Monday, January 30, 2012

X-Post: Using American Exceptionalism as a Partisan Weapon

In reply to the Callista Gingrich video found at the following post: American Power: American Exceptionalism

(This reply is a revised and extended version of a comment originally posted at American Nihilist on January 23rd.)
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Like too many Republicans, Mrs Newton #3 is trying to sell a meme about the left that is a lie. I agree with 99% of everything she says in the video. There is no "'great debate' about whether America is an exceptional nation, or just another country," except in a few folk's divisive, partisan, and seemingly fevered imaginations.


Whether one believes man was endowed with inalienable rights by a Christian God or by human nature, the end result--the form of government that makes America exceptional--is the same. It is our American ideals that make us unique in the world, and it is our desire and ability to sell our ideals to others--both immigrants who come here to seek a better life and become a part of this country, and to a lesser extent, those foreign nations who have incorporated some of our American ideals into their governments--that make we Americans unique.

Too often, however, there IS a certain degree of arrogance when talking about American exceptionalism. There are too many who believe that America was a nation chosen by God from among all (or most) others, and that we Americans are a chosen people above those of other nations. They are often nativists who don't want to share and expand American exceptionalism. Immigrants and other groups are demonized and deemed unworthy. "All men are created equal." Except Muslims (American or otherwise.) Except gay folks. Except liberals. That kind of American exceptionalism isn't worth the breath with which it's spoken...

I believe in American exceptionalism... But unlike too many on the right, I'm not particularly threatened if the citizens of some other country feel the same about their ideals and way of life (though I do think they're wrong.) I've no doubt that folks in Israel, England, Russia, and Egypt believe their country and way of life to be exceptional, that it in any way diminishes America or our exceptionalism because they do, or that there is any harm in recognizing that fact, either.

Ed Luce from the Financial Times.

Where's Ed? There he is.

U.S. Place in World Affairs

Q. Thank you, Mr. President. In the context of all the multilateral activity that's been going on this week--the G-20, here at NATO--and your evident enthusiasm for multilateral frameworks, to work through multilateral frameworks, could I ask you whether you subscribe, as many of your predecessors have, to the school of American exceptionalism that sees America as uniquely qualified to lead the world, or do you have a slightly different philosophy? And if so, would you be able to elaborate on it?

The President. I believe in American exceptionalism, just as I suspect that the Brits believe in British exceptionalism and the Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism. I am enormously proud of my country and its role and history in the world. If you think about the site of this summit and what it means, I don't think America should be embarrassed to see evidence of the sacrifices of our troops, the enormous amount of resources that were put into Europe postwar, and our leadership in crafting an alliance that ultimately led to the unification of Europe. We should take great pride in that.

And if you think of our current situation, the United States remains the largest economy in the world. We have unmatched military capability. And I think that we have a core set of values that are enshrined in our Constitution, in our body of law, in our democratic practices, in our belief in free speech and equality that, though imperfect, are exceptional.
Now, the fact that I am very proud of my country and I think that we've got a whole lot to offer the world does not lessen my interest in recognizing the value and wonderful qualities of other countries, or recognizing that we're not always going to be right, or that other people may have good ideas, or that in order for us to work collectively, all parties have to compromise, and that includes us.

And so I see no contradiction between believing that America has a continued extraordinary role in leading the world towards peace and prosperity, and recognizing that that leadership is incumbent depends on our ability to create partnerships, because we create partnerships because we can't solve these problems alone.


