"The first and most important thing to understand about politics is this: forget Right, Left, Center, socialism, fascism, or democracy. Every government that exists -- or ever existed, or ever will exist -- is a kleptocracy, meaning 'rule by thieves.'" -- Author L. Neil Smith
The American kleptocracy (a government ruled by thieves) continues to suck the American people down a rabbit hole into a parallel universe in which the Constitution is meaningless, the government is all-powerful, and the citizenry is powerless to defend itself against government agents who steal, spy, lie, plunder, kill, abuse and generally inflict mayhem and sow madness on everyone and everything in their sphere.
Case in point: in the same week that Wikileaks dropped its bombshell about the CIA's use of spy tools to subject law-abiding Americans to all manner of government surveillance and hacking--a revelation that caused barely a ripple of concern among the citizenry--the government quietly and with little fanfare continued to wage its devastating, stomach-churning, debilitating war on the American people.
Incredibly, hardly anyone noticed.
This begs the question: if the government is overstepping its authority, abusing its power, and disregarding the rule of law but no one seems to notice--and no one seems to care--does it matter if the government has become a tyrant?
Here's my short answer: when government wrongdoing ceases to matter, America will have ceased to be.
Just consider the devastation wrought in one week in the life of our American kleptocracy:
On Monday, March 6, police were given the go-ahead to keep stealing from Americans who were innocent of any wrongdoing.
In refusing to hear a challenge to Texas' asset forfeiture law, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed Texas police to keep $201,000 in ill-gotten cash primarily on the basis that the seized cash--the proceeds of a home sale--was being transported on a highway associated with illegal drug trade, despite any proof of illegal activity by the owner.
On Tuesday, March 7, hacked information about the surveillance state was met with a collective shrug by the public, a sign of how indifferent the citizenry has become to living in an electronic concentration camp.
According to the Wikileaks Vault 7 data dump, government agencies such as the CIA and the NSA have been spying on the citizenry through our smart TVs, listening in on our phone calls, hacking into our computerized devices (including our cars), and compromising our security systems through the use of Trojan horses, spyware and malware.
On Wednesday, March 8, police were given further incentives to use the "fear for my life" rationale as an excuse for shooting unarmed individuals.
An Alabama police officer shot a driver exiting his car, mistakenly believing the wallet in his hand to be a gun. Although the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals concluded "that a reasonable officer " would have feared for his life," the video footage makes clear that the courts continue to march in lockstep with the police, because no reasonable person would shoot first and ask questions later.
On Thursday, March 9, police were given even more leeway in how much damage they can inflict on those they serve and the extent to which they can disregard the Constitution.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a police officer who allowed a police dog to maul a homeless man innocent of any wrongdoing. Incredibly, not only did the court declare that the police officer was protected by qualified immunity, which incentivizes government officials to violate constitutional rights without fear of repercussion, but it had the nerve to suggest that being mauled by a police dog is the equivalent of a lawful stop in which police may stop and hold a person for questioning.
On Friday, March 10, the military industrial complex continued to wage war abroad, while government agencies, including members of the military, remained embroiled in controversies over sexual misconduct.
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