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.
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.
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:
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
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?”
Damn, I hope nobody has twenty-seven eight-by-ten colored glossy screencaps of my posts…
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]
Communists?? In Lincoln’s day?
Then what can a poor boy do, except to sing for a rock and roll band?
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…
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.
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 – 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.
Point taken . . . O MY OG, THE SERVER IS ON FIRE!
Okay, enough, troublemaker.
TubaDiva
Who musta missed the memo about the meeting of the anarchist’s club.