Interesting thought, but what we see now doesn’t look much like most FReepers’ idea of ACW II, which is likely to pit defenders of liberty against a manifestly tyrannous Federal Government. The hacktivists and flash mob organizers by and large seem to have left sympathies like the “anarchists” who smash things to protest cuts in government “services”.
I guess a hastily organized FReep of a political target might be a sort of pro-liberty “flash mob”, but where are the resolutely pro-liberty hacktivists? If there were a group of hackers thoroughly dedicated to liberty and as technically competent even as LulzSec or (the supposedly lone wolf) The Jester, we’d by now have Obama’s educational and Illinois Senate records published online along with a dump of documents about the project he and Ayers ran on the Annenberg Foundation’s dime, or definitive tenchical proof that the records had been scrubbed.
In a way I’m surprised it hasn’t happened. My impression is that hackers, politically, range from libertarian to “trustifarian anarchist”. The libertarian wing should be about as offended at the Obama administration as we here are.
Well, I think quite a few people sort of expect pro-Liberty people to take up arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing, end them. It could come to that, I suppose, but our opponents are not marching through the town square wearing redcoats. I think it is hard for pro-Liberty people to understand where to start -- we don't want to be hasty, incorrect, or stupid about what we do.
On the other hand, the Left never worries about being hasty, incorrect, or stupid.
I think there has been an idea that Conservatives will "start something". What I see, however, is that the Left has started something. Anonymous attacks, calls for violence, practice with organizing flash mobs. I think the Left is on the move and that they are pre-positioning for something close to a guerrilla war. But we are not. We watch Obama and the Congress pass legislation and we think that is where the action is. We see the threat there -- in Washington and on our TV screen. It may be that the Left is more active, closer to your house than you realize. Has the war started? Are they in motion? To me it seems to be the case.