-- Barack Obama: The President's News Conference in Strasbourg, April 4, 2009
Read more at the American Presidency Project: www.presidency.ucsb.edu

And then there's this, FWIW: "Only one sitting president in the last 82 years has publicly uttered the magical phrase “American exceptionalism”--care to guess who it is?" - Obama Has Mentioned 'American Exceptionalism' More Than Bush - Robert Schlesinger (usnews.com)
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A Wingnuts and Moonbats X-post

Saturday, January 28, 2012

X-Post: Donald Douglas Abuses His Google

A comment (revised and extended) in reply to the following two lines at the American Power post Oops! MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Spews Hatred of American Exceptionalism: Racist Attack Blogger Walter James Casper III Caught Lying Again! (I have previously--and will again in more detail--address the main points of the post, regarding me, Rachel Maddow, and American exceptionalism, but first, this.):
"And racist hate-blogger Walter James Casper is now in likely violation of Google's terms of use. He is banned from commenting here and he is abusing his Google privileges. I am now approving all of hate-blogger Walter James Casper's comments and submitting them to Google as a record of the harassment."
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There is no "term of use" that forbids anyone from submitting comments to any blogspot blog, and I find it awful hard to believe that anyone at Google is going to reprimand a person for one for one comments in response to posts where that person is called out by name, no matter how vociferously the blog owner asserts his right to malign a person at his blog without being called on it at that same blog. (I'm willing to bet I could submit a comment or two in response to every post at this blog, and Google still would not act--Dr. Douglas should consider himself lucky I only submit comments to some of the posts where he attacks me by name.)

That said, if Google does agree with Dr. Douglas, and contacts me pointing out the term I am violating, I will most certainly stop doing so. I suspect, however, that should Google respond to Dr. Douglas' specious "Mommy, he's making faces at me!! Make him STOP!!!" pleas at all, it will be to tell Dr. Douglas that he ought to grow up and stop whining. One cannot throw the first punch, and then scurry to hide behind his mother's skirt complaining about the return punch.

And seeing as he intends to approve of my comments, anyway, perhaps Dr. Douglas would be so brave as to not delete the comment sections on posts mentioning me--or maybe, just not moderate his blog in the first place. (though the latter'd prolly take more guts than Dr. D. has, anymore... Golly forbid folks actually disagree with him on his own blog...)

Say hi to our Google overlords for me... ...and thanks for approving my comments...
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Submitted AND APPROVED January 27, 2012 5:53 PM (because Donald apparently intends to use the comments I submit to his blog and that he allows through moderation to "prove" to law enforcement that I am harassing him... I shit you not.)
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Since this comment:

Donald Douglas: A man named Walter James Casper III used to be a commenter on my blog years ago. He became obsessed and abusive and started an entire blog to attack me personally and to threaten me with harassment. His co-bloggers at the blog, called "American Nihilist," have contacted my workplace to complain about my blogging, trying to get me fired. These attacks are violating my free speech rights and causing me and my family personal strife and emotional duress. Walter James Casper has also sent me personal emails of a threatening nature. These are completely unsolicited, as I have never exchanged emails with him at any time. I have written about the harassment and threats at my blog and Walter James Casper claims he has a right to respond in the comment section at my blog. While I have moderated comments, or even disabled comments, Casper continues to harass me with additional attempts to comment, with threats, and by email. I will also be filing police reports and contacting my attorney about these issues. My complaint is in no way an attempt to suppress Casper's free speech rights. This is only to notify Blogger of a terms of use violation, since Casper's threats are illegal under California state law, Penal Code Section 646.9, which makes cyberstalking and online harassment a crime. Casper's Blogger profile name is "Repsac3" and this is his Blogger profile URL: http://www.blogger.com/profile/15458282944035344707. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
DarkUFO (Google/Blogger): Defamation (ridicule, slander, trash talk) is a civil offense. Hire a lawyer. Don't go after the blog, or Blogger, go after the person publishing the blog. 
The Real Blogger Status: InterPersonal Conflict - Defamation Vs Impersonation

From: How do I report harassment? I am being harassed in the comments to my blog. Can I talk with somone at Blogger, please? - Blogger Help

And, perhaps because he was rebuffed by the Google overlords, or perhaps because he's just gone a little crazy:

American Power: California Penal Code Section 646.9 on Criminal Harassment and Cyberstalking: Statement of Warning to Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III

