The Police State Cometh!

‘Boston Strong’: Marching in Lockstep with the Police State


https://www.rutherford.org/publications_resources/john_whiteheads_commentary/boston_strong_marching_in_lockstep_with_the_police_state


By John W. Whitehead
April 22, 2013

“Of all the tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.”—C.S. Lewis

Caught up in the televised drama of a military-style manhunt for the suspects in the Boston Marathon explosion, most Americans fail to realize that the world around them has been suddenly and jarringly
shifted off its axis, that axis being the U.S. Constitution.

For those like myself who have studied emerging police states, the sight of a city placed under martial law—its citizens under house arrest (officials used the Orwellian phrase “shelter in place” to describe the mandatory lockdown), military-style helicopters equipped
with thermal imaging devices buzzing the skies, tanks and armored
vehicles on the streets, and snipers perched on rooftops, while
thousands of black-garbed police swarmed the streets and SWAT teams
carried out house-to-house searches in search of two young and
seemingly unlikely bombing suspects—leaves us in a growing state of
unease.

Mind you, these are no longer warning signs of a steadily encroaching police state. The police state has arrived.

Equally unnerving is the ease with which Americans welcomed the city-wide lockdown, the routine invasion of their privacy, and the dismantling of every constitutional right intended to serve as a bulwark against government abuses. Watching it unfold, I couldn’t help but think of Nazi Field Marshal Hermann Goering’s remarks during the Nuremberg
trials. As Goering noted:

“It is always a simple matter to drag people along whether it is a
democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist
dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to
the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is tell
them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of
patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in
every country.”

As the events in Boston have made clear, it does indeed work the same in every country. The same propaganda and police state tactics that worked for Adolf Hitler 80 years ago continue to be employed with great success in a post-9/11 America.

Whatever the threat to so-called security—whether it’s rumored weapons of mass destruction, school shootings, or alleged acts of terrorism—it doesn’t take much for the American people to march in lockstep with the government’s dictates, even if it means submitting to martial law, having their homes searched, and being stripped of one’s
constitutional rights at a moment’s notice.

As journalist Andrew O’Hehir observes in Salon:

“In America after 9/11, we made a deal with the devil, or with Dick Cheney, which is much the same thing. We agreed to give up most of
our enumerated rights and civil liberties (except for the sacrosanct
Second Amendment, of course) in exchange for a lot of hyper-patriotic
tough talk, the promise of “security” and the freedom to go on
sitting on our asses and consuming whatever the hell we wanted to.
Don’t look the other way and tell me that you signed a petition or
voted for John Kerry or whatever. The fact is that whatever dignified
private opinions you and I may hold, we did not do enough to stop it,
and our constitutional rights are now deemed to be partial or
provisional rather than absolute, do not necessarily apply to
everyone, and can be revoked by the government at any time.”

Particularly disheartening is the fact that Americans, consumed with the need for vengeance, seem even less concerned about protecting the rights of others, especially if those “others” happen to be of a different skin color or nationality. The public response to the manhunt, capture and subsequent treatment of brothers Tamerlan and Dzhokhar
Tsarnaev is merely the latest example of America’s xenophobic
mindset, which was also a driving force behind the roundup and
detention of hundreds of Arab, South Asian and Muslim men following
9/11, internment camps that housed more than 18,000 people of
Japanese ancestry during World War II, and the arrest and deportation
of thousands of “radical” noncitizens during America’s first
Red Scare.

Moreover, there has been little outcry over the Obama administration’s decision to deny 19-year-old U.S. citizen Dzhokhar Tsarnaev his due process rights and treat him as an enemy combatant, first off by interrogating him without reading him his Miranda rights (“You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used
against you in a court of law...”).

Presently, under the public safety exception to the Miranda rule, if law enforcement agents believe a suspect has information that might
reduce a substantial threat, they can wait to give the Miranda
warning. For years now, however, the Obama administration has been
lobbying to see this exception extended to all cases involving
so-called terror suspects, including American citizens. Tsarnaev’s
case may prove to be the game-changer. Yet as journalist Emily
Bazelon points out for Slate:
“Why should I care that no one’s reading Dzhokhar Tsarnaev his
Miranda rights? When the law gets bent out of shape for him, it’s
easier to bend out of shape for the rest of us.”

