US govt secretly collecting data on millions of Verizon user

PJ_Soul

Cosmo wrote:

PJ_Soul wrote:

So now the Republicans love Obama and the Dems hate him?

.... So what, is everyone worried that the government is actually reading everyone's internet search history and monitoring who they called and shit? ... I thought it was just basically a machine that hits on "red flag" numbers and words, and then digs deeper if the machine has enough hits in one place... i.e. everyone who sent an email or did a search containing the words "bomb", "chemicals", and "post office" or whatever is probably going to get flagged and then the email is actually read or the search history is further investigated... Not that I'm saying that's a good thing (although there should be SOME kind of monitoring that will catch messages or searches that are about terrorist attacks and shit, no??). I'm just saying it's far from everyone having their history or emails or calls read or monitored. This is really THAT big a deal, is it??

Also, I already assumed this was happening. I thought everyone did. What I'm really surprised about is that there is anyone who is surprised.

...
Well, the way you can do it is by gathering aggregate data and dumping into a database. Then, you can cycle the data through filter based upon search criteria... such as the cell phone number os a specific suspect. What you get is every in the database that either caled or was called by that number. From there, you can get cell phone numbers from those hits you got. You can look for patterns to appear to create suspected associated of the initial cell phone number.
The issue here is Constitutional. According to the Fourth Amendment, you and I are protected from illegal searches. We are not criminals, but we might get flagged as one if someone along those pattern lines connects us to the initial suspect... sort of the six degrees of seperation. We don't know the terrorist but maybe someone we called called someone who called someone who was called by someone who called someone who was called by someone who called the suspect. And they kick in our doors in the middle of the night because of that.

Well, I'm actually protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and it does pretty much guarantee us very similar rights to yours when it comes to privacy ... and I have no idea what the Canadian government is up to in this regard, although I wouldn't put anything past Harper.

But anyway, are there any cases where the scenario you suggest has happened?? I understand where you're coming from in theory, but has that actually happened? I've heard a couple stories about mistaken identities are airports or the border because people had the same name as someone on the no fly list or whatever, but I've not heard of totally innocent people's doors being bashed down in the middle of the night because some they talked to talked to someone who talked to someone who talked to someone who knows a suspected terrorist... that sounds a bit far fetched.

Cosmo

PJ_Soul wrote:

Well, I'm actually protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and it does pretty much guarantee us very similar rights to yours when it comes to privacy ... and I have no idea what the Canadian government is up to in this regard, although I wouldn't put anything past Harper.

But anyway, are there any cases where the scenario you suggest has happened?? I understand where you're coming from in theory, but has that actually happened? I've heard a couple stories about mistaken identities are airports or the border because people had the same name as someone on the no fly list or whatever, but I've not heard of totally innocent people's doors being bashed down in the middle of the night because some they talked to talked to someone who talked to someone who talked to someone who knows a suspected terrorist... that sounds a bit far fetched.

...
I don't know if anything has happened. I'm just saying that the actions taken in the data gathering process violates our Fourth Amendment rights from unwarranted searches.
But, I can see the loophole regarding cellular devices. They DO broadcast and receive signals through the public airwaves. When we are out in public, we waive our privacy rights. We cannot claim privacy protection when we are out in public. The same could be said about our cellular broadcasts.
Again... technology is developed ahead of the Constitution. Right now... if you do not want to get swept up... you can choose to switch off your cell phone.
...
P.S. A cell phone also gives away your location, as long as it is on. It can also track your wherabouts as your active cell phone broadcasts out to the various cellular towers. They can triangulate the signal and track your movements.

PJ_Soul

Cosmo wrote:

PJ_Soul wrote:

Well, I'm actually protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and it does pretty much guarantee us very similar rights to yours when it comes to privacy ... and I have no idea what the Canadian government is up to in this regard, although I wouldn't put anything past Harper.

But anyway, are there any cases where the scenario you suggest has happened?? I understand where you're coming from in theory, but has that actually happened? I've heard a couple stories about mistaken identities are airports or the border because people had the same name as someone on the no fly list or whatever, but I've not heard of totally innocent people's doors being bashed down in the middle of the night because some they talked to talked to someone who talked to someone who talked to someone who knows a suspected terrorist... that sounds a bit far fetched.