The full text is reposted below, but the gist is,"If you comment on my blog, I'm calling the police." (Oh, to be a fly on the wall if / when he sits down with an officer and shows him my 20-30 comments (no more than 40, surely) and three e-mails--after he instructed readers to use the e-mail, of course--addressed to his blog since the big banning on Apr 23, 2010... (Even if I submitted 40 comments in the last 21 months--which I kinda doubt--that averages out to 1.9 comments/month... That's some lame-ass harassment, if ya ask me.)Part of me thinks Dr. Douglas is smarter than to dare waste the time of law enforcement officers because I submit comments to his blog's moderation quoue against his wishes, but then there's a part of me that's pretty sure he isn't... ...or worse, that he thinks he's smart enough to try to fabricate evidence, since there is in fact, nothing legally actionable in anything I've done...) ((Stupid and pigheaded, perhaps--I know damned well that the "adult" move would be to ignore his nonsense the way pretty much everyone else does, so he left me alone the way he does the rest of his many "enemies," including the ones who actually did contact Long Beach City College about Professor Donald Kent Douglas' online antics--but surely not against any criminal or civil law...))

Remains to be seen, I guess...
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ADDED: Saw this header on the Memeorandum list just after posting... Newt May Be Mad and Mental Enough to Fight On Long After Florida -- Daily Intel Donald Douglas and Newton Leroy... Still like two peas in a rotting pod... Mad and mental, indeed...
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American Power: California Penal Code Section 646.9 on Criminal Harassment and Cyberstalking: Statement of Warning to Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III

Okay, this has gone on long enough.

I am herewith setting out my policy on harassment and stalking and I'm affirming for the record that I'm playing for keeps.

For some reason racist hate-blogger Walter James Casper III thinks this is all fun and games. I warned him not to comment here and that if he does comment I will approve those as a record of harassment, which I will report to Google. Casper's contacts here at this blog are unwanted and unsolicited. I am within my free speech rights to post commentary and criticism on politics and ideology. And I am particularly within my rights to identify and highlight criminally derogatory and racist speech directed against me. And thus I will continue to monitor Casper's hate blog American Nihilist. Importantly, since Casper sponsored workplace attacks against me, and since he has contacted me personally by email with threatening statements, I ceased all direct contact with him at his blog or elsewhere online. And I have also repeatedly warned Walter James Casper III not to contact me or to comment at this blog. It's all on the record.

As is within my free speech rights, I highlighted Casper's dishonesty and stupidity in an essay today: "Oops! MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Spews Hatred of American Exceptionalism: Racist Attack Blogger Walter James Casper III Caught Lying Again!"

Comments are closed at that post to prevent harassment. Casper commented at an unrelated post, against my wishes, since he is banned from commenting here. After I updated the post, Casper ignored the admonitions yet again with another comment in violation of my rights:
repsac3 said...

"Walter James Casper is now in likely violation of Google's terms of use. He is banned from commenting here and he is abusing his Google privileges. I am now approving all of hate-blogger Walter James Casper's comments and submitting them to Google as a record of the harassment."

I'll get around to the rest of Dr. Douglas' nonsense if / when I have the time, but I did want to briefly comment on this bit...

There is no "term of use" that forbids anyone from submitting comments to any blogspot blog, and I find it awful hard to believe that anyone at Google is going to reprimand a person for one for one [sic] comments in response to posts where that person is called out by name, no matter how vociferously the blog owner asserts his right to malign a person at his blog without being called on it at that same blog. (I'm willing to bet I could submit a comment or two in response to every post at this blog, and Google still would not act -- Dr. Douglas should consider himself lucky I only submit comments to some of the posts where he attacks me by name.)

That said, if Google does agree with Dr. Douglas, and contacts me pointing out the term I am violating, I will most certainly stop doing so. I suspect, however, that should Google respond to Dr. Douglas' specious "Mommy, he's making faces at me!! Make him STOP!!!" pleas at all, it will be to tell Dr. Douglas that he ought to grow up and stop whining. One cannot throw the first punch, and then scurry to hide behind his mother's skirt complaining about the return punch.

