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Comrade Tassadar
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Recent events beg the question: How close is America to becoming a dictatorship?
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Comrade Tassadar
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quote:
Originally posted by Ming
First... it isn't even an original troll. This is what, the 10th or so thread that wants to call America a Dictatorship.
There is nothing really to discuss... we have an elected government... we have rights... we can vote... the government has to respond to the people... But you just want to ignore that...
So where is this Dictatorship. Go back to school and learn the the meaning of the word.
Just another and not very original silly troll. |
First off, your hunting for a response (eg Trolling) by doing this. Don't accuse and condemn me for something YOU YOURSELF are doing.
Second....
quote:
dic·ta·tor·ship ( P ) Pronunciation Key (dk-ttr-shp, dkt-)
n.
The office or tenure of a dictator.
A state or government under dictatorial rule.
Absolute or despotic control or power. |
If your not intelligent enough to comprehend such a thing, then I will clarify: That is the meaning of dictatorship. The question I proposed is if America is becoming or IS a dictatorship. My opinion is that it is coming CLOSE to becoming a dictatorship (Note that the grammatical structure of the words indicates that I do not believe it IS a dictatorship as of yet)
Giving the power to declare war to ONE person, suddenly having one party control the ENTIRE government, rounding up thousands of people of a certain group and sending them to jail, lying to the people...And slowly but surely its getting worse. Therefore IMO, it is becoming a dictatorship.
Now instead of crying "TROLL!", putting your fingers in your ears, and simply repeating one word...JOIN THE DEBATE. Prove me wrong, agree with me, agree with someone else....Or just stop posting. Because what you are posting is spam and a troll. Don't try to kill the thread right after it begins. Only someone who knows theyre wrong would try to do such a thing 
------EDIT-------
quote:
Frank and Honest discussion over whether the USA is a dictatorship is better suited to a special ed classroom. If you seriously think whether we are a dictatorship is a valid topic I suggest you check into one of those. |
Oh please. If one refuses to even discuss a topic....Thats a very dangerous sign.
quote:
Yeah.. this coming from a guy whose country actually was a dictatorship, |
What does that have to do with anything? If anything it would mean I know what a dictatorship actually is and could see the "signs" in a country....
quote:
Have fun discussing it to your hearts content. Each post you make just proves you have no real idea of what a dictatorship really is... |
Ming, thats stupid and we both know it. If you can't even respond to the original subject then again: DONT RESPOND AT ALL. As you tell others:
STOP SPAMMING 
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monkspider
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banned
Aug 2001
time: 23:24
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If you want to be serious about it, It all depends on your definition of dicatorship. The USA doesn't fit the classical model of a dicatorship. A powerful arguement could be made, however, that the USA is a new, sophisticated type of dictatorship, A dictatorship of monied intrerests. While various democratic forums and so forth do exist, the range of public debate is that is fed through the mass-media, which are organs of these powerful interests, is remarkably limited. There is also a great deal of manufacturing of consent that goes on to ensure that the masses follow the whims of these powerful individuals and so on and so forth. I could go on and on, but the basic point is that the USA is a new type of dictatorship, featuring larger cages and longer chains.
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Shi Huangdi
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Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 1999
time: 00:24
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http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/03/chechnya0322.htm
quote:
New Killings and "Disappearances" in Chechnya
(New York, March 23, 2002) Russian forces on sweep operations in Chechnya continue to commit serious violations, Human Rights Watch said today. Fourteen witnesses have told Human Rights Watch researchers in the field about torture and ill-treatment, forced disappearances, and the discovery of the corpses and burned remains of nine people that took place during the March 6-11 sweep operation in Staryi Atagi, 25 miles south of Grozny.
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Related Material
U.N. Commission Urged to Act on Chechnya
HRW Press Release, March 14, 2002
Questions and Answers on the U.N. Human Rights Commission
HRW Q&A, March 2002
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"They lined us up [the men], and took our passports. They gave everyone's passport back except Amir's. Then they came and said Amir had to come with them. They said that they would bring him back."
Male relative of Amir Pokaev (disappeared March 6).
Human Rights Watch interview
March 2002
"The Russians have a lot of explaining to do," said Elizabeth Andersen, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Europe and Central Asia division. "The government says it has taken measures to improve the conduct of forces on sweep operations, but they're not working and the situation is deteriorating. The U.N. commission should adopt a resolution on Chechnya that makes this clear."
