# John Kerry **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 30, 2014, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608 "2014-05-30T01:07:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/101 "2014-06-03T07:41:46Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You are like a Bizarro World conspiracy theorist. Pigshit-happy to believe that black is white, down is up, and that you shouldn’t worry your pretty little head about what’s going on under the covers as long as your government tells you it’s so. Even when someone like Snowden draws the covers back, you screw up your eyes and jam your fingers into your ears. The quintessential Citizen Mushroom. It’s not my job to worry about certain things. That’s what governments exist for. ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 9:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/102 "2014-06-03T09:22:54Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s not my job to worry about certain things. That’s what governments exist for. Then shut the fuck up. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/103 "2014-06-03T10:26:02Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > No, we don’t need to know about these things, because knowing about them means that the bad guys know about them too, and because the general public are too ill-informed and miseducated to make decisions on these matters that are in their best interest. People would rather embrace some abstract concept of “freedom” than accept the existence of a program that keeps them safe and does them no harm. You ought to post this on [your own thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=723924) – then, everybody there could nod, say, “Yep – he even admits it himself”, and close it out. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/104 "2014-06-03T13:19:11Z")
**Smapti** , You are the kind of citizen that every despot in the world dreams of having - and that the founders of this country despised. Sorry if that’s too brutal for you, but it’s true. **’luci** , A little late to the party, but when you take a break from one-liners, you shore do write purty. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/105 "2014-06-03T13:28:00Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s not my job to worry about certain things. That’s what governments exist for. Just how did you become comfortably dumb? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/106 "2014-06-03T16:23:58Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > No, we don’t need to know about these things, because knowing about them means that the bad guys know about them too I know! Isn’t it dreadful that other countries know we have nuclear weapons? Too bad that cat’s out of the bag. > [@](#): > > and because the general public are too ill-informed and miseducated to make decisions on these matters that are in their best interest. I haven’t seen any evidence that our elites are any more capable of acting in our best interests than the median voter is. There’s a part of me that says, “hell, if the Koch Brothers could run America in a way that would work out really well for everyone, minus their taking a 15% cut off the top, there’d be a real argument to let them do that.” The problem is, they’re just as stupid and shortsighted as everyone else - they just have a much bigger bag of money to swing. And there’s no reason to believe the people running our intelligence programs run things any more intelligently than the rest of us do, either. > [@](#): > > People would rather embrace some abstract concept of “freedom” than accept the existence of a program that keeps them safe and does them no harm. Can’t see that it’s made me appreciably safer. Can’t say it’s doing no harm. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/107 "2014-06-03T16:26:02Z")
> [@Steve\_MB](#): > > Just how did you become comfortably dumb? Through seriously misinterpreting a Pink Floyd song, and treating that misinterpretation as the wisdom of the Universe? ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/108 "2014-06-03T16:27:53Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > It’s not my job to worry about certain things. That’s what governments exist for. Then you probably don’t need to worry your pretty little head about us worrying about those things, either. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/109 "2014-06-03T16:42:46Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > I know! Isn’t it dreadful that other countries know we have nuclear weapons? It ruined the President’s chance to announce it at the next State of the Union. You know how he loves surprises… ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/110 "2014-06-03T16:49:10Z")
_Strangelove_, wasn’t it? I remember hearing the old folks talking about that, as well as something about beetles. Old folks are weird. ---
**Author:** ![Claverhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Claverhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Claverhouse)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2014, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608/111 "2014-06-03T17:10:48Z")
> [@Smapti](#): > > The courts always come around to the right decision in the end. That’s their job. _Annnd, we’re out !_ Nothing to see here; please move along. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/john-kerry/689608.md?page=5)