Users of the White House's "We the People" digital petition platform have flooded the site in support of an effort to officially designate the Kansas-based Westboro Baptist Church as a hate group.
The most popular petition was submitted on Dec. 14, the same day as the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., an incident that Westboro responded to by announcing its intent to picket the funerals of the 26 victims, including 20 young children. This plan made them a prime target of hacktivist group Anonymous and eventually drew a well-attended counter-protest to block the church's followers from disrupting the services.
The individual push has since received the support of nearly 250,000 signees, making it the most popular single petition ever created through the White House initiative. It recently cruised past a call for federal action on gun control, which along with a number of other petitions on the issue of gun rights, drew a response from President Barack Obama last week.
But the quarter-million signature effort to recognize Westboro as a hate group is also getting a boost from two other petitions calling for the congregation's tax-exempt status to be revoked. Both of those have also crossed the 25,000 signature threshold needed to prompt a response from the administration.
Now see this is the kind of thing that this website was set up to do. NOT to help red states secede from the union.
I think the idea that Westboro be labeled a hate group is a no-brainer, in fact it seems that there is really nothing to them EXCEPT hate. And I feel the same about stripping them of their tax exempt status as that would effectively shut them down.
A signature on one of these petitions merely requires a "WhiteHouse.gov account", which entails an e-mail addr, name and zip code.
ReplyDeleteCounting such bogus information is so ridiculous, that the White House flunky that set this up should be too embarrassed to report the gathered statistics to his/her clueless management.
Idiot numbers paid for with tax dollars. The website banner should read "we, the people at the White House, have no clue how computers work"
First of all, you are supposing that it's a "white house flunky" setting this up.
DeleteHave you ever built an Apache box from scratch with Raid 10 or 50, or on a VM, and configured the .cf file, and set it up behind an ASA?
Or do you even know what I just said?
Sure, a person could be scamming the site with a few extra logins, or even 50 or 100, but using Captcha limits people doing this.
And when you say "we the people have no clue how computers work" you reveal your own ignorance of technology.
No one who works in webdev, SQL, , server build, or net admin ever refers to website architecture or cloud portals as "how computers work"
Pop quiz:
Name the 7 layers of the OSI model, and
How many hosts can function with 255.255.128.0 mask
What is an ASA ACL list, why do you need it, and and what does it do?
They're aware of how the Palinbot's spam threads and cook polls - and think it can be done to White House polls too. Pay no mind to the moron at 6:48AM...
DeleteI have built much, written much code and watched many a technology turn to dust. And your use of ASA ACL much amuses me.
DeleteAccess control lists (ACLs) can be used for two purposes on Cisco devices: filter and identify traffic. Among other things. Google is your friend.
I have implement several of the OSI layers in assorted environments. You can't actually be serious about 255.255.128.0 bit mask. God help you if you are still using that notation.
As an example of the deficiencies of the "signatures" on the petitions, (just one mind you), please ponder the question of how access control lists decides whether the end user is a person eligible to vote in the USA. Does it know which are the felons? Which are the pre-teens? Does it (gasp) read minds?
And next time you want to try to trumpet your "technical expertise" you might consider how silly you look to real pros.
@ A. J. Billings
DeleteIf that's you idea of technology, your employers are being ripped off.
They're aware of how the Palinbot's spam threads and cook polls - and think it can be done to White House polls too. Pay no mind to the moron at 6:48AM...
Delete-----------
Your innocence is endearing.
another view of the white house petition setup in regard to the deport of Piers Morgan
Deletefrom http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/12/27/1173990/-Petition-to-deport-Piers-Morgan-for-being-anti-gun-pushing-85-000-nbsp-signatures#comments
The administration asserts it will respond to any petition on the site with 25,000 or more signatures on it; this particular petition already has more than three times that. (Morgan himself suggested to his fans that they sign it as well; there is, sadly, no White House breakdown of how many people signed the petition ironically. A serious oversight, that.)
6:48 You have no clue, TROLL.
ReplyDeleteCensoring these good people is just concrete evidence how Christians are being actively persecuted. Another example of far reaching "the war on Christmas" has become.
ReplyDeleteBefore the flames start..I say this in irony... if anything these vile people have put into the spotlight how narrow minded, hateful, and ignorant organized religion can be. They have accelerated the cause of gay rights by channeling their hate publicly for all to witness...in their twisted way they have done some good...
"Censoring these good people is just concrete evidence how Christians are being actively persecuted." These people are not practicing the teachings of Christ, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Using soldiers' funerals to insult their grieving friends and families is not Christian. It is bigotry.