...
I don't know if anything has happened. I'm just saying that the actions taken in the data gathering process violates our Fourth Amendment rights from unwarranted searches.
But, I can see the loophole regarding cellular devices. They DO broadcast and receive signals through the public airwaves. When we are out in public, we waive our privacy rights. We cannot claim privacy protection when we are out in public. The same could be said about our cellular broadcasts.
Again... technology is developed ahead of the Constitution. Right now... if you do not want to get swept up... you can choose to switch off your cell phone.
...
P.S. A cell phone also gives away your location, as long as it is on. It can also track your wherabouts as your active cell phone broadcasts out to the various cellular towers. They can triangulate the signal and track your movements.

Yeah, the location tracking made me feel kind of weird at first... but then I though, "Fuck it. There is no way anyone cares what I'm doing." That made me feel better. If I decide to be come a criminal, or end up being on the right side of a well-justified anti-government uprising, I'll start worrying again. Right now, I'm more disturbed that Facebook started telling other FB friends that I'm in the same area as them. That fucking creeped me out!

mickeyrat

I would guess any non state actor who wishes to do us harm and has any intelligence at all would have been using a sat phone or a throw away minute phone. Untraceable, supposedly.

chadwick

pjhawks wrote:

chadwick wrote:

unsung wrote:

Everyone opt out of paying taxes until April 15. Don't give them a constant stream of spending money.

everyone would quit working for a few weeks or months rebooting the system

wow really. if everyone quit working for a few weeks or months the world economy would be destroyed and you would literally be back in the dark ages. pure lunacy.

sounds fascinating

chadwick

Go Beavers wrote:

No one should be surprised by this, since it was outlined in Patriot Act a long time ago. I'm sure most of us can remember 11 or so years ago that if you questioned anything done under the guise of increasing security, you were a terrorist sympathizer. Now the same proud Americans are upset that their rights are infringed upon. Maybe they thought this would only be used against the dark skinned people?

Who's the dick who named it the 'Patriot Act' anyway?

someone not very bright & with no forethought

chadwick

pjhawks wrote:

not defending what the gov't is doing here but can you give me one instance where your life on a daily basis is different today because of the Patriot Act than it was 10-12 years ago? the fact is for 99.99% of the US population it hasn't changed shit about their daily lives. so the government got my Verizon records, guess what some douche at Verizon already had access to them before the NSA did.

someone using a phone to acquire a $20 sack from a friend... they better be using secretive code talk

sure a $20 sack is nothing but it will be logged & ppl will be monitoring calls adding shit up till the 25,000 pound shipment of grass hits the harbor or however you wanna take it

don't talk illegal shit on a phone. it isn't exactly as simple as one would believe it would be

Jason P

All I know is that everyone who posts here is on the list.

(especially you, Chadwick)

chadwick

Cosmo wrote:

riotgrl wrote:

Wake up people. It may not be a big deal today but it will be when we keep excusing away today's 'no big deal' in the name of safety and security.

Our lives have changed whether we agree or acknowledge it. I have known my stockbroker for 15 years. Worked with him, on a daily basis as the only two people in this office for 5 years, he personally knows me, my parents, my in-laws, and my kids. Yet every single time I go to his office to change my investments, I have to show him proof of identification because of the provisions within the Patriot Act. I suppose that is to keep him/me safe and secure from terrorism?? Does it hurt me when I do it? No, but I don't feel it is necessary when there is an established personal and professional relationship. What's next? And will we excuse that away? What happens when the government infringes on some civil liberty/right/belief that you disagree with? Will you continue to say its no big deal?

...
I know... it is a big deal.
The thing we need to understand is that there are public and private spaces. We are losing or have already lost so-called 'privacy' the minute we step out our door. There are cameras everywhere that capture our images and there are face recognition techniques that can identify us.
The same thing goes to the use of cellular devices. A cell phone is basically a walkie-talkie that trasmits and receives an encrypted radio signal... it is not the same as hardened landline phone that requires a wiretap.
So, when you use your cell phone, you are broadcasting out radio signals across the open airwaves. Those signals are open for intercept. That is how the government is able to cheat the system... without cheating the system because a cell phone is not a phone... it is a radio.

:evil:

chadwick

Cosmo wrote:

unsung wrote:

Yes because we know government can be trusted with the data they've mined.

...
You mean the data that you broadcast out over public airwaves for anyone to grab from your mobile two-way radio? It is your choice to use public airwaves... if you don't want your data out there... turn off your cell phone and use your landline base telephone. They need a bench issued search warrant to tap that line.

do they consider a cordless landline phone same as a corded phone?

chadwick

Jason P wrote:

All I know is that everyone who posts here is on the list.

