Yesterday, I was stunned (no pun intended) to see that a pregnant woman had been tasered by a police officer after he already had her down on her stomach LINK - and chalked-up another one to the increased violence by police officers on those they are sworn to “protect and serve.” Why? Are police departments attempting to send a message to the American people that if you even disagree, or don’t sign a speeding ticket, you could be tasered as well? LINK
Why are the police who are here to protect us now becoming mean-spirited and reacting with unnecessary force when each of the above matters could have been handled with far less force than was exhibited? These are the actions of a country that is becoming more authoritarian in nature, and it appears that people now need to worry about what they say to firefighters or other first-responders who were called-in to help in the event of an emergency:
Firefighters asked to report people who express discontent with the government
David Edwards and Muriel Kane
It was revealed last week that firefighters are being trained to not only keep an eye out for illegal materials in the course of their duties, but even to report back any expression of discontent with the government.
A year ago, Homeland Security gave security clearances to nine New York City fire chiefs and began sharing intelligence with them. Even before that, fire department personnel were being taught “to identify material or behavior that may indicate terrorist activities” and were also “told to be alert for a person who is hostile, uncooperative or expressing hate or discontent with the United States.”
Unlike law enforcement officials, firemen can go onto private property without a warrant, not only while fighting fires but also for inspections. “It’s the evolution of the fire service,” said a Phoenix, AZ fire chief of his information-sharing arrangement with law enforcement.
Keith Olbermann raised the alarm about the program on his show Wednesday, noting that “if the information-sharing program works in New York, the department says it will extend it to other major metropolitan areas, unless we stop them.” He then asked Mike German, a former FBI agent who is now with the ACLU, “This program seems to be turning [firefighters], essentially, into legally protected domestic spies, does it not?” MUCH MORE
There’s no question that violence is increasing in the United States, and we as citizens have to ask ourselves why? People are losing their homes in record numbers as the sub-prime mortgage crisis rocks the financial markets, and those on fixed incomes can barely afford to feed themselves, and unfortunately, there are those among us that react violently when government malfeasance affects their ability to feed their families and hold on to the little they have - which is dwindling by the day. No, I’m not making excuses for them, but merely suggesting that it’s a manifestation of cause and effect.
Today, noting that there’s a nut-case at one of Hillary Clinton’s campaign offices with what may be a bomb strapped to his chest, I cringe at the effect this will have on the “Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007? that will soon be heading for Senate confirmation if it gets out of committee - and unfortunately, with America’s self-proclaimed leaders of the Progressive and Liberal movements failing to energize the people in forming a unified protest to derail this attack on the Constitution, it may well be passed, effectively insuring that eventually, free speech will soon be a memory in the United States.
It seems the government and the elitists in the United States believe that taking away even more of our Constitutional rights will help to solve the rapidly increasing crime and violence in our country, when it’s not the political writer’s and commentator’s on the Internet that are causing the problems, but a public that is increasingly becoming disenfranchised with a government that is miserably failing the people they were sworn to protect - and as Americans who were once in the Middle-class see themselves plummeting into poverty, the discontent is rising as the economy worsens, and Congress still ignores those they were sworn to serve.
Frankly, I believe that further infringing on American’s constitutional rights and protections will add to the problems, and will be counter-productive in helping to reduce violence and discontent. It’s obvious to me that the general public is actually afraid of this Presidency, and the public is reacting violently to events they now seem to have no control of, and reducing our “safety net” of constitutional protections will only serve to exacerbate, not mitigate the situation. The more that Americans lose, the worse the situation will get, but Washington will ignore this fact and act to further restrict our rights under the guise of “Law and Order.”
Look at it from another perspective; people in the United States and across the world are witnessing a lawless and out-of-control Presidency that is virtually bankrupting the US economy and those who are watching may be wondering why it’s so imperative for them to abide by our laws when the President and Vice-President themselves are consistently spitting on the constitution and raping the American economy. It’s very similar to when I was a child and my parents told me to “do what they say, not what they do”, and even back then, that argument didn’t hold water, and neither does the continued lawbreaking by the Bush administration and a Congress that appears to be complicit with the destruction of our country.
Those that are becoming violent are playing into the hands of the Bush administration, and even though it’s rough, and there doesn’t appear to be a light at the end of the tunnel, we must condemn those that believe violence is the answer to our problems; violence will only cause us to lose what freedom(s) we have left, and it’s important for everyone to understand that violence and war is what has us in this situation right now, so in order to bring down the levels of violence and discontent, there has to be progress in Congress and a willingness of the public to become involved and protest loudly and long enough that our government obeys the law, and after we reign-in a criminal Presidency, perhaps the country will begin to settle-down again, hopefully in the pursuit of happiness rather than living in constant fear of a Presidency that even our own military believes is out-of-control.
William Cormier
Footnote: To help return our country back to the rule of law and adherence to our constitutional values, this is what you can do to help solve this problem, and just as important, insure that freedom of speech is protected in the United States, and help to kill the “Thought Crime Prevention Bill" while it’s still in committee:
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