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by zepolud 3404 days ago
I'm not comparing anything, merely reacting against any attempts to trivialize the very real need for a platform for anonymous dissent.

From the lives of the people involved to the stability of the democratic institutions themselves, those are very real and very high stakes. It would be extremely disingenuous and insulting to pretend that the intent of the article was to anonymously tweet "trump is a poop".
1 comments
eternalban 3404 days ago
The "stability of democratic institutions" are under attack when anonymous entities fan hysteria by disseminating information in the guise of "Rogue Gov" agencies, institutions, etc. That is not dissent.

Actual, factual, courageous, whistle blowing and dirty laundry airing:

https://twitter.com/sibeledmonds/status/832644475197353985

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zepolud 3404 days ago
Thankfully, Deep Throat wasn't aware of that.
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eternalban 3404 days ago
Even if I were to accept the official Watergate story (which I do not considering that the star reporter was Naval Intelligence just 2 years prior to his 'big break') "Deep Throat" was not running an alternative information outlet in public.

Accepting this makes it trivial for non-governmental elements, or foreign governments, to put up e.g. @AltStateDepartment for every single governmental org. That is not going to promote "stability" of our system. In fact, this is precisely what I would do if I wanted to entirely demoralize Jane/Joe public and undermine /the public and democractic state/.

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CurtMonash 3404 days ago
What I would do if I wanted to undermine and demoralize the country is elect a president much like Donald Trump.
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