Police state, ho!

Razormouth.com ^ | 6/28/04 | John Whitehead

[ksen]

Police state, ho!
by John Whitehead
6/28/04

With each passing day, America is inching further down a slippery slope toward a police state. Soon, we’ll have picked up so much momentum that there will be no turning back.

Incredibly, not too many people appear concerned. Bombarded by media images and a mind-numbing entertainment culture, people seem to be so distracted that they do not even realize that our civil liberties are slowly and stealthily eroding away.

Yet the signs of a police state are everywhere. They have infiltrated all aspects of our lives, from the mundane to the downright oppressive. We were once a society that valued individual liberty and privacy. But in recent years we have turned into a culture that has quietly accepted surveillance cameras at traffic lights and in common public areas, drug-sniffing dogs in our children’s schools, national databases that track our finances and activities, sneak-and-peek searches of our homes without our knowledge or consent and anti-terrorism laws that turn average Americans into suspected criminals.

In our post-9/11 world, government officials have effectively used terror and fear to subdue any public resistance to legislation like the Patriot Act, which embodies the heavy-handed empowering of government intrusion into our lives. Our police officers have become armed militias, instead of the civilian peacekeepers they were intended to be. Now, even average citizens—those that should have nothing to fear or worry about—are becoming unwitting targets of a government seemingly at war with its own people. Understandably, fear and paranoia rule the day.

Now with the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent ruling in Hiibel v. Sixth Judicial District Court of Nevada, we have reached yet another milepost on our journey to a police state. A majority of the high court agreed that refusing to answer when a policeman asks “What’s your name?” can rightfully be considered a crime under Nevada’s “stop and identify” statute. Nineteen other states already have similar laws on their books. No longer will Americans, even those not suspected of or charged with any crime, have the right to remain silent when stopped and questioned by a police officer.

The case arose after Larry D. Hiibel, a Nevada cattle rancher, was arrested and convicted on a misdemeanor after refusing to tell his name or show identification to a sheriff's deputy. By requiring individuals to identify themselves on pain of arrest, this ruling turns Americans innocent of any wrongdoing into immediate suspects. Indeed, it is hard to ignore the similarity to the police states found in countries like China and North Korea. It can only be a matter of time before we are required to carry identification at all times. With all the talk of digital chips and national IDs, it may not even be so far-fetched to think that someday our slightest movements will be tracked by government satellites.

We are fast becoming the police state that Congressman Ron Paul (R-Tx.) warned against in his June 2002 address to the House of Representatives. His words painted a chilling portrait of a nation willingly allowing itself to be monitored, tracked, fingerprinted and controlled. “Personal privacy, the sine qua non of liberty, no longer exists in the United States. Ruthless and abusive use of all this information accumulated by the government is yet to come.”

“It’s the responsibility of all of us to speak the truth to our best ability,” cautioned Paul, “and if there are reservations about what we’re doing, we should sound an alarm and warn the people of what is to come.”

Although the alarm has been sounded repeatedly from critics on all sides of the political spectrum, is anyone listening? If they were, every piece of legislation that tightens the government’s stronghold on American citizens would be considered an affront to freedom. And every court decision that weakens the right of each American to privacy and to be free from unreasonable searches and seizures would be considered an attack against individual liberty.

Politicians love to boast about how far we’ve come since 1776. Yet sadly, we seem to have lost the love of freedom that laid the groundwork for the American Revolution. The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 have further confused the situation. In fact, it is common to hear both our elected officials and citizens state rather bluntly that it’s time to relinquish some of our freedoms in order to feel more secure.

This kind of sentiment was completely foreign to those who founded this country. Obviously, those who fought the arduous battles to preserve our freedom had a different concept of what a society should be and what it meant to be a good citizen.

Vested with the deep-seated belief that all men are created equal and that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, those who founded America took a courageous stand for their right to freely pursue life, liberty and happiness. And when their outcries were ignored by Great Britain, they declared that “whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it, and to institute new Government.” This led to the drafting of our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

It has been said that on a sunny day in Philadelphia in 1787, just after the Constitutional Convention had finished its work, a woman approached Benjamin Franklin and asked, “Mr. Franklin, what kind of government have you given us?” “A Republic, madam,” Franklin quickly answered. “If you can keep it.”

I only hope that we have the wisdom and the courage to keep it.

[nopardons]

You aren't telling me anything that I don't know and know rather well;probably far better than you.I was in the "belly of the beast",so to speak,at the height of the hippy/Yippy/SDS/Weatherman madness.I was living in Manhattan.

When Mark Rudd was taking over Columbia,I told my mother that these people were all the children of stinking American Commies,at a time when NO ONE said that/admitted to it.Said the same thing,when the Weatherman blew up a magnificent brownstone,whilst making bombs in the basement.

I was reading the EVO (the farther left than the Village Voice,counter culture newspaper) to see what that side was up to,in the late '60s.

I happened,quite unintentionally,upon Abbie Hoffman,et al, training the troops,in Central Park,in gorilla war fare,to get them prepared for the Dem Convention in the summer of '68.

Trust me,I know and understand that period and its people.I don't give them "too little credit".They did NOT throw a revolution,though they really tried to set one off.Abetted by the media and wealthy limousine Liberals,they did change the culture;unfortunately,but they were just continuing what their parents and grandparents had begun.

