What a nightmare to freedom and democracy.

I'm starting to think these legislatures are incapable of dealing with any of the problems they need to deal with, so they're running about looking for a can to kick.

And who's can is getting kicked ...... ours. How do Hawaiians feel about it? Think they'll rise up and do what was done concerning SOPA and PIPA?

just more BS politicians trying to re-wright the Constitution

Get that tar good and hot.

We already know where to stick the rail.

I think if we brought home all the Iraq and Afghanistan vets and let them trade places with Congress for a year--then let the congressmen they replaced go to Afghanistan and fill their billets for that year--we could start to thin out some of the politics.  We could let the survivors run for re-election afterwards.

I have a dream.

What democracy?

The world went to war against Hitler to prevent totalitarianism.... are here we are, some 70 years later, entering another period of dictatorial powers, fueled by greedy and mega rich business concerns whose desire it is to have total control over the wealth of  the world.

For mine, any politician who cow-tows to big business is a spineless coward and as corrupt as a virus ravaged PC file.

Government by the people for the people.... hasn't existed in decades, and there isn't a single politician holding office these days worth a pinch of shit.

@starkers--fortunately for us those other great democratic institutions like China , North Korea, Syria, Somalia, Sudan and Iran still exist.  They're so much better.  Whew, I was really worried a bit there.

I'm concerned too but there is a big divide between a genuine dictatorship and oppressive regime and Western democracies.  Still a chance to change things.

I thought you guys were in the land of the free? Is'nt freedom baked right into your rights? What gives these days with short sighted nobodies trying to rip that freedom away?

I guess, as Doc said, it's just a two bit obscure never amount to nothing politician trying to get his name attached to a viral campaign, but eventually one of these stupid laws will actually gain some traction and everything will go FUBAR.

To be frank, I think you have reason to be worried.... what with this latest absurdity, SOPA, the MPIAA and MIAA all seeking power and control over the lives and incomes of US AND world citizens.... the fact that they've bought and paid for corrupt politicians to be their puppets.  Believe me, things are going to get a whole lot worse before they become entirely dictatorial and totally oppressive.

Longer, actually. Too right, old friend. From the telly in ancient Rome:

Much of the ranting above exemplifies the classic mistake of conflating a set member with a full set. Idiots abound everywhere, and their presence in the ranks of elected officials is no excuse for wallowing in broad-brush bitching instead of directly engaging your elected representatives about specific policy issues that matter to you.

My rant aside, the news from EFF is that this particular tempest in a teapot probably never passed tropical depression status. https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/hawaiian-data-retention-bill-would-force-internet-companies-spy-users’-browsing

(I give EFF money when I'm doing well. From the tone of the rants above, many of you probably should do the same.) 

Ah, but you don't live where I do, and my elected official has so much wax in his ears that no amount of direct bitching is gonna make a difference.

Oh, and the "wax" is purely this story teller's poetic license... what I meant to say is that the bastard just doesn't listen and goes about 'his' business regardless.

That's the trouble with the world... politicians with so-called 'safe' seats.... there's no incentive for them to give a shit about anyone but themselves.

Ah, but I seem to have fell into an unusual trap for a political scientist--I was concise to a fault. My notion of direct engagement doesn't require that any of my representatives be clearly interested in opinions from people like me.

My current member of the U.S. House has never answered any of my correspondence with anything other than form letters that amount to "We noticed that you wrote, but we don't have time or interest in responding thoughtfully. Here's a canned chunk of stuff that we hope makes you think we're doing a good job for you in Congress." 

When that's your situation, direct engagement means working to unseat the uppity incumbent. One of the things I did in that regard was to aggressively support efforts in Florida to limit gerrymandering. We won the state constitutional amendment fight, but it still isn't quite clear how that win will play out in the actual redistricting process. With luck, I'll be in a new district this year and have a chance of electing a member who might be at least marginally sympathetic to my policy preferences. 

Good luck with that.... trouble here is, no party or representative has the better interests of the electors at heart.  Once the seat is theirs, it's a case of: "My, how things have changed, we have a new MP", yet they stay pretty much the same with regard to us.