I am a conservative and I don't believe the issue is about agencies that have or don't have police powers.

But I digress. The fact still remains that whole ordeal has nothing to do with democrats or republicans. It has to do with the current state of American political mindset as a whole and its lack of rational decision making, but instead knee-jerk reactions to situations that may or may not be a threat.
Every argument made thus far has been a result of political view, not government view. It is far to easy to start bringing in military, arts, big government, small government, police, education, health care into this- the fact is they have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the issue. Yes republicans have made some really crap decisions, and they have a major PR problem (amongst other issues like being hijacked by ass-hats like huckabee and palin) but these still have nothing to do with a Govt' agency which has managed to ignore the laws of the land, or at least waste tax dollars on non-viable threats.

Yes, I know this doesn't fall into the liberal narrative that usually posted through slashdot, but really, lets take politics out and just look at where the real failures lie.

Uh got news for you dude- this happened under the Obama administration. A Democrat. Fact is politicians are to blame, not liberals or conservatives.

That is one thing that drives me absolutely crazy about this country- The assumption it has that US law is WORLD law. Frankly it drives me bonkers (especially in much higher profile situations a la wikileaks)

I had to download it before making a comment on here and I'm actually really impressed with this and quite frankly, I find this far superior to GIMP (speaking as a professional graphic artists and avid photoshop,etc. user). It does a fantastic job of working in vector as well as tracing bitmaps. Even has a fine set of effects (that I'd probably never use, but still awesome to see). At first glance, this is a great graphics app for anyone on Linux who has the avid hatred of GIMP.

The job of the government is to keep its information secure and plug the leaks where they can and punish those who leak the info. This is not abnormal (and, quite honestly, I find it comforting). Now, going after reporters to try and get their sources, this is a little bit of a step over a grey fuzzy line- but not at all shocking. There is some mighty sensitive data out there that can actually do *real harm* if released.


On the flip side, if data is released well as they say "thems the breaks." Better luck next time to the govt to check out its staff- and not shooting the messenger.

well played, sir.

I'm trying really hard to not make a KY joke out of this.

My god, man, where are you getting your tuna from?

Well at least we know it's a certified windows product now.

As a matter of fact I have a glass one for sale...

In the words of Bill Hicks "Sit back and relax America! Your government is in control..."

Hmm that wasn't the sesame street link was it? damn hate when that happens.

Funy their kind of speech actually reminds me of the start of something that went out of control once... but i just dont remember what it was... Oh! That's right! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkpm4fPBMso&feature=related

I am more than capable of fighting for my own advocacy, thank you. That being said- Westboro will get NO sympathy from me.