# Are we allowed to call for revolution on this board? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [February 8, 2006, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495 "2006-02-08T03:06:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/21 "2006-02-08T13:20:11Z")
So if the SDMB had been around in the 1770s, it wouldn’t have allowed the writings of Tom Paine and it would have considered Washington an outlaw. After all, these guys were acting against the laws of the nation as it existed then. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/22 "2006-02-08T13:30:29Z")
Well, is that any surprise? Paine and Washington took enormous chances. And if they’d lost it would have been the gallows for them. They knew the chances they took and did it. But posting here is asking someone ELSE to share the chances with you whether they would or not. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/23 "2006-02-08T16:01:48Z")
> [@](#): > > _Elucidated by C K Dexter Haven_ > From time to time we may acquire nonconfidential but sensitive information about you, some of which you may have posted yourself to our board. We won’t disclose or repeat such information except as (a) reasonable and necessary to manage our business, or (b) required by law, or © consistent with good citizenship, e.g., to prevent or report a crime or to respond to inquiries from law enforcement. Oh shit! That fine print wasn’t in the contract when I signed on . . . Damn! Hide the Russian hat and Communist Party Card in my wallet! :eek: Summon the guards for assistance! Bloody hell, I should have seen this coming. . . Quick! Minions!! Take the party goat elsewhere! Tripler I wondered what that hole in the ceiling was for. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/24 "2006-02-08T16:40:57Z")
The comparison to Paine and Washington is unfair. One of the things they were fighting for was free speech. Being critical of the British governors was a treasonable act. And Paine et all weren’t arguing for violent revolution until all other efforts had been exhausted. Please remember, that complaints against the government are permitted here – we’re very respectful of freedom of speech. The line is drawn at legality. You’re not allowed to yell “FIRE!!” in here, either ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/25 "2006-02-08T17:05:31Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > Found it! It is still illegal. > > It’ll get you 20 years. And to add insult to injury, you’re not eligible to be a U.S. government employee for five years after your conviction. After _conviction_? So, what…you can’t be a government worker for the first five years of your jail term? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/26 "2006-02-08T17:17:40Z")
> [@Hal Briston](#): > > After _conviction_? So, what…you can’t be a government worker for the first five years of your jail term? I’d assume you could get probation, I didn’t see anything about the term being mandatory. I’m picturing this: “Let’s see, it says here you were a member of a group that advocated violent overthrow of the government, and you’re applying for the position of night watchman at the armory. I only have one question: has it been five years since your conviction?” ---
**Author:** ![paperbackwriter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/53a042/32.png) [@paperbackwriter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paperbackwriter)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/27 "2006-02-08T18:21:29Z")
> [@Frank](#): > > I only have one question: has it been five years since your conviction?" Damn, I hope nobody has twenty-seven eight-by-ten colored glossy screencaps of my posts… ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/28 "2006-02-08T18:34:31Z")
> [@JustAnotherGeek](#): > > …and here, I thought that **BrainGlutton** wanted to oust the mods and take over all duties himself. > > Not sure that the mods would put up too much of a fight… 😉 Don’t underestimate the power of the jackbooted(and Underooed) Mods! 🙂 [sub][sub][sub][sub]John has a long mustache. The crane flies at dawn.FNORD[/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/29 "2006-02-08T18:39:19Z")
> [@Regardie](#): > > Is that really so? Didn’t Abraham Lincoln advocate overthrowing the government if it became not-so-nice? > Why aren’t many communists arrested then? > . Communists?? In Lincoln’s day? ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/30 "2006-02-08T18:40:24Z")
Then what _can_ a poor boy do, except to sing for a rock and roll band? ---
**Author:** ![Nature\_s\_Call](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nature_s_call/32/19006_2.png) [@Nature\_s\_Call](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nature_s_Call)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/31 "2006-02-08T18:56:20Z")
I hereby call for everyone to commence (or continue as the case may be) an elliptical journey around the sun! It might take a year, though… ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/32 "2006-02-08T19:17:42Z")
I should make clear that, as a democratic socialist, I probably would not **want** a revolution in the U.S. The most revolutionary, anti-regime forces in our society at present are libertarians, gun nuts, militiamen and white supremacists. The result of a revolution probably would be something a lot more like contemporary Afghanistan (no effective government at all) than contemporary Venezuela or Bolivia. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/33 "2006-02-08T19:24:00Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Communists?? In Lincoln’s day? They did emerge not long after . . . To the point where Thomas Nast felt obliged to publish several anti-communist political cartoons. In Harry Turtledove’s alternate-history “Timeline-191” alternate-history series – [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline-191](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline-191) – the South wins the Civil War. One political effect is to marginalize the Republicans in the remaining Union. Ex-President Lincoln (whom nobody bothers to assassinate) goes on to bolt the Republicans and form the American Socialist Party. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/34 "2006-02-08T19:32:54Z")
> [@C K Dexter Haven](#): > > Please remember, that complaints against the government are permitted here – we’re very respectful of freedom of speech. The line is drawn at legality. You’re not allowed to yell “FIRE!!” in here, either Point taken . . . O MY OG, THE SERVER IS ON FIRE! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![TubaDiva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tubadiva/32/507_2.png) [@TubaDiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TubaDiva)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2006, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495/35 "2006-02-08T20:29:31Z")
Okay, enough, troublemaker. TubaDiva Who musta missed the memo about the meeting of the anarchist’s club. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-allowed-to-call-for-revolution-on-this-board/343495.md?page=1)