The U.S. Supreme Court rightly recognized in its 1966 ruling in Miranda v. Arizona
that police officers must advise a suspect of his civil rights once
the suspect has been taken into custody, because the police can and
often do take advantage of the fact that most Americans don’t know
their rights. There have been few exceptions to the Miranda rule over
the last 40 years or so, and with good reason. However, if the Obama
administration is allowed to scale back the Miranda rule, especially
as it applies to U.S. citizens, it would be yet another dangerous
expansion of government power at the expense of citizens’ civil rights.

This continual undermining of the rules that protect civil liberties, not to mention the incessant rush to judgment by politicians, members of
the media and the public, will inevitably have far-reaching
consequences on a populace that not only remains ignorant about their
rights but is inclined to sacrifice their liberties for phantom promises of safety.

Moments after taking Tsarnaev into custody, the Boston Police Dept. tweeted “CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won.” Yet with Tsarnaev and his brother having been charged, tried and convicted by the government, the media
and the police—all without ever having stepped foot inside a
courtroom—it remains to be seen whether justice has indeed won.

The lesson for the rest of us is this: once a free people allows the government to make inroads into their freedoms or uses those same
freedoms as bargaining chips for security, it quickly becomes a
slippery slope to outright tyranny. And it doesn’t really matter
whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican at the helm, because the
bureaucratic mindset on both sides of the aisle now seems to embody
the same philosophy of authoritarian government. Increasingly, those
on the left who once hailed Barack Obama as the antidote for
restoring the numerous civil liberties that were lost or undermined
as a result of Bush-era policies are finding themselves forced to
acknowledge that threats to civil liberties are worse under Obama.

Clearly, the outlook for civil liberties under Obama grows bleaker by the day, from his embrace of indefinite detention for U.S. citizens and drone kill lists to warrantless surveillance of phone, email and internet communications, and prosecutions of government whistleblowers. Most
recently, capitalizing on the nation’s heightened emotions,
confusion and fear, government officials used the Boston Marathon
tragedy as a means of extending the reach of the police state,
starting with the House of Representatives’ overwhelming passage of
the controversial Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act
(CISPA), which opens the door to greater internet surveillance
by the government.

These troubling developments are the outward manifestations of an inner, philosophical shift underway in how the government views not only the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, but “we the people,” as well. What this reflects is a move away from a government bound by
the rule of law to one that seeks total control through the
imposition of its own self-serving laws on the populace.

All the while, the American people remain largely oblivious to the
looming threats to their freedoms, eager to be persuaded that the
government can solve the problems that plague us—whether it be
terrorism, an economic depression, an environmental disaster or even
a flu epidemic. Yet having bought into the false notion that the
government can ensure not only our safety but our happiness and will
take care of us from cradle to grave—that is, from daycare centers
to nursing homes, we have in actuality allowed ourselves to be
bridled and turned into slaves at the bidding of a government that
cares little for our freedoms or our happiness.

You know as I was watching the coverage the other day I was wondering about all of that. They showed military garbed police going house to house and searching them for the suspect.

I wonder did they ask the home owners if they could search their homes and property? If I lived there and they didn't ask permission I'd have refused to let them in my home without a warrant . And I'd have told them to stop trespassing and get off my land as well.

If they did ask me politely first, I'd have let them search my yard but not my home. But that's just what I'd have done. Anyone would be within their rights to let them search everything, nothing, or only some areas.

I'd like to know if those people were asked for permission or not, I've not heard anything one way or the other.

let's see? Stay indoors while two killers are on the loose? Or walk around so you can become a hostage? Well one thing for certain no law against stupidity.

Skycastle wrote:

Staying indoors would have been wise, but this went much further than that. Government forced people to stay indoors and refused to let people back into their homes. Then they forced their way inside peoples' homes - at gunpoint and without warrants - evicted the homeowners and illegally searched their homes.

This is police-state stuff, the callous violation of our rights and the U.S. Constitution.

I can understand your point however I can also understand trying to catch a bomber. I guess I would be far more upset if it was being done for just the hell of it.

"This is police-state stuff, the callous violation of our rights and the U.S. Constitution."

In case you hadn't noticed, the government (both parties) have been busily shredding our Constitutional rights ever since 9/11 under the guise of increased safety.

It's a little scary how quickly and willingly people are to surrender their Fourth Amendment rights and accepted martial law for a day.

It's even scarier how many people don't even know what their rights under the Constitution are thanks to our failed educational system.

That picture reminds of this story I heard about a couple months ago...

