Rodney Balko: Why The Government Is Ramping Up The Use Of Force

[Winehole23]

...

[desflood]

Like Fargo, thousands of other local police departments nationwide have been amassing stockpiles of military-style equipment in the name of homeland security, aided by more than $34 billion in federal grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Daily Beast investigation conducted by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found.

The buying spree has transformed local police departments into small, army-like forces, and put intimidating equipment into the hands of civilian officers. And that is raising questions about whether the strategy has gone too far, creating a culture and capability that jeopardizes public safety and civil rights while creating an expensive false sense of security.

Anybody who thinks this is for the "sense of security" of their city is a fool. This is being done so that when government officials come in to impose martial law upon us we'll be unable to resist.

[boutons_deux]

"we'll be unable to resist"

In NRA Bubbas We Trust.

[Winehole23]

Anybody who thinks this is for the "sense of security" of their city is a fool. This is being done so that when government officials come in to impose martial law upon us we'll be unable to resist.

sounds like you're ready

[desflood]

sounds like you're ready

Actually, we're low on ammo - time to restock

[Winehole23]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/0...n_3566478.html

[RandomGuy]

See, now this is the kind of creeping that should concern anyone.

We don't need any vast conspiracy, just a lot of slow collective unconscious shuffling towards something undesirable. That is something we should be talking about how to avoid.

That slow unconscious creeping is not the kind of "sexy" stuff that CTers like though.

I used to think that people like Alex Jones served some kind of purpose as being the canary in the coalmine that might identify something we should be worried about, but homeslice is just a tad too crazy to be credible, even if some of his concerns turn out to be even mildly justified. His paranoia has him chasing down too many rabbitholes.

[Halberto]

See, now this is the kind of creeping that should concern anyone.

We don't need any vast conspiracy, just a lot of slow collective unconscious shuffling towards something undesirable. That is something we should be talking about how to avoid.

That slow unconscious creeping is not the kind of "sexy" stuff that CTers like though.

I used to think that people like Alex Jones served some kind of purpose as being the canary in the coalmine that might identify something we should be worried about, but homeslice is just a tad too crazy to be credible, even if some of his concerns turn out to be even mildly justified. His paranoia has him chasing down too many rabbitholes.

Completely agree. When I think about how bold the government is stepping up it's domestic surveillance I always think about these two acts as a major, yet subtle turning point in US history:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Espionage_Act_of_1917

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sedition_Act_of_1918

[Halberto]

i live in austin, and my roommate was suspected of stealing a swan from town lake...

Not even a tazer would stop me from laughing in that situation.

LISTEN S , I KNOW YOU STOLE THAT GIANT ASSHOLE BIRD. DON'T MAKE ME USE FORCE.

[velik_m]

Obviously to help defend the people of America in the upcoming zombie apocalypse...