I was recovering from an anti-biotic resistant bronchitis... and then relapsed again... or maybe it was the research I have been doing for my documentary series.
The sheer volume of incidents of abuse of American citizens at the hands of their government(s) is simply overwhelming, staggering, and depressing...
Rogue prosecutors, excessive-use-of-force-NAZI-like police killings, arresting members of the press for filming and keeping the public informed, police abuse of power, again, and again... I could literally link all day... to spew off meaningless descriptions... "outrage" comes to mind, just doesn't cover it.
Here you have government agents that have sworn an oath to "uphold", "protect", "support", and "defend" the Constitution of the United States... and then making a mockery of everything the United States stands for. Somewhere along the line (I pinpoint FDR's stacked Supreme Court... feel free to pick your own... but please, do so and defend it!) this has all become acceptable, perhaps because the Constitution has become a "living document" (snicker). My response is that it is exactly these instances which will most likely lead to political violence here in the U.S. One day soon one of these asinine police killings is going to set off a firestorm... I can foresee the father of one of these police killing victims seeking revenge, Timothy McVeigh style, with a mushroom cloud appearing over some local police station - or worse... are we ready to accept responsibility for that? Well, I'm not. This has to stop now before things get really, really out of hand.
Many of these "outrages" are linked to the War on Drugs in the form of unintended consequences.... others are part and parcel of the collective anger running rampant in America.... I have just ONE QUESTION:
WhoTF is watching the people watching us? One nation, under surveillance, with stricken liberties, and injustice, for all.
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? That question of Socrates still has no good answer. I would like to note that the problem has existed in the US in previous times. Our current president is a Chicago machine alumni, but is the situation any better than Tammany Hall?
ReplyDeleteAnd the answer is that it usually takes an armed group of citizens applying force to deal with corruption of this level. Do we have what it takes to apply the Battle of Athens as a nationwide solution?
You know tweel... a friend of mine challenged my "no violence" position (which I have not abandoned) by asking me what would I do if my son was killed by the police in one of these excessive use of force instances and the police were then protected by The Powers That Be... it has been knocking around in my head for days now... my answer is that someone WILL respond in some incredible fashion... and that that will not solve the issue, either.
ReplyDeleteWe, as in you and I and other thinking people need to review and restructure government from the ground up.
Luckily for you, I have not ruled out the use of violence. I should have used the more common notation - the McMinn County War of 1946. When the GI's came back from WWII, they found their county government had become corrupt and despotic. They banded together and formed a local political party to vote these folks out of office. The folks in charge attempted intimidation and then used guns in a bid to stuff the ballot box. The veterans borrowed some firearms from a local guard post and proceeded to run the 'law' out. There was an attempt to send help for the poor county sheriff and his deputies, but the state realized that sending the guard would just add more riflemen to the GI's side. The correct vote tallies were posted, the corrupt people were removed and life went on.
ReplyDeleteSo in Tennessee in my father's lifetime violence was required to deal with government out of control. Government always has violence available to it, as you swiftly find out if you go contrary to its' decrees. This is why the second amendment exists, to keep violence an option for citizens as well, so that government that gets out of control can be brought to heel.
Let us hope it never comes to that again... this environment and time has a great deal of fuel to burn.
ReplyDeleteBut I know you mean well Tweel. A veteran that worked in corrections for his career certainly has a nuanced view of things, and your love of country cannot be impugned.
ReplyDeleteStill, me think "the pen (camera, blog) is mightier than the sword"...
Just read about the incident in McMinn county... wow.
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