Thanks Eber - good video! I posted it on my FB page. :cheers:

When that little girls voice started breaking up on the 911 call asking for help, I just wanted to throttle that guy with my bare hands. Thank God her Mom had a gun and taught her to use it. Sicko has molested kids in the past, he probably would have done the same with her and left her dead.

eber322 wrote:

When that little girls voice started breaking up on the 911 call asking for help, I just wanted to throttle that guy with my bare hands. Thank God her Mom had a gun and taught her to use it. Sicko has molested kids in the past, he probably would have done the same with her and left her dead.

We should teach our kids respect for guns, and how to use them. Once they see the power of a gun, they will not be inclined to toy with one. And, of course, register to vote:

[youtube][/youtube]

Annoyed wrote:

"This is police-state stuff, the callous violation of our rights and the U.S. Constitution."

In case you hadn't noticed, the government (both parties) have been busily shredding our Constitutional rights ever since 9/11 under the guise of increased safety.

Actually that has been happening since 1930s.

Skycastle wrote:

Welcome to the police state: even people's private cell phones were confiscated!

“In January 2012, about 50 federal agents, led by Small Business
Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent
Cynthia Roberts and IRS Special Agent Bobbi Spradlin, swooped in, guns
drawn. Without explanation they shut down plant operations, herded
employees into the cafeteria, and confined them to the room for hours.
They could not so much as use the bathroom without police escort. Cell
phones were confiscated and all Internet and company phones were
disabled...”
“Mountain Pure Water, LLC is headquartered on
Interstate 30 just outside the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. The
company manufactures and distributes beverage containers, spring water,
fruit drinks, and teas”

http://gulagbound.com/38315/police-militarization-abuses-of-power-and-the-road-to-impeachment/

I don't think we're getting the full story on that one.  A raid of that scale for what amounts to insurance fraud?  Seems a little far fetched.  And with something on that scale you'd think there would be press releases by the agencies involved.  Haven't been able to find any.  Not saying it's not true but when the only places you find this story are right wing websites I get suspicious.

Samurai wrote:

Skycastle wrote:

Welcome to the police state: even people's private cell phones were confiscated!

“In January 2012, about 50 federal agents, led by Small Business
Administration (SBA) Office of Inspector General (OIG) Special Agent
Cynthia Roberts and IRS Special Agent Bobbi Spradlin, swooped in, guns
drawn. Without explanation they shut down plant operations, herded
employees into the cafeteria, and confined them to the room for hours.
They could not so much as use the bathroom without police escort. Cell
phones were confiscated and all Internet and company phones were
disabled...”
“Mountain Pure Water, LLC is headquartered on
Interstate 30 just outside the town of Little Rock, Arkansas. The
company manufactures and distributes beverage containers, spring water,
fruit drinks, and teas”I suppose left wing website are 100 percent correct?:scratch:

http://gulagbound.com/38315/police-militarization-abuses-of-power-and-the-road-to-impeachment/

I don't think we're getting the full story on that one.  A raid of that scale for what amounts to insurance fraud?  Seems a little far fetched.  And with something on that scale you'd think there would be press releases by the agencies involved.  Haven't been able to find any.  Not saying it's not true but when the only places you find this story are right wing websites I get suspicious.

I suppose left wing websites are 100 percent correct?:scratch:

Who said they were?  I find they're a lot more factually accurate than right wing sites though.

Samurai wrote:

Who said they were?  I find they're a lot more factually accurate than right wing sites though.

Matter of opinion.

More from the police state.

LOGAN, W.Va. — A criminal charge against a Logan Middle School student who refused to remove a National Rifle Association T-shirt he wore to school has been dismissed.

Logan County Circuit Judge Eric O’Briant signed an order Thursday dismissing an obstruction charge against Jared Marcum stemming from an April 18 incident.

Marcum was arrested after police were called to Logan Middle School when he refused to remove his T-shirt after a teacher told him to. A police officer said he told Marcum to stop talking, but he refused. That’s when Marcum was arrested for obstruction.

Marcum’s attorney said after reviewing an officer’s statements as well as statements from the school’s principal, both sides agreed that creating a criminal record for Marcum wasn’t a good idea.

Marcum plans to eventually enlist in the military.

A large crowd of supporters of Jared Marcum and the 2nd amendment gathered in front of the Logan County Courthouse Thursday to originally protest the charge, but instead celebrated the decision.

Marcum’s attorney said he still plans to file a lawsuit on Marcum’s behalf against the school district.