OTOH,your childish ideas are puerile and would be ineffective.It is NOT the way to go and the NRST is a day dream...which even most of those of us who want less taxes,don't want. I want a flat tax.

Infiltration works...that's what the stinking Commies did and it takes decades.Your way is nuts and won't work at all.Instant gratification is what toddlers expect;grownups have patience and work quietly and steadily.

[eno_]

You would Rather world on a Libby Dole campaign than work for a 3rd party?

Arlen Specter?

Where do you draw the line?

[clamper1797]

Post # 44

seems that he/she/it has a rather short or convenient memory too.

[eno_]

Not that I'm opposed to infiltration.

You should be kinder to your fellow Republicans, especially ones that are signing off to attend a fundraiser this evening, checkbook in hand.

I do work on the inside. But I don't limit myself.

[nopardons]

Fringe parties are absolutely,100% worthless! The ONLY thing they can do,is work as a spoiler.

And no,fringe parties will NEVER amount to much.They come and go,but NEVER make a mark.And don't tell me that the GOP was a third party...it was a faction,a HUGE faction of an already dying out party,which refused to move with the times.There will NEVER be large enough faction of the GOP,who will defect to the absurd Libertarians,nor to the infinitesimally wee Constitution Party.

Where do I draw the line? I don't know...that line has yet to appear.I am a realist,a realist who doesn't delude herself with childish UTOPIAN daydreams of " revolution".

Back in the '60s,I was FREEPING,when most FREEPERS were little kids or not even born yet.I fought with card carrying Commies,nose to nose,in Greenwich Village and changed minds,with FACTS.I spit on those who were spitting on returning service men.I fought the crazies,using their own words against them and shocked them into silence.

Don't you dare preach at me,nor cast aspersions,when you are the one who is the one who thinks that real life is a video game.

[nopardons]

I don't suffer fools lightly.

Stick to changing things from within and do everything you can,to enlighten those around you,who have yet to see the light.Fringe options are NO options at all!

[eno_]

Ummm, you're the one having a blood pressure event here.

I'm the one on the way to write a check for a Republican congressional candidate.

You're the one who thinks Arlen Specter is not beyond the pale.

And you are telling me I'm not mainstream?

[nopardons]

Your crystal ball is cracked...I'm as calm as can be.Actually,I'm so bored by you and those like you,who type drivel,I'm falling asleep.

Yawn...........my money and time has been used for months now,to help re-elect the president and my local people.You're the one thinking that it's only you,who donates money.Hey...what about your time too?

Arlen is the candidate.Would you rather a Dem wins and they take over the Senate? Let's get a real majority and THEN cull the damned RINOS! You don't understand politics;nobody should pay attention to what you have to say.You're the one who needs lessons in being a "silent" and effective "revolutionary",as well as in government/politics.

[inquest]

I'm as calm as can be.Actually,I'm so bored by you and those like you,who type drivel,I'm falling asleep.

Is that why you've been typing these multi-paragraph responses - complete with your screeching caps - and summing it up with a haughty "Don't you dare preach at me"?

nobody should pay attention to what you have to say.

So then why are you paying attention to what he has to say?

[nopardons]

You people,who imagine that you can see through words,as to how I am,are just too funny for words.

I reply,to be polite.What's your excuse,for chiming in? :-)

[inquest]

You people,who imagine that you can see through words,as to how I am,are just too funny for words.

Kinda like people who imagine that others are "UNAPPPEASABLE!!!" ? (calmly, of course)

What's your excuse,for chiming in?

Just a mild sense of curiosity.

[nopardons]

Okay...here's the deal,no lying,no hype,and just an honest,for real reply.

Have have on the low end of normal blood pressure.I am as calm as clam can be.I have a certain posting style,which you may not like,but many others do.

There are folks here,who are UNAPPEASABLES...so I call a spade a spade.Others use the term as well.It isn't against posting regs.

No...curiosity shows itself in other ways than jumping on a poster and one single post.You're looking for a flame war.Too bad,I'm not in the least interested in toying with you.;^)

[headsonpikes]

I am as calm as clam can be.

You must be calm, indeed. I think we all know that clams are d*mned calm!

[nopardons]

Nothing better to do,than have a hissy fit over a typo?LOL

[headsonpikes]

Hissy fit?

I was just making a jest, man.

Step away from your computer.

[nopardons]

You first. :-)

[headsonpikes]

I'll clam up. ;^)

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

Enough what? Are you feeling trod on? These are perilous times, laddie. Best belt up and act like a man. Less whining, more action.

[af_vet_rr]

Voting for fring party candidates is useless,an activity to be decried and derided.The ONLY uselful activity,is to work within a majority party.Keyboard generals,for the most part,are all talk,no do

I'm talking about reality - the reality is that too many of us have tried to work within the GOP, have tried to push non-RINO candidates and causes, and it's like we are taking two steps forward and three steps back.

Have you not noticed the trend to move towards the middle?

I understand why the GOP is moving that way, the reality is, if we want to beat the democrats, we have to pick up a lot of their voters. Look at Florida, if it weren't for so many registered democrats voting for Bush, Gore would be our President right now. Nader's registered democrats were a drop in the bucket compared to the numbers Bush got.

I know a third party is unrealistic, but just imagine, if a truly Conservative third party popped up with even 15% of the voters in the US. The GOP would have a choice - side with democrats and move the platform further to the left, or listen to and work with the new party.