Make everyone a criminal, then charge whomever you want based on politics and/or profit.
“Did you really think we want those laws observed? said Dr. Ferris. We want them to be broken. You’d better get it straight that it’s not a bunch of boy scouts you’re up against... We’re after power and we mean it... There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws. Who wants a nation of law-abiding citizens? What’s there in that for anyone? But just pass the kind of laws that can neither be observed nor enforced or objectively interpreted ? and you create a nation of law-breakers ? and then you cash in on guilt. Now that’s the system, Mr. Reardon, that’s the game, and once you understand it, you’ll bemuch easier to deal with.” (’Atlas Shrugged’ 1957)
Also see my tag...
That quote is one of the first things I thought of when I saw this headline.
I agree. We may still be a relatively benign police state, but it seems to become just a little less benign with each passing day.
Highly recommend Phillip Howards Death of Common Sense: How Law is Suffocating America The abdication of personal responsibility in favor of a dense thicket of laws and more recently, regulations that no one could conceivably be aware of in their entirety much less comply with sets the stage for the 'priests of power' to do what they will with us. Common sense was thrown out of the window long ago - and deliberately so - in favor of bureaucracy and procedure. That is also the death of one of the underpinnings of individual liberty.