(especially you, Chadwick)

lists are pretty badass

JimmyV

chadwick wrote:

Cosmo wrote:

unsung wrote:

Yes because we know government can be trusted with the data they've mined.

...
You mean the data that you broadcast out over public airwaves for anyone to grab from your mobile two-way radio? It is your choice to use public airwaves... if you don't want your data out there... turn off your cell phone and use your landline base telephone. They need a bench issued search warrant to tap that line.

do they consider a cordless landline phone same as a corded phone?

Yes they do...but...your neighbors can probably hear you on one of those.

chadwick

JimmyV wrote:

chadwick wrote:

do they consider a cordless landline phone same as a corded phone?

Yes they do...but...your neighbors can probably hear you on one of those.

yes true

unsung

chadwick wrote:

Go Beavers wrote:

No one should be surprised by this, since it was outlined in Patriot Act a long time ago. I'm sure most of us can remember 11 or so years ago that if you questioned anything done under the guise of increasing security, you were a terrorist sympathizer. Now the same proud Americans are upset that their rights are infringed upon. Maybe they thought this would only be used against the dark skinned people?

Who's the dick who named it the 'Patriot Act' anyway?

someone not very bright & with no forethought

The PATRIOT Act was written well before 9/11, someone had thought it out well in advance.

norm

I live in a country generally assumed to be a dictatorship. One of the Arab spring countries. I have lived through curfews and have seen the outcomes of the sort of surveillance now being revealed in the US. People here talking about curfews aren't realizing what that actually FEELS like. It isn't about having to go inside, and the practicality of that. It's about creating the feeling that everyone, everything is watching. A few points:

1) the purpose of this surveillance from the governments point of view is to control enemies of the state. Not terrorists. People who are coalescing around ideas that would destabilize the status quo. These could be religious ideas. These could be groups like anon who are too good with tech for the governments liking. It makes it very easy to know who these people are. It also makes it very simple to control these people.

Lets say you are a college student and you get in with some people who want to stop farming practices that hurt animals. So you make a plan and go to protest these practices. You get there, and wow, the protest is huge. You never expected this, you were just goofing off. Well now everyone who was there is suspect. Even though you technically had the right to protest, you're now considered a dangerous person.

With this tech in place, the government doesn't have to put you in jail. They can do something more sinister. They can just email you a sexy picture you took with a girlfriend. Or they can email you a note saying that they can prove your dad is cheating on his taxes. Or they can threaten to get your dad fired. All you have to do, the email says, is help them catch your friends in the group. You have to report back every week, or you dad might lose his job. So you do. You turn in your friends and even though they try to keep meetings off grid, you're reporting on them to protect your dad.

2) Let's say number one goes on. The country is a weird place now. Really weird. Pretty soon, a movement springs up like occupy, except its bigger this time. People are really serious, and they are saying they want a government without this power. I guess people are realizing that it is a serious deal. You see on the news that tear gas was fired. Your friend calls you, frantic. They're shooting people. Oh my god. you never signed up for this. You say, fuck it. My dad might lose his job but I won't be responsible for anyone dying. That's going too far. You refuse to report anymore. You just stop going to meetings. You stay at home, and try not to watch the news. Three days later, police come to your door and arrest you. They confiscate your computer and phones, and they beat you up a bit. No one can help you so they all just sit quietly. They know if they say anything they're next. This happened in the country I live in. It is not a joke.

3) Its hard to say how long you were in there. What you saw was horrible. Most of the time, you only heard screams. People begging to be killed. Noises you've never heard before. You, you were lucky. You got kicked every day when they threw your moldy food at you, but no one shocked you. No one used sexual violence on you, at least that you remember. There were some times they gave you pills, and you can't say for sure what happened then. To be honest, sometimes the pills were the best part of your day, because at least then you didn't feel anything. You have scars on you from the way you were treated. You learn in prison that torture is now common. But everyone who uploads videos or pictures of this torture is labeled a leaker. Its considered a threat to national security. Pretty soon, a cut you got on your leg is looking really bad. You think it's infected. There were no doctors in prison, and it was so overcrowded, who knows what got in the cut. You go to the doctor, but he refuses to see you. He knows if he does the government can see the records that he treated you. Even you calling his office prompts a visit from the local police.

