[josephlord]

I think the fact that so many people don't understand the point you were making probably means you didn't make the point clearly enough. If you has said "is regarded by Americans as ..." you would have been clear. As it is your comment gives another impression.

[res0nat0r]

He probably is getting tired (as I am) of all of the comments on HN anymore that American government is the worst that has ever been present on planet earth, because the NSA (a spy agency) has been caught spying (their mandate).

If one would ease up on the constant "the government of the USA is literally Hitler" nonsense a bit, maybe more productive talk could occur.

[josephlord]

My comment said nothing about the actual position only the fact that the point he was trying to express wasn't clear (previous poster had to follow up to at least three posts to explain it again and I wouldn't have understood the meaning without the follow ups). I wouldn't have commented but for the fact the follow up was blaming others for not understanding rather than accepting the lack of clarity in the post.

I don't believe the USA is Hitler or the worst on the planet but that is not the expectation or standard the US should be held to. It used to be an example to the world (or at least wanted to be one), a shining beacon of hope[0]. Now the standard is "not as bad as China" which is a sad state of affairs and isn't enough to have moral authority in the world.[2]

I haven't seen many (not sure I've seen any) posts saying the US government is Hitler but what I have seen is a number of comparisons to the Stasi. The Stasi were famous for the massive amounts of surveilance and they would have loved the capabilities that the NSA had. That doesn't mean that the results of political opposition in the US are the same as they were in East Germany but East Germany was one of the experiments in the effects on observers and the observed in a mass surveilance society and we should at least look to it for lesson and warnings.

[0] I know that there were always flaws but the aspiration was there.

[2] I'm from and in the UK and I make no claim that we are better in general, while in some ways it feels less corrupt and politically broken than the US sometimes seems we don't bother to restrain GCHQ at all.

[res0nat0r]

> Now the standard is "not as bad as China" which is a sad state of affairs and isn't enough to have moral authority in the world.[2]

I think this goes to what I'm talking about. Not as bad as China? That executes businessmen who are found to be doing corrupt things, systemic forced children policies, wholesale censorship, and the great firewall...Just going on FoxNews half of the Republican party is calling Obama a weak leader and questioning his authority in the Senate daily, this would never happen in China.

[Ihmahr]

Not at all. The point is that he is making a very controversial claim with no evidence or source at all. Also, you are the one dropping the H. bomb.

[lotsofmangos]

You are now just making shit up wholesale.