In a sweep operation, Russian forces typically seal off a village and conduct house-to-house searches, ostensibly to detain suspected fighters or their supporters. At least two prior sweep operations have taken place in Staryi Atagi since January 2002. Federal authorities claim Staryi Atagi harbors rebel fighters.
At least ten men "disappeared" in the Staryi Atagi operation; the corpses or burned remains of nine people were found, raising fears that they were extrajudicially executed. So far, the remains of only one of the "disappeared," 26-year old Imran Kuntaev, detained on March 6, were found the next day in a house that had just been burned. A witness told Human Rights Watch that on the morning of March 6, uniformed troops detained Imran Kuntaev in his home. On March 7, 2002, a fire burned down an abandoned house on Nagornaia Street, which Russian troops had been blocking off. When the fire was extinguished, four bodies were found in the smoldering remains. Imran Kunatev's relatives identified him by his teeth, four of which were gold. Villagers believe that the remains of two more persons were burnt to coals.
On March 9, three additional bodies-all unidentified-were found in a burned-out vehicle at the edge the village. The car reportedly had been confiscated on March 7 from a shop where it was under repair.
Under the much-lauded Decree No. 46 of the procuracy general, adopted after notoriously harsh sweeps in June and July 2001, officials on sweep operations are supposed to compile a comprehensive list of all detainees. This list would indicate the grounds for detention, and information about who took the individual into custody and where the detainee was taken. It further required officials to inform relatives of the detainees of their whereabouts. While such a list exists, the ten "disappeared" detainees are not on it. Among them was 30-year-old Adlan Baisarov, who subsequently "disappeared." His cousin told Human Rights Watch: "The [soldiers] come practically every day to check [our passports], and he never had any problems before. I asked why they took him, if they had found anything. They said that they weren't taking him, and they were just going to talk." The cousin received information from a local official that all of the Staryi Atagi detainees had been transferred to the district Federal Security Service in Tolstoy-Yurt, but when she went there officials denied holding Baisarov. Adlan Baisarov, who has two small children, suffers from rheumatism and a liver condition.
Amir Pokaev, 20, also "disappeared" on March 6. A male relative told Human Rights Watch that when Russian forces arrived at the home, "They lined us up [the men], and took our passports. They gave everyone's passport back except Amir's. Then they came and said Amir had to come with them. They said that they would bring him back." That was last time any relatives saw Pokaev. The local military commander told the relative that no one by Pokaev's name had been detained. Relatives have inquired to the procuracy, local detention centers, and other places about his whereabouts but have received no answers.
"Decree 46 was a welcome step, but it clearly isn't being fully implemented to prevent forced disappearances," said Andersen. "Nor is it fully preventing mistreatment of detainees."
Some of the detainees were taken to a nearby poultry farm that had previously also been used as a short-term detention facility, and there they were mistreated. Among the detainees was a seventeen-year old who told Human Rights Watch that Russian soldiers at the poultry farm tried to coerce him into giving information on the whereabouts of rebel fighters. The soldiers pinched and twisted the skin on his chest, arms and legs with medical tweezers; they then shoved the tweezers up his nose and then into his mouth, threatening to take out his teeth. He also said that he had seen other detainees being beaten.
Some villagers report that Russian soldiers tried to extort money and valuables from them in exchange for not taking their sons. After detaining him outside, soldiers brought Aslan Akhmadov to his home, where they demanded that his family pay 10,000 rubles (about U.S. $300) for his release. His mother, Arzu Akhmadova, told Human Rights Watch that Akhmadov was bloody, apparently from having been beaten. Akhmadova said soldiers took about $200 and a pair of gold earrings-all the family could gather-and promised to release Akhmadov after checking his documents. Arzu Akhmadov has not been able to get any information about her son since that time.
Only after residents held a mass protest on March 12 in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya, did the office of the prosecutor (the procuracy) open criminal investigations into the Staryi Atagi sweep. Russian authorities at first tried to dismiss the need for an investigation, by implying that the individuals whose remains were found were linked with Zelimkhan Sadayev, a Chechen fighter who was killed during the sweep operation. They also tried to persuade residents to bury the bodies immediately, which would have precluded a forensic examination.
The village elders have been told that basic identification to ascertain blood type, height, and stomach contents of those killed would be given to them by the end of March, and the bodies would be returned for burial shortly thereafter. There are no indications, however, that the Russian authorities intend to use other forensic methods or DNA technology to match the remains to the missing.