You decide to go home and see your parents. Maybe they can help. This leg is getting really bad. You get to their house. They aren't home. You can't reach them no matter how hard you try. A neighbor pulls you aside, and he quickly tells you they were arrested three weeks ago and haven't been seen since. You vaguely remember mentioning to them on the phone you were going to that protest. Even your little brother isn't there.

4) Is this even really happening? You look at the news. Sports scores. Celebrity news. It's like nothing is wrong. What the hell is going on? A stranger smirks at you reading the paper. You lose it. You shout at him "fuck you dude what are you laughing at can't you see I've got a fucking wound on my leg?"

"Sorry," he says. "I just didn't know anyone read the news anymore." There haven't been any real journalists for months. They're all in jail.

Everyone walking around is scared. They can't talk to anyone else because they don't know who is reporting for the government. Hell, at one time YOU were reporting for the government. Maybe they just want their kid to get through school. Maybe they want to keep their job. Maybe they're sick and want to be able to visit the doctor. It's always a simple reason. Good people always do bad things for simple reasons.

You want to protest. You want your family back. You need help for your leg. This is way beyond anything you ever wanted. It started because you just wanted to see fair treatment in farms. Now you're basically considered a terrorist, and everyone around you might be reporting on you. You definitely can't use a phone or email. You can't get a job. You can't even trust people face to face anymore. On every corner, there are people with guns. They are as scared as you are. They just don't want to lose their jobs. They don't want to be labeled as traitors.

This all happened in the country where I live.

You want to know why revolutions happen? Because little by little by little things get worse and worse. But this thing that is happening now is big. This is the key ingredient. This allows them to know everything they need to know to accomplish the above. The fact that they are doing it is proof that they are the sort of people who might use it in the way I described. In the country I live in, they also claimed it was for the safety of the people. Same in Soviet Russia. Same in East Germany. In fact, that is always the excuse that is used to surveil everyone. But it has never ONCE proven to be the reality.

Maybe Obama won't do it. Maybe the next guy won't, or the one after him. Maybe this story isn't about you. Maybe it happens 10 or 20 years from now, when a big war is happening, or after another big attack. Maybe it's about your daughter or your son. We just don't know yet. But what we do know is that right now, in this moment we have a choice. Are we okay with this, or not? Do we want this power to exist, or not?

You know for me, the reason I'm upset is that I grew up in school saying the pledge of allegiance. I was taught that the United States meant "liberty and justice for all." You get older, you learn that in this country we define that phrase based on the constitution. That's what tells us what liberty is and what justice is. Well, the government just violated that ideal. So if they aren't standing for liberty and justice anymore, what are they standing for? Safety?

Ask yourself a question. In the story I told above, does anyone sound safe?

I didn't make anything up. These things happened to people I know. We used to think it couldn't happen in America. But guess what? It's starting to happen.

I actually get really upset when people say "I don't have anything to hide. Let them read everything." People saying that have no idea what they are bringing down on their own heads. They are naive, and we need to listen to people in other countries who are clearly telling us that this is a horrible horrible sign and it is time to stand up and say no.

http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/co ... ?context=3

dignin

norm wrote:

I live in a country generally assumed to be a dictatorship. One of the Arab spring countries. I have lived through curfews and have seen the outcomes of the sort of surveillance now being revealed in the US. People here talking about curfews aren't realizing what that actually FEELS like. It isn't about having to go inside, and the practicality of that. It's about creating the feeling that everyone, everything is watching. A few points:

1) the purpose of this surveillance from the governments point of view is to control enemies of the state. Not terrorists. People who are coalescing around ideas that would destabilize the status quo. These could be religious ideas. These could be groups like anon who are too good with tech for the governments liking. It makes it very easy to know who these people are. It also makes it very simple to control these people.

Lets say you are a college student and you get in with some people who want to stop farming practices that hurt animals. So you make a plan and go to protest these practices. You get there, and wow, the protest is huge. You never expected this, you were just goofing off. Well now everyone who was there is suspect. Even though you technically had the right to protest, you're now considered a dangerous person.

With this tech in place, the government doesn't have to put you in jail. They can do something more sinister. They can just email you a sexy picture you took with a girlfriend. Or they can email you a note saying that they can prove your dad is cheating on his taxes. Or they can threaten to get your dad fired. All you have to do, the email says, is help them catch your friends in the group. You have to report back every week, or you dad might lose his job. So you do. You turn in your friends and even though they try to keep meetings off grid, you're reporting on them to protect your dad.

