I agree with Mark [Stoval] that the United States is turning into a police state. It’s a police state that is not benevolent, but is mostly benign for most of those who dwell within it. Its power is backed by the truncheon, the machine-gun-armed EPA team, the local suburban police department with the Lenco BearCat off-road SWAT vehicle with .50BMG protection and dog-killing SWAT ninjas, but it does not deploy the truncheon and the rest the vast majority of the time. No, the vast majority of the time, the United States is a slightly frustrating uncle who provides nice birthday checks and stops you from buying a soda that’s too big to be healthy (even as he subsidizes tobacco farmers).

So, I agree with Mark that the United States is turning into a police state.

. . . but I disagree with him that it’s doing so “for a reason”.

Forever

Going postal used to mean spraying one’s co-workers from a semi-automatic. While that hasn’t happened in a while, it appears that some postal workers are still just as totally nuts as ever. And they’ve figured out that the police are more useful as their cohorts than the guys putting an end to their shooting spree with a well-placed bullet.

From Mission, Kansas, where tolerance, respect and love of family are cherished values, comes the handling of a less than satisfied postal customer.

But For Video: Mission Accomplished

When you’re a police officer searching for a suspect who you believe has taken shelter at an apartment complex, of course you politely knock on the doors of the residents, most or all of whom must be innocent, and politely show them a photo— Oh, who am I kidding? Polite cops are so old fashioned. Of course you put together a massive tactical team, point guns in kitchen windows, brutalize the inhabitants, and then take offense when somebody has the nerve to call a reporter.
. . .
And, as a side note, on New York City’s WOR radio, yesterday, I was asked by guest host Brett Winterble if America is now a police state. Yes, I said. Yes, it is.

US Marshal Upset That Couple His Police Gang Terrorized Went to the Press

Massad Ayoob

Massad Ayoob’s column in Backwoods Home Magazine

Ozymandias.

Forward!

Unfortunately, it seems that the future Aldous Huxley predicted in 1932, in Brave New World, is arriving early. Mockery, truculence, and minimalist living are best, then enjoy the decline. However, we do need a Revolving Door Tax (RDT), learn what Members of Congress pay in taxes, and prosecute politicians and staff and their “family and friends” who profit from insider trading. Oh, and pay “public servants” what they are worth.