Obama Makes a Startling Admission!!!

[BuddyRey]

Bear with it for a minute, because he makes an incredible statement at the very end of the video. I can't believe he just came right out and said this!!!

YouTube - Barack Obama tells the....truth!

 

[BuddyRey]

Anybody else think this is an extraordinary statement coming from a U.S. President, or is it just me?

 

[BenIsForRon]

I don't see the problem. We set up the state in the constitution to carry out defense and law enforcement. No other organization can legally enforce the law, or carry out national defense (at least until recently). So yes, I think the state monopoly on violence is sanctioned in the constitution.

 

[tremendoustie]

Anybody else think this is an extraordinary statement coming from a U.S. President, or is it just me?

Yeah, the first time I heard this, I was startled too. Score one point for those arguing many in government are evil, and not just ignorant.

 

[tremendoustie]

I don't see the problem. We set up the state in the constitution to carry out defense and law enforcement. No other organization can legally enforce the law, or carry out national defense (at least until recently). So yes, I think the state monopoly on violence is sanctioned in the constitution.

Don't you see a problem with this? If we're talking about aggressive violence, isn't that immoral? And if we're talking about defensive violence, shouldn't everyone have a right to defend themselves and innocents?

This one organization will use violence against anyone who would try to do the same things the organization itself does every day.

How could what is immoral for anyone else, be moral for this particular group of people? Is this not implicitly contradictory with the notion of equal human rights, and consistent moral principles? If their behavior is moral, they should not prevent others from behaving in the same way. If their behavior is immoral, they should not do it.

 

[BuddyRey]

Yeah, the first time I heard this, I was startled too. Score one point for those arguing many in government are evil, and not just ignorant.

Yeah, it definitely seems to lend additional credence to the idea that politicians aren't just 'well-meaning screw-ups" but people with a genuinely megalomaniacal drive for power.

 

[BenIsForRon]

Basically I was saying that in general, we're supposed to leave law enforcement up to the police, and defense up to the military. Keyword: supposed to. Of course, both military and law enforcement have stepped outside of their constitutional bounds.

On the subject Obama is discussing, if we're going to be battling the Taliban in where ever, that should be done exclusively by the US and NATO troops. Private military contractors are part of for profit corporations, and should have no place in combat related to the foreign policy of the United States. No one else should be able to participate in that violence, unless some militia really feels like paying their own way to go over there.

 

[BuddyRey]

Shameless self-bump!

 

[noxagol]

I don't see the problem. We set up the state in the constitution to carry out defense and law enforcement. No other organization can legally enforce the law, or carry out national defense (at least until recently). So yes, I think the state monopoly on violence is sanctioned in the constitution.

That piece of paper can go to hell. It is precisely that monopoly on violence that allows governments to become tyranical. A contract is useless if one side of a party can't enforce the terms, which is precisely what the constitution does. It gives ZERO REAL recourse for the people, or a subset of the people.

The constitution is a sham.

 

[STAND-or-fall]

Actually Nox, The Constitution DOES in fact give us remedy andd recourse. Go back and read the second amendment again.

 

[fisharmor]

Yeah, it gives us three remedies... the soap box, the ballot box, and the cartridge box.
Whether they were ever really effective is another question.

 

[RCA]

OP, please type a brief summation of what Obama said. I have a slow internet connection at work. Thanks.

 

[BuddyRey]

OP, please type a brief summation of what Obama said. I have a slow internet connection at work. Thanks.

He said that he disagrees with private contractors being used to fight foreign wars (on which he and I are in agreement), but then slipped up by admitting that what separates them (private entities) from nation-states is that the latter has "the monopoly on violence."

 

[tremendoustie]

"I think you are privatizing something that is essentially what sets a nation state apart, which is the monopoly on violence"

 

[nandnor]

nvm

 

[RCA]

He said that he disagrees with private contractors being used to fight foreign wars (on which he and I are in agreement), but then slipped up by admitting that what separates them (private entities) from nation-states is that the latter has "the monopoly on violence."

Thanks!

 

[BuddyRey]

Looks like Obama's been reading some Rothbard.. Perhaps he's a closet an-cap?

How cool would that be, if Obama really turned out to be a Rothbardian 'double-agent" who was playing up to the elites just long enough to crash their system? There's no way it's true, but that would make a kickass political novel or piece of libertarian fan fiction!

 

[nandnor]

nvm

 

[BuddyRey]

Why? Blackwater does way more bang for buck than the public army

Yes, but they're being used to fight immoral wars for the state, not actually in competition with it. Plus, they've killed a lot of innocent people.

 

[TinCanToNA]

Yeah, the first time I heard this, I was startled too. Score one point for those arguing many in government are evil, and not just ignorant.

Not sure I follow what you're saying. That violence is linked to evil? Because that would be pretty damn hard (read: impossible) to prove. If not that, then what?