2) Let's say number one goes on. The country is a weird place now. Really weird. Pretty soon, a movement springs up like occupy, except its bigger this time. People are really serious, and they are saying they want a government without this power. I guess people are realizing that it is a serious deal. You see on the news that tear gas was fired. Your friend calls you, frantic. They're shooting people. Oh my god. you never signed up for this. You say, fuck it. My dad might lose his job but I won't be responsible for anyone dying. That's going too far. You refuse to report anymore. You just stop going to meetings. You stay at home, and try not to watch the news. Three days later, police come to your door and arrest you. They confiscate your computer and phones, and they beat you up a bit. No one can help you so they all just sit quietly. They know if they say anything they're next. This happened in the country I live in. It is not a joke.

3) Its hard to say how long you were in there. What you saw was horrible. Most of the time, you only heard screams. People begging to be killed. Noises you've never heard before. You, you were lucky. You got kicked every day when they threw your moldy food at you, but no one shocked you. No one used sexual violence on you, at least that you remember. There were some times they gave you pills, and you can't say for sure what happened then. To be honest, sometimes the pills were the best part of your day, because at least then you didn't feel anything. You have scars on you from the way you were treated. You learn in prison that torture is now common. But everyone who uploads videos or pictures of this torture is labeled a leaker. Its considered a threat to national security. Pretty soon, a cut you got on your leg is looking really bad. You think it's infected. There were no doctors in prison, and it was so overcrowded, who knows what got in the cut. You go to the doctor, but he refuses to see you. He knows if he does the government can see the records that he treated you. Even you calling his office prompts a visit from the local police.

You decide to go home and see your parents. Maybe they can help. This leg is getting really bad. You get to their house. They aren't home. You can't reach them no matter how hard you try. A neighbor pulls you aside, and he quickly tells you they were arrested three weeks ago and haven't been seen since. You vaguely remember mentioning to them on the phone you were going to that protest. Even your little brother isn't there.

4) Is this even really happening? You look at the news. Sports scores. Celebrity news. It's like nothing is wrong. What the hell is going on? A stranger smirks at you reading the paper. You lose it. You shout at him "fuck you dude what are you laughing at can't you see I've got a fucking wound on my leg?"

"Sorry," he says. "I just didn't know anyone read the news anymore." There haven't been any real journalists for months. They're all in jail.

Everyone walking around is scared. They can't talk to anyone else because they don't know who is reporting for the government. Hell, at one time YOU were reporting for the government. Maybe they just want their kid to get through school. Maybe they want to keep their job. Maybe they're sick and want to be able to visit the doctor. It's always a simple reason. Good people always do bad things for simple reasons.

You want to protest. You want your family back. You need help for your leg. This is way beyond anything you ever wanted. It started because you just wanted to see fair treatment in farms. Now you're basically considered a terrorist, and everyone around you might be reporting on you. You definitely can't use a phone or email. You can't get a job. You can't even trust people face to face anymore. On every corner, there are people with guns. They are as scared as you are. They just don't want to lose their jobs. They don't want to be labeled as traitors.

This all happened in the country where I live.

You want to know why revolutions happen? Because little by little by little things get worse and worse. But this thing that is happening now is big. This is the key ingredient. This allows them to know everything they need to know to accomplish the above. The fact that they are doing it is proof that they are the sort of people who might use it in the way I described. In the country I live in, they also claimed it was for the safety of the people. Same in Soviet Russia. Same in East Germany. In fact, that is always the excuse that is used to surveil everyone. But it has never ONCE proven to be the reality.

Maybe Obama won't do it. Maybe the next guy won't, or the one after him. Maybe this story isn't about you. Maybe it happens 10 or 20 years from now, when a big war is happening, or after another big attack. Maybe it's about your daughter or your son. We just don't know yet. But what we do know is that right now, in this moment we have a choice. Are we okay with this, or not? Do we want this power to exist, or not?

You know for me, the reason I'm upset is that I grew up in school saying the pledge of allegiance. I was taught that the United States meant "liberty and justice for all." You get older, you learn that in this country we define that phrase based on the constitution. That's what tells us what liberty is and what justice is. Well, the government just violated that ideal. So if they aren't standing for liberty and justice anymore, what are they standing for? Safety?

Ask yourself a question. In the story I told above, does anyone sound safe?

I didn't make anything up. These things happened to people I know. We used to think it couldn't happen in America. But guess what? It's starting to happen.

