phil ringnalda

I’ve pretty much given up on discussing politics, either in person, where there’s some hope of a decent discussion, or online, where there’s none. The best-selling political books have absolutely no nuance, no awareness that politics is about compromise, not volume and vitriol. Slander, Reckless Disregard, Rewriting History, If It’s Not Close They Can’t Cheat, Worse Than Watergate, Treason, Michael Moore Is A Big Fat Stupid White Man… and these are books. I haven’t listened to talk radio for years, and haven’t turned on my TV for eight months. With all the extremism shaping our politics, I just don’t see much point in talking about it.

Still, it’s hard to let something like this just pass by. Our “Justice” Department feels that it’s a threat to national security to have court documents quote the Supreme Court’s opinion that

The danger to political dissent is acute where the Government attempts to act under so vague a concept as the power to protect ‘domestic security.’ Given the difficulty of defining the domestic security interest, the danger of abuse in acting to protect that interest becomes apparent.

I fear for my country.