Delete" Another example of far reaching "the war on Christmas" has become." There is certainly a war on Christmas, but it isn't the one that Fox News talks about. It is the over commercialism of what should be a religious holiday. Even the Pope has given up the Midnight Mass because it's past his bedtime. The reason for the mass at midnight is because that is when Christ was born. As one is supposed to sacrifice during Lent, one should be willing to keep to Christ's schedule, too. The emphasis on the holiday has become the parades, decorations, shopping, TV specials, sales and now even the Pope can't celebrate mass at the correct time.
Sadly, the only defense that one can offer for the Westboro folks is their right to freedom of speech. They abuse it in the same way that Terry Jones insulted Muslims by burning a Koran. If anyone would like to restore religion to Christmas, then one might start by remembering who the holiday is supposed to honor and follow His teachings.
Some historians believe that Jesus was born in the spring...so, as far as celebrating the day of his birthday and the very hour, that is debatable. Christmas is a PAGEN holiday that was co-opted by the church to lull the masses into their religious meme. The Wetboro church is a perfect example of using "Christ" and the "Bible" to espouse their own twisted beliefs.
Delete9:09, the way I read Brick's statement is one of satire. He specifically says: "Before the flames start.. I say this in irony." He then goes on to talk about the same things most people here have stipulated: ORGANIZED religion is essentially disgusting - for the most part. He, like a lot of us here, is slamming the Xtians!
DeleteOT I find Sarah Palin's silence very interesting. Sarah loves publicity and attention. She also loves to wrap herself in some handy symbolism. Sometimes she is Mama Grizzly, and other times she is Queen Esther, Queen of the Jews. How can she pass up Christmas and all of its symbols? No Facebook comment from Sarah, nada, nothing, nil, zero. This is a good time to talk about joy, family, religious significance, peace on Earth, our darkest days are behind us, what do I have to do, write the post for her? (If these words show up, you'll know where she found her "inspiration."). Maybe Sarah's ghost writer has writer's block (or worse).
ReplyDeleteThe reason for my concern was shown in the Palin Family Photo which Gryphen posted yesterday. Sarah is ALWAYS in touch. Her phone is really part of her hand. She never puts it down, not even to hold Trig for a photo. She is constantly in touch. Maybe the White House will be calling with a long overdue apology. Maybe Putin will rear his head. Sarah does not carry a nuclear code, high security information or have any other reason to hold onto that phone for every living moment. Her family is right there. Who is going to be calling? And how hard is it to text RAM and tell her to get a holiday greeting up there already.
Please, someone who lives in Alaska (or Scottsdale), please drive by one of the Palin houses and make sure that they are all right. It's not like Sara to avoid the spotlight. It's not even like her to hide behind anyone else when the camera comes out. What's she hiding? Where is Sarah?
She probably is afraid she may have to actually say something which may even remotely AGREE with the Prez!
DeleteSigned long ago...but then I don't think ANY religion should be tax free. Just think how many churches would shut down!
ReplyDelete*OT but I've just looked at the Palin Christmas photo... umm, why does Sarah look like last weeks Chinese food crammed in the back of the fridge between the crap you'll never eat, and the crap you have no idea where it came from?
Oh, look: A "Surveyors Symbol" on the 'God's View / anti-Anonymous' protest sign...
ReplyDelete- KAO
She has other things to worry about - like DAIRYGATE... and who / when someone will flip on her and turn States Evidence against her!
ReplyDeleteSince this post involves voting I guess this is not too OT. Great job everyone, if indeed it is IM readers voting on the Slednecks contest. Carly Davis is ahead of Joey Junker 3665 to 3120! Bristol better rally more troops or Junker's going down (and losing to his ex-girlfriend, Carly Davis, which is probably why Bristol is so intent on helping Joey win this thing...) For those who haven't voted, here's the link again:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.slednecks.com/contest/
I certainly think that the Westboro folks are a "hate group" and should be publicly labeled as such. They should also lose any tax exempt status they may have because the Westboro church is fake. I also disagree with the Supreme Court ruling that allowed the Westboro folks to keep up their despicable protests during funerals, just a bit farther away. Disrupting grieving relatives at a funeral is simply a hateful practice and should not be countenanced.
ReplyDeleteBeaglemom
They're a bunch of ignorant inbred imbeciles. Not only are they desecrating the flag, they're not paying taxes on the very flag they're desecrating. They call for more dead soldiers?? They're beyond the pale.
ReplyDeleteTax the bastards!!
Thank You, Anonymous! They've replaced their credit cards and changed their numbers... They need another wake up call. By now!!!
We need a new term for "hate group", yes they're THAT vile.