Human Rights Watch expressed concern that given Russia's past record on accountability, the investigation into the Staryi Atagi killings would not bring those responsible to justice. Hundreds of cases have been opened, but many have been suspended and very few have led to prosecutions.
"Russia has a sorry record on accountability for abuse in Chechnya," said Andersen. "And meanwhile, there is no official record of the atrocities that are being perpetrated. The U.N. Human Rights Commission in Geneva must prevail upon Russia to invite special U.N. investigators on extrajudicial executions and torture. They can establish an official record of these abuses." |
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Shi Huangdi
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Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 1999
time: 00:24
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quote:
Originally posted by monkspider
If you want to be serious about it, It all depends on your definition of dicatorship. The USA doesn't fit the classical model of a dicatorship. A powerful arguement could be made, however, that the USA is a new, sophisticated type of dictatorship, A dictatorship of monied intrerests. While various democratic forums and so forth do exist, the range of public debate is that is fed through the mass-media, which are organs of these powerful interests, is remarkably limited. There is also a great deal of manufacturing of consent that goes on to ensure that the masses follow the whims of these powerful individuals and so on and so forth. I could go on and on, but the basic point is that the USA is a new type of dictatorship, featuring larger cages and longer chains. |
This marxist view of government is bullshit. If the rich rule the country, why do they pay such a highger % in taxes then everyone else does. Why did the government just pass a new mandate for more education funding(No CHild left behind act?). How is that a recent pro-corporate bankruptcy reform bill was killed after Conservative Christians objected to a provision that would have harmful to the rights of abortion protestors? Why do we have an EPA? Clearly, the government does plenty of things that are against corporate interests. This is because there are powerful anti-corporate groups in this country, say on education the Teachers Unions, along with popular demand for more education funding and more government spending on it. There are too many examples of the government acting against corporate interests to say that we are ruled by monied interests.
But even if the government was a slave to big money, it still wouldn't be a dictatorship. The people could have elected Ralph Nader had they so chose. In 2 years from now if they are upset about things GWB has done, they could elect a liberal President or even the Green party candidate if they so chose. The fact that we have that option, combined with Congress having power independent of the President, means we aren't a dictatorship.
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HershOstropoler
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Dictatorship is the wrong term. But it's on track for a sort of authoritarian plutocracy while maintaining a democratic facade. The question is whether this trend will be reversed or not; I'm pessimistic about that, but often I'm too pessimistic....
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Shi Huangdi
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Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 1999
time: 00:24
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"Cut with all this bull, ming. It's unbecoming of you."
I would say this crap is unbecoming of you, but I don't expect anything better from the likes of you.
"So? People have "elected" dictatorships before."
Elections are still scheduled, and we could vote in a different government in two years should we choose.
"So far the Republican party (with the exception of Lott) has shown remarkable party dicipline...And considering most of them agree on most issues, I think its pretty safe to assume they'll all vote in unity. "
The GOP does not have 60 Senate seats, meaning the Democrats can still filibuster legislation.
Even still, one party being in power does not a dictatorship make. If it did, then Great Britain, France, Canada, Australia, etc. would all be dictatorships.
"I recommend you do the same. And next time, cut with the Ad Hominems. "
You deserve the Ad Hominems given the complete stupidity of your assertations.
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Shi Huangdi
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Pittsburgh, PA
Apr 1999
time: 00:24
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"
(Also, ming read the posts. Thats not the SOLE reason...)"
It's not a valid reason at all.
"Thats irrelevant. Dictatorships can still be voted in."
Correct, but a dictatorship can not be voted out. We can still throw out our leaders if we don't like them.
"The democrats aren't all there, you and I know that completly They tend to jump ship when its politically in the favor of jumping ship."
Right, when the people want them to cooperate they tend to. But the Dems held up plenty of legislation and judicial appointments when they held power over the Senate. They still have power with the filibuster to oppose the President's goals, thus another way showing how GWB is not absolute.
"So if someone disagrees with you, the debate deserves to be completly corrupted by fallacious arguements? Wow...."
No. If the person who disagrees with you is being reasonable and bringing up valid points, civility is owned. If it someone who makes a rediculous thread like you have, you deserve what you get.
I logged on because I couldn't fall asleep, it's 4:40 AM so I am going to try to crash again....... Ming if you feel like wasting even more time trying to talk sense to this bozo have fun..........
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20-12-2002 13:07
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