And seeing as he intends to approve of my comments, anyway, perhaps Dr. Douglas would be so brave as to not delete the comment sections on posts mentioning me--or maybe, just not moderate his blog in the first place. (though the latter'd prolly take more guts than Dr. D. has, anymore... Golly forbid folks actually disagree with him on his own blog...)

Say hi to our Google overlords for me... ...and thanks for approving my comments...

January 27, 2012 5:53 PM
Actually, there are indeed "'terms of use' that forbid" Casper from harassing me in the comments. According to Blogger's "Terms of service":
2. Proper Use. You agree that you are responsible for your own use of the Service, for any posts you make, and for any consequences thereof. You agree that you will use the Service in compliance with all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules and regulations, including any laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from your country of residence and all United States export control laws.
Walter James Casper is engaged in a malicious, persistent, and willful pattern of abuse that is prohibited under California state law (see below). As such, Casper's comments here are a violation of Blogger's terms of service. Moreover, here's the statement from Google's "Reporting abuse - Blogger Help" page:
We strongly believe in freedom of expression, even if a blog contains unappealing or distasteful content or presents unpopular viewpoints. We realize this may be frustrating, and we regret any inconvenience this may cause you. In cases where contact information for the author is listed on the page, we recommend that you work directly with this person to have the content in question removed or changed.
Here are some examples of content we will not remove unless provided with a court order:

Personal attacks or alleged defamation
Parody or satire of individuals
Distasteful imagery or language
Political or social commentary
Thus, this is to inform Walter James Casper III of my effort to "work directly with this person" to stop his comments on this blog. THIS IS A FORMAL LEGAL WARNING TO CEASE AND DESIST FROM COMMENTING AT THIS BLOG. Hereafter, I will consider any new comment posted here a "personal attack" within the purview of the terms of service and I'll append the comment to this post and send it to Google as a legal complaint and report on abuse, harassment, and cyberstalking.

Here's California Penal Code Section 646.9 on Criminal Harassment and Cyberstalking:
646.9.

(a) Any person who willfully, maliciously, and repeatedly follows or harasses another person and who makes a credible threat with the intent to place that person in reasonable fear for his or her safety, or the safety of his or her immediate family, is guilty of the crime of stalking, punishable by imprisonment in a county jail for not more than one year or by a fine of not more than one thousand dollars ($1,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or by imprisonment in the state prison.

(b) Any person who violates subdivision (a) when there is a temporary restraining order, injunction, or any other court order in effect prohibiting the behavior described in subdivision (a) against the same party, shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or four years.

(c) Every person who, having been convicted of a felony under this section, commits a second or subsequent violation of this section shall be punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three,
or four years.

(d) In addition to the penalties provided in this section, the sentencing court may order a person convicted of a felony under this section to register as a sex offender pursuant to subparagraph (E) of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 290.

(e) For the purposes of this section, "harasses" means a knowing and willful course of conduct directed at a specific person that seriously alarms, annoys, torments, or terrorizes the person, and that serves no legitimate purpose. This course of conduct must be such as would cause a reasonable person to suffer substantial emotional distress, and must actually cause substantial emotional distress to the person.

(f) For purposes of this section, "course of conduct" means a pattern of conduct composed of a series of acts over a period of time, however short, evidencing a continuity of purpose. Constitutionally protected activity is not included within the meaning of "course of conduct."

(g) For the purposes of this section, "credible threat" means a verbal or written threat, including that performed through the use of an electronic communication device, or a threat implied by a pattern of conduct or a combination of verbal, written, or electronically communicated statements and conduct made with the intent to place the person that is the target of the threat in reasonable fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family and made with the apparent ability to carry out the threat so as to cause the person who is the target of the threat to reasonably fear for his or her safety or the safety of his or her family. It is not necessary to prove that the defendant had the intent to actually carry out the threat. The present incarceration of a person making the threat shall not be a bar to prosecution under this section.

