Worth a re-examination and serves as a warning about the consequences of an out-of-control law enforcement agency. I generally support individuals in local police forces, FBI, DEA, etc. I am suspect, as a rule, of governmental organizations given the power to wield violence and curtail freedom. Too often, I believe, right-minded conservatives are a bit reflexive in their support of law enforcement because they share the ideal (as do I). The danger is when politics trumps the Constitution and common sense.
During the Clinton/Reno years, Ruby Ridge and Waco were clear examples of federal agencies picking fights and using insane levels of excessive force and character assassination with the full cooperation of the media. What must define a crime or a criminal is what one has done, never who someone is. When you dispassionately research both cases and put aside any emotional reaction (pro or con) to the beliefs of the Weaver family or the Koresh-led sect, the actions of those groups never came close to justifying the military-style attacks they faced.
It scares me when the Feds can blur the lines and ignore the rules if the target of an investigation or raid is deemed a ‘wacko’. As the vilification of mainstream ‘Tea Partiers’ has shown, it is easy to convince a large part of the public that anyone who has too severe a degree of explicit whiteness or anti-government sentiment in their views is to be considered a non-person and deserving of government wrath...
I would add the Elian Gonzalez incident to your list of troubling actions.
That case should have weaved it’s way through the courts. The Leftists love that process until it comes up in a manner that doesn’t suit their objectives.
That jack-boot scene shouldn’t please anyone, whether they wanted Elian to go back to Cuba or not.
“During the Clinton/Reno years, Ruby Ridge and Waco were clear examples of federal agencies picking fights and using insane levels of excessive force and character assassination with the full cooperation of the media”
Ruby Ridge happened under George H.W. Bush. Clinton just followed suit.
See post 19
August 21, 1992 - George HW Bush was President.