livius...you’re right.
But, if I may, at least one part of your comment could be dealt with, rather easily. And it all starts with your local sheriff, police chief, mayor, city council, county commission.
Someone gets rolled up in a midnight raid. Ask the sheriff/chief: did you know about this? If not, why not? If so, why did you let it happen? If they cooperated with the feds, especially if it’s a Sheriff, immediately start the recall petition. Get rid of him/her and find someone that will stand up for the people. If the feds want to charge anyone, Zero Dark Thirty raids are not needed. That stuff can be handled much differently and Sheriffs can do a lot when it comes to that.
I agree. Few people realize that the office of Sheriff (in most places, they’re elected) is extremely important. The Feds are definitely overreaching, taking advantage of things like the Patriot Act and the “state of emergency,” but it is possible to fight back if you have the Sheriff on your side, protecting your county.
Another thing that is very important is the issue of county offices. And so on down the chain, especially including the school board!
I think we’ve also seen the power of state governors, for good or for ill, and it’s important to focus on that.
Part of the problem is that, as you say, we’ve let local offices and local control get very weak. And that’s the foundation of the whole thing.
-—sheriffs can do a lot——That’s exactly right. There is no place in the country where federal agencies outrank a local elected sheriff. Strictly speaking fedz cannot do operations without clearing it with the sheriff. But everybody gets lazy and sometimes the feds wander off on their own-—and do damage. An occasional note to a sheriff can go a long way toward keeping them honest also.