(h) For purposes of this section, the term "electronic communication device" includes, but is not limited to, telephones, cellular phones, computers, video recorders, fax machines, or pagers. "Electronic communication" has the same meaning as the term defined in Subsection 12 of Section 2510 of Title 18 of the United States Code.
See the full text here or here.

I will also report new instances of abuse and harassment to the Irvine Police Department and the Long Beach Police Department. Here is the record of harassment published previously, with one of Casper's emails warning me to "reconsider" or else: "Continuing Lies by Cowardly Hate-Blogger W. James Casper in Left's Demonic Workplace Intimidation Campaign." And American Nihilist's long pattern of abuse, intimidation, and workplace harassment is chronicled at this post as well.

The harassment stops now. Walter James Casper III has no right to comment on this blog. If he feels he has been maligned or libeled he can take proper legal recourse. I have legal representation and I am prepared to defend my free speech rights in a court of law.

And folks might weigh Ann Althouse's comments policy in relation to the policy I'm setting forth here. She writes:
I have started deleting all the comments of one of our most conspicuous commenters for reasons I am not going to discuss. I ask all of my commenters to take some extra care with your comments now. Don't be a troll and don't feed a troll. If you are a troll, I may target you for deletion next. If you feed a troll, you may soon find that your comment refers to a comment that has been deleted. Let's raise the level of discussion around here. I have many great commenters that I love having as my guests. Others are being destructive and need to stop. If you're someone I'm targeting for deletion -- and I'm deleting all your comments regardless of content -- you need to go away permanently. You are on notice that I consider you to be harassing me, and I will contact Blogger about your account if you do not desist.
Althouse is a professor of law, so she certainly knows something about harassment and stalking. And recall that Walter James Casper III has long been trolling my comments. Indeed, I went to comment moderation to help prevent his trolling. But comment moderation has not been effective, and I have had to disable comments to some posts on occasion to prevent malicious attacks. When I did that, Casper then started harassing me by email. These emails I consider personally threatening to me and my family. And as such they're considered criminal activity under California state law. Hereafter I will update this post with any comment here from Walter James Casper III, or with any other form of unwanted personal contact, and I will submit a complaint of abuse and criminal harassment to Google and to the proper legal authorities.

Walter James Casper III is hereby notified under the law.

Comments on this post are closed.

UPDATE: (1-28-12 8:20am PST) Walter Jamers Casper III is on record that he wants to be known as a criminal harasser. Here's is his comment in violation of this policy:
repsac3 said...

In reply to: California Penal Code Section 646.9 on Criminal Harassment and Cyberstalking: Statement of Warning to Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III

Sorry, Dr. Douglas, but I will not allow you to attempt to intimidate me with specious threats. My answer now is the same as it was the last time you made this kinda noise, back in September (and probably before that too, though it ain't worth the search):

If you really believe I am in violation of any federal or state law or ISP/Google/??? term of service because I submit a comment or two to your moderated blog against your expressed wishes, often in reply to American Power blog posts where you discuss me by name, I cordially invite you to make your reports to Google, the Irvine / Long Beach police department, Homeland Security, or whoever you feel you need to.

The time has come to fish or cut bait.

