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Comments (118)

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  mentalgear
  Propaganda (renamed 'PR' in the 50s), media distractions, political lobbying. Illegitimate power-seeking individuals and organizations always use the same toolkit.The only permanent remedy is to outright ban those - or better: mandatory transparency into what politicians spend how much time with whom, where money streams come from and go out of organizations, etc, etc. All transparent in a public ledger. (and no: it is not 'anti-competitive' if it's the same regulatory landscape for everybody, but a way to safe-guard the government permanently from corruption). Of course if you there are ideas that would complete this or are truly overall better, feel free to throw them in the comments hat.
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  Buttons840
  Politicians should be allowed to have their net worth increase by, let's say, $200,000 a year while in office and for 15 years afterwards. Anything more is taxed at 100%. Let it be a price of public service.
• iamnothere
  Palantir will have no problem pivoting to serve a hypothetical D administration, and the same future admin will have no trouble bringing it into the fold and leveraging its services. Many Palantir employees will probably welcome it given the direction of their political donations: https://residualthoughts.substack.com/p/libbing-out-at-palan...The same invasive surveillance apparatus that’s been focused on immigrants and left-wing protestors can easily be retargeted to focus on gun owners, “hate speech”, and right wing groups. This industry shouldn’t exist at all in its current form.But of course neither party will be able to turn down the power to subjugate its political enemies.
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  skinfaxi
  > JON TESTER: You know, a perception is reality in Washington, D.C. and in politics in general. But the fact is that I think Palantir's got a good story to tell, and they need to tell it. And hopefully folks will be receptive to it.These people are a cancer.
• jmclnx
  >During his time in office, Tester voted for the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which rolled back parts of the Dodd–Frank Act,From Wikipedia, this shows he fully aligns with Palantir. He seems to be 1 step away from being a Republican.So it cam probably be said he is a DINO (democrat in name only).
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  criddell
  What do they think Tester can do for them?
• anon
  undefined
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  CodingJeebus
  > During his 18 years in the Senate, Tester was an outspoken critic of the PATRIOT Act that passed shortly after the 9/11 attacks that expanded the Justice Department's surveillance powers. When asked whether his concerns over government surveillance remain and whether he has the same concerns with his new employer, Tester said Palantir is different and that the company doesn't build "big databases" or trade in private data.That is literally what Palantir does.> "I wanted to do away with the Patriot Act because it was about privacy," Tester said. "It was about making sure that I am not being watched by anybody, including Big Brother. And by the way, I've talked to many people within Palantir. They believe the same way I do. This is an organization that believes in privacy."Congress is full of these people. Forget party affiliation, this is as broad as it is systemic. Talk a big game in office, develop your network and have a cushy job waiting for you once you leave where you make millions calling your friends who are still in office. All while saying that it's not lobbying with a straight face.
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  npc99
  Really disappointed in Tester about this
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  gadders
  I still don't get what is inherently evil with Palantir. Is it the use-cases? The clients? The technology? The founder?I mean does it do anything I couldn't do with Postgres?
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  dyauspitr
  [flagged]
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  jdb9001
  "oh boy! i sure hope this democratic congress will be less hawkish and pro surveillance than the republican one!"this democrat congress:
• ElProlactin
  Elephants make money, donkeys make money, American citizens get slaughtered.
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  dumberquestions
  Palantir really loves hiring former public office holders, must've happened at least a dozen times across US and UK by now.
• lisp2240
  Ah, yes. The Congress to Mouth of Sauron pipeline.
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  tombert
  > Palantir has long denied claims it aids mass surveillance on the American publicThis seems at odds given that Alex Karp went on TV talking about how Palantir's tech is used to kill people. [1]Pointing out Alex Karp saying something evil isn't exactly "original", but forgive me when I don't really believe their PR bullshit.[1] https://youtu.be/NQ5107TKTBg
• ferguess_k
  Time to pay the protection fee buddy buddy!
• JohnMakin
  > "My agreement with Palantir is advisory in nature, it is not lobbying," Tester, who lost reelection to the Senate in 2024, told NPR in an interview.Advice on who/how to lobby is not 'lobbying' but come on.
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  pjc50
  See also Dame Cressida Dick, former Metropolitan Police commissioner, who's been hired to sell surveillance to the UK.
• tencentshill
  I mean... they've been around for 20+ years, they know exactly how to play this game.
• sirtaj
  And now: "President Donald Trump has nominated Palantir security chief Michael LoSapio to lead CISA, putting an executive from the controversial government supplier in line to run America's civilian cyber defense agency"Fox is CEO of the henhouse. It's cartoonish, nobody seems to care at all any more about looking remotely ethical.
• webdoodle
  The 'Democrats' in Montana are the worst sort. They pretend to support the people, but then slow walk anything the people actually want, leading to accidentally fall short at the last minute. Then after they've spent 18 years in the Senate doing this, they get rewarded for their incompetence, by the people who had the most to gain from it.Steve Bullock did the same thing when he rode out his last term. He became the head of the largest Democrat Dark Money SuperPac.The Bankhead/Bodnar race was a complete clown show too, designed to split the vote to ensure Alme won. Watch where Bodnar and Bankhead reappear later, I'm sure they'll magically land in places with money and power.
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  tehjoker
  Democrats love war and billionaires almost as much as republicans. "Scrutiny" in the title essentially functions as propaganda to manage perceptions of the public. Ha, the unpopular Palantir will be facing "scrutiny" meaning more tea-and-coffee conversations between lobbyists and government officials. Maybe a few beers.We need real socialists in congress to reign these guys in and obliterate these companies.