For full disclosue, I’m what used to be called Conservative. With the political landscape what it is, I think I’m now more Centric or possibly even Liberal. It’s so hard to tell with “peacenik/hawk” and “treehugger/redneck” thrown around so casually these days.
That said, I’m nowhere near as bat-shiat insane as either side of the aisle when it comes to the blogosphere (yeah, I used that term; suck it). From Kos to Reynolds, Totten to Huffington, the vitrol and, dare I go for the trifecta, idiocy at either end of the pole is staggering.
Enter today’s example. Power Line, a decidedly right-wing blog, posted a photoshop image of what the New York Times would have looked like in 1776 in light of the present-day New York Times story on the governments plan to troll financial records looking for “terrorists”. (Link to editorial at IHT because the Times still doesn’t get the Internet.)
Go see the image here, but please come back for important information.
See it? Ok, it’s funny, satirical… good political cartoon. The fictional Times of ’76 is subverting the heroic rulers by exposing their super-secret plan. Good corollary to today’s situation, good tie in for Independence Day and the Founding Fathers, etc, etc, etc.
Except the whole thing is wrong. In 1776, the Colonies were still under the rule of King George. The Times wouldn’t have been subverting the government, they would have been helping the government by outing terrorists in the Colonies.
Just as the Times is doing today. They aren’t helping terrorists, they’re exposing (at best) questionable programs that take away your rights. The program in question is not warranted or sanctioned. It’s borderline illegal and a whole foot into immoral. When you see commentary like this picture, you start to understand why one side doesn’t get why programs like this, while potential effective, aren’t good for the country in the long run.