I actually get really upset when people say "I don't have anything to hide. Let them read everything." People saying that have no idea what they are bringing down on their own heads. They are naive, and we need to listen to people in other countries who are clearly telling us that this is a horrible horrible sign and it is time to stand up and say no.

http://www.reddit.com/r/changemyview/co ... ?context=3

Came here to post this exact thing, but you beat me to it. Very insightful.

Byrnzie

Interesting that this thread is now into it's 10th page and yet nobody has made any mention of either Bradley Manning or Julian Assange. The U.S government has committed multiple crimes behind your backs, and is now eroding civil liberties and the right to privacy. These two helped expose these crimes and yet the majority of Americans don't give a shit about them.

I posted the following article in the Assange thread about one month ago, and the response it received was zero.

Funny that.

http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/1632 ... an-assange

The Death of Truth: Chris Hedges Interviews Julian Assange
Sunday, 12 May 2013

...The New York Times, The Guardian, El Pais, Le Monde and Der Spiegel giddily printed redacted copies of some of the WikiLeaks files and then promptly threw Assange and Manning to the sharks. It was not only morally repugnant, but also stunningly shortsighted. Do these news organizations believe that if the state shuts down organizations such as WikiLeaks and imprisons Manning and Assange, traditional news outlets will be left alone? Can’t they connect the dots between the prosecutions of government whistle-blowers under the Espionage Act, warrantless wiretapping, monitoring of communications and the persecution of Manning and Assange? Don’t they worry that when the state finishes with Manning, Assange and WikiLeaks, these atrophied news outlets will be next? Haven’t they realized that this is a war by a global corporate elite not against an organization or an individual but against the freedom of the press and democracy?

...The world has been turned upside down. The pestilence of corporate totalitarianism is spreading rapidly over the earth. The criminals have seized power. It is not, in the end, simply Assange or Manning they want. It is all who dare to defy the official narrative, to expose the big lie of the global corporate state. The persecution of Assange and Manning is the harbinger of what is to come, the rise of a bitter world where criminals in Brooks Brothers suits and gangsters in beribboned military uniforms—propped up by a vast internal and external security apparatus, a compliant press and a morally bankrupt political elite—monitor and crush those who dissent. Writers, artists, actors, journalists, scientists, intellectuals and workers will be forced to obey or thrown into bondage. I fear for Julian Assange. I fear for Bradley Manning. I fear for us all.

Godfather.

Obama speach-less ?

Obama himself defended the program after finishing his health care speech, answering a question from a reporter and describing the records as "modest encroachments on privacy" that "help us prevent terrorist attacks."

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/20 ... ?hpt=hp_t2

maybe he's right.......

Godfather.

Godfather.

The official's remark follows Michigan Republican Rep. Mike Rogers, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, saying Thursday the programs thwarted a terrorism plot.



Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06 ... z2Vdm5l2P1


Godfather.

Guitar92player

Cosmo wrote:

...
You seem to be really attached to labels... so, pin a label on me:
I am a registered Republican... that believes the Republican party has abandoned sanity and opted for the right-Wing fringe (i.e. The Christian Coalition) as their base. I believe in personal responsibility, not only in individuals, but in our government and corporations.
I am anti-war... I am anti-Death Penalty... I am Pro Choice, but believe that abortion should be the last resort option.
I am for the 2nd Amendment, but believe that with gun ownership comes immense responsibility. One of those responsibilities is proving that you are trustworthy in your gun ownership.
I have voted for candidates from either party.
I supported George W. Bush in the days and weeks after the September 11th attacks.. even though I did not vote for him. I opposed his war in Iraq and the expansion of government over reach he granted to DHS and other enforcement authorities. I opposed the use of torture to extract information because it means we accept that type of treatment and allow others to use those tactic on us.
I voted for President Obama because candidates McCain and Romney were terrible candidates and clung too tightly to the current Republican base ideals. I still oppose the illegal prison in Guantanamo Bay and the extension and use of Patriot act policies and procedures and hold President Obama responsible for those actions.
...
So, what am i?

I'd call you Independent, or simply nothing at all. Just an American.

I have views of both sides, like you. If I share views, why give a label or pick a side? That is my philosophy.

So I am baffled you have such views but are a registered Republican. I'm not hating on you or anything, just saying. haha. I say if people ask you what party you belong to, i'd say, "No party. I'm just a regular American with views that I believe are best for my country."