RNS Quote of the Day, Signs and Portents Edition

Here’s a twofer. You really want to click over and read the whole thing on each. They’re short but pack a wallop.

Noth­ing the gov­ern­ment has said should give you any con­fi­dence that we are not bound for the crush­ing of all dis­sent. In a nation in which the Pres­i­dent claims the power to decide, with­out pub­lic scrutiny, who we are at war with, and then to exe­cute those peo­ple with no judi­cial review, dis­si­dence is fraught. The only safe course is to agree.

–Mark W. Bennett, “Signs and Portents”

Really, read the whole thing. Best “putting the pieces together” bit I’ve read yet.

And then, of course, there’s this:

…most people who work in a government job think what they do is sufficiently important to justify having any information that they want about you.

So Jimmy, this is not really about porn at all.

–Perry de Havilland, Samizdata

Have a great weekend, everybody!