<story><title>Petition To Fire Aaron Swartz’ Prosecutor Reaches Goal</title><url>http://falkvinge.net/2013/01/15/petition-to-fire-aaron-swartz-prosecutor-reaches-goal</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>numbsafari</author><text>It&apos;s 25 dead children who were completely innocent of any crime. It&apos;s an incident in a long line of incidents over many decades in which many innocent people were killed.&lt;p&gt;I think you need to calibrate your moral barometer a bit better.</text></item><item><author>fr0sty</author><text>&amp;#62; The main point is that action in government is slow. And for good reason. If people want to hold onto the fantasy that when a bunch of people get angry, the government will take drastic action...then fine...&lt;p&gt;Sandy Hook was one month ago and the President is having a big news conference tomorrow about the administrations response re: gun violence. Is that &quot;slow&quot;? &quot;drastic action&quot;? something else?</text></item><item><author>danso</author><text>&amp;#62; &lt;i&gt;Overall, there is a feeling that Aaron Swartz’ death has to mark the beginning of a change. This petition could be a ticket and an opportunity for the administration to begin such a change, if nothing else, just by firing an overreaching prosecutor. That would be a symbolic action that would still send a message, albeit a weak one, but it would go a long way for many. In contrast, a nonaction from the administration would be a signal that vigilante justice is the only remaining option, which would be unfortunate on many levels.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a silly article. There are actually steps that happen before the firing of an official, most notably an investigation. But this article reads as: &quot;We got 25,000 signatures, if the President doesn&apos;t ax her then people will resort to armed revolt&quot;&lt;p&gt;(I&apos;ll skip the debate on whether it&apos;s good for a government to be directed by the popularity of an online petition, unless people favor the country renamed to &apos;The United States of Bieber&apos;)&lt;p&gt;The main point is that action in government is &lt;i&gt;slow&lt;/i&gt;. And for good reason. If people want to hold onto the fantasy that when a bunch of people get angry, the government will take drastic action...then fine...but people who really want to see change should be prepared to accept that the original problem (the case against Swartz) may not be satisfactory dealt with, but that attitudes change and reform can eventually happen, as long as the people who care continue to speak up and apply pressure.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>kelnos</author><text>Here&apos;s a likely controversial statement: I am much more worried about the effects of prosecutorial overreach on our society than I am about gun violence.&lt;p&gt;We are rapidly developing a &quot;criminalized culture&quot; to which the easy and popular response to everything is &quot;put them in jail&quot;. Sandy Hook was a horrible tragedy, to be sure, but in my mind, our growing population of prisoners is a much more concerning problem.</text></comment>
<story><title>Petition To Fire Aaron Swartz’ Prosecutor Reaches Goal</title><url>http://falkvinge.net/2013/01/15/petition-to-fire-aaron-swartz-prosecutor-reaches-goal</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>numbsafari</author><text>It&apos;s 25 dead children who were completely innocent of any crime. It&apos;s an incident in a long line of incidents over many decades in which many innocent people were killed.&lt;p&gt;I think you need to calibrate your moral barometer a bit better.</text></item><item><author>fr0sty</author><text>&amp;#62; The main point is that action in government is slow. And for good reason. If people want to hold onto the fantasy that when a bunch of people get angry, the government will take drastic action...then fine...&lt;p&gt;Sandy Hook was one month ago and the President is having a big news conference tomorrow about the administrations response re: gun violence. Is that &quot;slow&quot;? &quot;drastic action&quot;? something else?</text></item><item><author>danso</author><text>&amp;#62; &lt;i&gt;Overall, there is a feeling that Aaron Swartz’ death has to mark the beginning of a change. This petition could be a ticket and an opportunity for the administration to begin such a change, if nothing else, just by firing an overreaching prosecutor. That would be a symbolic action that would still send a message, albeit a weak one, but it would go a long way for many. In contrast, a nonaction from the administration would be a signal that vigilante justice is the only remaining option, which would be unfortunate on many levels.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;This is a silly article. There are actually steps that happen before the firing of an official, most notably an investigation. But this article reads as: &quot;We got 25,000 signatures, if the President doesn&apos;t ax her then people will resort to armed revolt&quot;&lt;p&gt;(I&apos;ll skip the debate on whether it&apos;s good for a government to be directed by the popularity of an online petition, unless people favor the country renamed to &apos;The United States of Bieber&apos;)&lt;p&gt;The main point is that action in government is &lt;i&gt;slow&lt;/i&gt;. And for good reason. If people want to hold onto the fantasy that when a bunch of people get angry, the government will take drastic action...then fine...but people who really want to see change should be prepared to accept that the original problem (the case against Swartz) may not be satisfactory dealt with, but that attitudes change and reform can eventually happen, as long as the people who care continue to speak up and apply pressure.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>fr0sty</author><text>I&apos;m not trying to equivocate.&lt;p&gt;GGP commment made an unqualified statement &quot;action in government is slow&quot; adding that the idea of &quot;drastic action&quot; was a &quot;fantasy&quot;. I countered by noting that in the present day the government is moving very fast on at least one particular issue. We will know tomorrow whether the action is drastic. Full stop.</text></comment>