out some anti-Obama leaflets, but if you're asking for close surveillance of anyone who does that, then you're looking at a totalitarian state.