A favorite tactic of tyrants the world over is to simply toss the opposition in jail. No charges. No warrant. No problem. Just pick them up off the street, or in their homes in the dead of night. You treat them badly to the point of torture, and maybe later you release them, after they've calmed down, or maybe you don't. Maybe they die in captivity. Maybe they just disappear.
The founders of this country fought with a passion against arbitrary arrests by the British authorities.The ability to simply arrest whomever you please is the pentultimate power grab for any police state. The ultimate power being simply to kill whomever you please. The two are closely related, and one leads to the other as surely as night follows day. Our government is actively persuing the power to do both.
The U.S. Constitution is chock a block full of prohibitions against this kind of overreaching abuse of power. Our rights to warrants, due process, trial by jury, habeus corpus, as well as prohibitions against writs of assistance, bills of attainder, and ex-post facto laws are all aimed at curbing the government's natrual tendency to arbitrarily lock people up.
Casting aside his usual persona as Insufferable Liberal Blowhard, Keith Olberman has a thoughtful interview on a key case in the U.S. government's march toward fascism. Once U.S. officials achieve permanent immunity from the consequences of their lawlessness, there's nothing between us and total submission but our own willingness to resist. The law won't help us. Picking a different ego maniac to serve as our leader won't help us either.
It's also an interesting piece for those who might think there is any difference between a Republican police state and a Democratic police state.
Objectively consider the following recent events:
Why did Obama just recently stop the lawful return from South Korea of 100,000 World War II antique surplus M1 Carbine and M1 Grand rifles that were to be shipped to the curio firearms market in The States? The relic riffles are not considered an item purchased by drug cartels. Buyers of relic rifles have for decades been excluded from certain registration requirements; that has resulted in government not being able to track the weapons. It is apparent Obama does not want these relic riffles in the hands of Americans.
Recently you may have read about the Obama government ordering hundreds’ of new X-Ray Vans that will be traveling our streets, without warrants secretly x-raying Americans, peering though Citizens’ homes and vehicles, exposing Americans and their families to X-rays. X-ray vans are an affront to privacy, literally allowing government/police to view Citizens in their bedrooms. Americans need to ask Obama if independent studies were conducted to determine if Citizens could develop Cancer, if (repeatedly exposed) to X-rays by police when in their vehicles and in their homes? Continued Low Radiation Exposure is Accumulative and believed to cause Cancer. Police intend to use the X-Ray Vans to search for drugs and weapons.
X-Ray Vans can ALSO be positioned to secure perimeters by the military or police to control civil unrest and instances of revolt, to screen and stop Citizens carrying guns, cameras; any item. Why did the government order hundreds X-Ray Vans?
See: http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2010/10/03/privacy-america-feds-xray-vans-watch-home-6252/
Obama the last six months and certain members of Congress have proposed or taken steps to give President Obama unprecedented power to crush Americans’ civil liberties, to incarcerate without trial Citizens that speak out—effectively gagging and Locking down America. For example: In April 2010 Obama during a national security speech, asked Congress for the Power to imprison Americans not on evidence or probable cause, but on government’s word someone might support or commit a violent act in the future; Thought Police?
Obama wants to curtail the 4th, 5th and 6th Amendments including allowing the FBI warrant-less wiretapping of all Americans’ electronic communications including no warrant searches of Internet Activity and emails. No doubt that will make Citizens afraid to communicate by phone or email and worry, someone might say something inappropriate during a phone call or send email that will cause their arrest if they don’t report it to police. Police too easily can take an innocent person’s hastily written email, fax or phone call out of context to allege a crime or violation was committed to cause an arrest or asset forfeiture. There are over 200 U.S. laws and violations mentioned in the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act of 2000 and the Patriot Act that can subject property to civil asset forfeiture. Under federal civil forfeiture laws, a person or business need not be charged with a crime for government to forfeit their property. US private contractors and their operatives (people/asset bounty hunters) work so closely with police exchanging information to arrest Americans and or share in the forfeiture of their assets, they appear to merge with police. Under Obama’s no warrant proposal anything said on a phone or in an email can be used by government against someone in a trial or civil proceeding, e.g. an asset forfeiture proceeding, the latter requiring only a civil preponderance of evidence to forfeit property, little more than hearsay.
On March 4, 2010, Senator John McCain introduced S.3081 The “Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention, and Prosecution Act of 2010.” If passed, the government can use (only suspicion) or less to curtail an individual’s Constitutional Protections against unlawful arrest, detention and interrogation without benefit of legal counsel and trial. According to McCain’s S.3081, Government would not be required to provide (detained individuals) Miranda Warnings or even an attorney. Americans could be interrogated and held indefinitely in military custody on only suspicion of being an Unprivileged Enemy Belligerent suspected of; having engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners; or purposefully and materially (supported) hostilities against the United States; its coalition partners or civilians. “Materially Supporting Hostilities” against the United States could include any person or group that spoke out or demonstrated disapproval against an agency of U.S. Government; Government could allege attending a protest supported hostilities.
When you read McCain’s bill it appears “suspicion” is not necessary for government to detain and interrogate Americans. If the government is allowed warrant-less wiretapping of Citizens’ phones, Internet Activity, e.g. email, any statement or comment could be taken out of context, used under McCain’s bill to deem someone supported or engaged in hostilities to cause their indefinite detention. Note that Government is already referring to lawful demonstrators as Terrorists, and increasingly spies on lawful Americans and protesters that speak out. See McCain Senate bill S.3081:
http://assets.theatlantic.com/static/mt/assets/politics/ARM10090.pdf
WOW, it just gets worse and worse…Frightening? Frightening does not begin to describe the ramifications of this outcome. This situation could be you…it could be any one of us…for any reason. No warrant, no legal council for the victum, torchure or worse, and no one is accountable for taking your liberty and life away, because they are above the law. Because you have no rights? When did we become subhuman? When did we become the whipping post of our rulers who have stripped us of all dignity?
How did the US become this police state in my lifetime? How did the people let “them” take all of their rights away?
We are a broke nation, our money has no value, our largest employer is the military, and many of them are drugged by their employeer (up over 200%). Unemployment, foreclosures, fraud from the top to the bottom in our governent and financial institutions (federal, state and local), infastructure falling apart, homelessness, social security looted / robbed / mismanaged and your private pensions are disappearing. Our worst disasters in the US are shorted just days before they happen (How did they know?)
And yet….. the US people continue to gift billions of dollar to Israel every year. We are now gifting billions of dollars worth of military aircraft to kill their neighbors. Don’t you get a little tired of being Israel’s submissive compliant bitch? I know I do!!!
Suicides in the US military are off the charts, the world hates us, and with good reason. Those that don’t hate us, wonder what the fuck is up with the once strong, and good but now stupid beyond belief American people. I ask the same question. Why have you the people become voiceless, impotant, sheep, who have allowed others to turn you into herded nuetered uniks. If you have any doubt about your submissive sheepleness, just take a look at the herd walking through the naked xray machines at the airport while their handlers control them. The people do not even protest, they just blindly, quietly follow the stepford drones in front of them. Were they medicated when they checked in at the curb???
Save yourselves!!! For the love of liberty…Save yourselves, because no one else is going to do it for you!!!