January 28, 2012 4:22 AM
UPDATE: (1-28-12 8:45am PST) Here's the complaint sent through the Blogger help page:
A man named Walter James Casper III used to be a commenter on my blog years ago. He became obsessed and abusive and started an entire blog to attack me personally and to threaten me with harassment. His co-bloggers at the blog, called "American Nihilist," have contacted my workplace to complain about my blogging, trying to get me fired. These attacks are violating my free speech rights and causing me and my family personal strife and emotional duress. Walter James Casper has also sent me personal emails of a threatening nature. These are completely unsolicited, as I have never exchanged emails with him at any time. I have written about the harassment and threats at my blog and Walter James Casper claims he has a right to respond in the comment section at my blog. While I have moderated comments, or even disabled comments, Casper continues to harass me with additional attempts to comment, with threats, and by email. I will also be filing police reports and contacting my attorney about these issues. My complaint is in no way an attempt to suppress Casper's free speech rights. This is only to notify Blogger of a terms of use violation, since Casper's threats are illegal under California state law, Penal Code Section 646.9, which makes cyberstalking and online harassment a crime. Casper's Blogger profile name is "Repsac3" and this is his Blogger profile URL: http://www.blogger.com/profile/15458282944035344707. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
I will also be notifying the police of Walter James Casper's harassment next week.
Posted by Donald Douglas at 9:45 PM
Labels: Communism, Communists, Democrats, Harassment, Progressives, Radical Left, Secular Demonology
An American Nihilist X-post

In Reply: Donald Douglas: Fish Or Cut Bait (Shit Or Get Off The Pot, Put Up Or Shut Up, ..., ...)

In reply to: California Penal Code Section 646.9 on Criminal Harassment and Cyberstalking: Statement of Warning to Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III

Sorry, Dr. Douglas, but I will not allow you to attempt to intimidate me with specious threats. My answer now is the same as it was the last time you made this kinda noise, back in September (and probably before that too, though it ain't worth the search):

If you really believe I am in violation of any federal or state law or ISP/Google/??? term of service because I submit a comment or two to your moderated blog against your expressed wishes, generally in reply to American Power blog posts where you discuss me by name, I cordially invite you to make your reports to Google, the Irvine / Long Beach police department, Homeland Security, or whoever you feel you need to.

The time has come to fish or cut bait.

Friday, January 27, 2012

In Reply: Donald Douglas' Attack on American Exceptionalism, and on Folks He Hates

In reply to American Power: Oops! MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Spews Hatred of American Exceptionalism: Racist Attack Blogger Walter James Casper III Caught Lying Again!
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Sorry, Donald... but your "american exceptionalism" attack is nonsense. I never said that exceptionalism was not worth the breath with which it was spoken; I said there are those who use it as an excuse for nativism and divisiveness, and it is those excuses that are unworthy... Even your readers will be able to see the difference, Donald...

As for Rachel, I don't really know what she was trying to say (unless it was that America isn't perfect, maybe,)* but your guilt by association attack, as though I agree with or have to answer for every word the woman speaks, is pretty lame. I said my piece... Attack what I actually said... Don't just call it denialism and dishonesty... Show that it is either...

I feel bad for you Donald... Your need to lash out at others makes you a pathetic excuse for a man.

But thanks for "stalking" my blog and Twitter stream enough to launch this kind of ridiculousness... It shows how much of a hypocrite you really are...
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*I later discovered that Rachel Maddow's intent was to question why so many refer to "a SHINING city on a hill," when the John Winthrop sermon from which the image was borrowed never referred to the city on a hill as shining.
"For we must consider that we shall be as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people are upon us."
Intentionally or not, Ronald Reagan recast the city on the hill as shining, perhaps in reference to the Sermon on the Mount, at Mathew 5, 14-16
14"You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
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Links:
American Power: American Exceptionalism
Like too many republicans, mrs newt #3...
American Power: Oops! MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Spews Hatred of American Exceptionalism: Racist Attack Blogger Walter James Casper III Caught Lying Again!
Rachel Maddow Sniffs in Disdain at Belief in America as 'Shining' City on a Hill | NewsBusters.org
A Model of Christian Charity --- by Gov. John Winthrop, 1630
SERMON ON THE MOUNT
American Power: California Penal Code Section 646.9 on Criminal Harassment and Cyberstalking: Statement of Warning to Hate-Blogger Walter James Casper III
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Submitted AND APPROVED January 27, 2012, 1:52 PM (because Donald apparently intends to use the comments I submit to his blog and that he allows through moderation to "prove" to law enforcement that I am harassing him... I shit you not.)

Nerd Score (Do nerds score?)