This is really starting to annoy me.

I was looking back over my OPPT/Sovvie scam thread and noticing a distinct pattern of attack from people and it is starting now to finally get me to a boiling point. Supposedly, in the minds of some, you cannot possibly have a brain, and the ability to use it, of you work for the Government. You MUST be one of the shills, you MUST be someone who just wants the status quo, and you MUST be trying to use disinfo tactics on people. Well newsflash, not everyone who works for the US Government AGREES with the US Government, in fat on many key issues I happen to think they are full of it (9/11 comes to mind, ya remember building 7?)

But that doesn't stop people from making attacks at you because you work for them. Yes I work for the Justice Department, YES i have the power (when I'm working) to arrest people and YES I have been there for a LONG time, does it mean I support every policy, NO it does not. Plus which, does anyone really ask WHY someone goes to work for the Government? Well no they don't. I started in the Clinton administration. Back then the internet was small, and not widely used, Compuserve, AOL and Prodigy were the online tools of choice. Email was in in it's infancy, and you didn't have Google or Wiki or real time coverage of everything, there was no social media, or Twitter. Were there conspiracies? Of course there were, and people knew which ones were valid conspiracies and which ones were bunk because it really was a lot easier to see without all of these blogs popping up in support of something.

But now... you work for them , you must be the enemy, and your opinions and experience are worth ZILCH just because you work for them. It's annoying, that someone cannot have a mind AND work at a job they enjoy. Maybe I should stop listening to the opinions of boys that live in basements of their mommy's house and play World of Warcraft all day, because they have no outside influences and couldn't possibly have a mind now could they?

Why do I work at my job? Easy I can sum it up in ONE sentence. The Health Insurance Benefits cover my girls disabilities and all of the treatments they need, that I couldn't possibly cover on my own or with private sector health insurance, and if that's not a good enough reason to keep working for them, then tough. It's good for me, it's good for my children and that's that.

Plus which I work a second job as a CG modeler, freelance, making all sorts of neat Sci Fi stuff, and that is stress relief and pays really well too..but no-one ever seems to make a big deal about that job.. gee I wonder why...........

You know, I would try and post a longer an more well-thought out reply but all I have to say is...

A-freakin-men! It seems like everytime a thread gets rolling, a member is grouped up on and sucked out of any interest because anything they say is an attempt at espionage and turning people away from the truth.

It takes away from the thread so much, and really bolsters the notion that conspiracy theorists are trust less fools who are too overly-sensitive.

Although I believe in this day and age there is no such thing as over-sensitive or over-preparedness.

Not sure who called you out for working at the Justice Department.

Honestly there are more than a few bad apples on this website as of recently.

I hope you don't think they represent the whole of ATS.

I'd say the very fact that you admit your position openly should be more than enough evidence that you are being honest & transparent.

Completely understand.

According to some, I'm potentially running a phishing scam and brainwashing folks.

Sigh.

That is exactly what a government shill would say!!!!

We're on to you

Originally posted by ThinkingCap
I'd say the very fact that you admit your position openly should be more than enough evidence that you are being honest & transparent.

IMHO, your being open and honest and that counts for something. Who cares where you work as long as you have thought provoking ideas that can be openly discussed. I work for the "EVIL" oil industry in Alberta. Does that mean anything and everything I say about the XL pipeline would be misinformation? No, lol.

Dude I'm in the Army and everyone here knows it.

I know how you feel.

People tend to paint with a broad brush because dealing with too many details makes it difficult to rationalize ridiculous opinions. One of those details may actually change their minds...Cant have any of that now can we?

Originally posted by vkey08

. Yes I work for the Justice Department,

Why do I work at my job? Easy I can sum it up in ONE sentence. The Health Insurance Benefits cover my girls disabilities and all of the treatments they need, that I couldn't possibly cover on my own or with private sector health insurance, and if that's not a good enough reason to keep working for them, then tough. It's good for me, it's good for my children and that's that.

You've stated who you work for and the reasons why; and to me those reasons are very good reasons; your family's health and well being. You are doing your best and I applaud you for that.

Not sure who called you out for working at the Justice Department.

that was me.

7. Question motives. Twist or amplify any fact which could be taken to imply that the opponent operates out of a hidden personal agenda or other bias. This avoids discussing issues and forces the accuser on the defensive.

i miss that thread.

it was, after about 5 months of being a member, the first thread that lasted (it actually was a carryover from the thread that i started that got closed and topic banned) that i was involved with with some heated arguments on.
as many of the 'characters' against my side of the argument turned out to be ATS staff and owners using tactics that i felt were somewhat underhanded, i 'sunk to their level' (not much of a stretch for me) and landed some cheap shots of my own.

5. Sidetrack opponents with name calling and ridicule. This is also known as the primary 'attack the messenger' ploy, though other methods qualify as variants of that approach.

i certainly was having fun doing that, and also seeing what i can get away with here. not that i want to disrupt anyone's threads, but it does happen and i think all of us at ATS should be able to recognize it and be prepared for disruption and how to deal it or deal with it.

in hindsight, i should have focused on debunking the linked (yah' right) information that was used to support the OP, i have found many potential flaws with it and the way it was presented but, as many other posters on that thread were wildly linking their own questionaly relevant info, my defence would likely go unnoticed.

again, concerning that thread, as my thread on the now banned topic was attacked first, it was then my turn to attack on the new one.
and this seemed to be the response...

2. Become incredulous and indignant. Avoid discussing key issues and instead focus on side issues which can be used show the topic as being critical of some otherwise sacrosanct group or theme. This is also known as the 'How dare you!' gambit.

so basically you just admitted to personally attacking somebody out of a sense of butt-hurtness because of your own thread getting hammered? THAT'S cool I guess. I mean, it certainly furthered the topic of debate exponentially, right?

to the OP, I thoroughly enjoy your posts when I catch them, and we've had some good convos because of that. hope he didn't knock you out of the saddle too much and you can carry on. as an ex-govvie, I can sympathize. can't even count the number of times i've been told i'm a war criminal/occupier/low-intellect moron/whatever other overused insult just because i served in the military and then as a LEO. I've learned more about my personal faults and problems in two months on ATS than in the previous 30 years, and let me tell you, I had NOOOO idea what a horrible person I am.

i don't think that i took things too far, that was probably somebody else.
i might guess that he was on a mission to get vk's thread closed, which, according to the explanation given to me by staff, is exactly the way it worked out.
if i wanted to, i could reread that thread (it's 100 pageslol) to evaluate that, i should cause i posted some funnies in it, along with some powerful 'soapbox' style speeches.

am i buttthurt? by a mere thread being closed?
i was suprised they let it go on as long as they did even with only 11 pages.
it seems the topic was not of great importance, or was it?


anyway, for those that may be still hurting, or, ready to antagonize another for what happened there, i suggest getting over it / dropping it.
many of us will get treated like dirt sometime or another but there will always be a fresh thread in need of fresh arguments and we should not carry the weight of the past into them.

And the funny thing is, we all know just incompetent senior leadership in the federal government can be!