The wording of this topic made it difficult to decide on which side to cast my vote. Ultimately, the word “becoming” was the deciding factor. The United States is not a Police State, by far. The United States could very easily become a Police state, considering it’s current direction. Up until just recently I would have voted “no” without hesitation. I have read news stories lately that have made me stop and think though. I will highlight just a few of them to explain why I think that the United States is on it’s way to becoming a Police State. Unless the American People open their eyes and research things for themselves, instead of relying on the media and the Politicians to tell them everything, The United States could very easily become a Police State.
The first thing that caught my eye was, of all things, a television show called “Conspiracy Theory” Hosted by former Governor, Former Professional Wrestler, former Actor and former United States Navy Seal, Jesse ‘the Body’ Ventura. A friend of mine posted a link to one of his episodes called “police State” on her Facebook account. It was a link to a youtube video. Since I don’t use Youtube, I went to the television station website to watch the video. After failing to find it I used the youtube link. http://www.youtube/watch?v==agK2V_cLplo&sns=fb It was a rather interesting conspiracy theory, that under it’s own merit, would get many people wondering. Couple that with the actual News Stories I have seen and it seems to be a real possibility.
In my defense I am not a conspiracy person in the least. Do I believe everything the Government tells me, no. Do I think there have been some dirty underhanded things done by our Government under the cover of darkness. Most certainly. I will not highlight any of the material in the television show as it is, so far, just that a Conspiracy theory.
Recently I came across a story about a small town in Arizona. Quartzite, Arizona to be precise. The City’s own Mayor, now currently the former mayor, alleges corruption and a Police State in the town of 3600 people. There is a video of a Quartzite town council meeting floating around the internet. It this video a woman dares to accuse the Council of violating open meetings law. Council members ordered her removed from the meeting by the local Sheriff. Then Mayor, Ed Foster, is heard telling the Sheriff and the Council, to leave the woman alone and that she had the floor. He informed them that she was exercising her first amendment rights and that they were violating his rule of order by having her removed. She was removed and he was later removed from office by the Council who claimed a State of Emergency and held a closed door meeting appointing the Sheriff in charge and relieving the Mayor of his duties.
Just today I came across an article where an Illinois Man who has never been arrested before, is now facing a possible 75 year prison sentence for five felony charges. 15 years for each charge, which by the way is what the sentence is for the crime of rape in the State of Illinois. This man did not commit rape. He robbed nor assaulted no one. His alleged crime….eavesdropping. He video taped a Public Servant (Police Officer), on a Public Street, in full view of the public and full earshot of the general public. However, the state of Illinois has determined that to be eavesdropping and equal to illegal wiretapping, since he did not have the Officer’s consent before recording the incident.
Let’s ignore the fact that this happened in public where anyone could see and hear the events the Officer was involved in. Let’s focus on the fact that because the Police Officer was the target of the video, it was considered illegal. I say this because it is not illegal for the Police in the State of Illinois to operate a dash cam in their patrol cars without the consent of the public which they serve. In effect the State Of Illinois is telling it’s Citizens “Police officers can break this law without violating your rights. You cannot.” Should dash cams be legal. certainly, but so should the filming of Police by the public.
There have been other similar cases recorded in other states. Some of which have rightly been thrown out by the courts. The courts stating that since the recording was done in a public place the police had no rights to expectation of privacy. There are also numerous cases where police have confiscated and even destroyed cell phones and other video equipment from people on the streets that recorded their actions.
When the people need to fear the Police, then we are well on our way to becoming a Police State. The current Administration has attempted to force people to buy Health insurance from the Government. They have attempted, and narrowly failed, to repeal the right to bear arms. They have told car companies what kind of cars they must build and outlawed certain light bulbs. They have told states they cannot enforce Immigration Laws, passed not only at the State Level but also at the Federal Level. They have passed laws without allowing the people to even know what the laws were going to entail. The healthcare bill that Congressional Democrats originally tried to pass had blank areas intentionally left in it so that things could be added later without another vote.
The Federal Government and some State Governments are slowly taking away our rights. If the people of this Country do not start paying attention to what the Government is doing, it will be too late. People will stand behind the walls the Government has built to protect themselves and wonder how that wall got there. Freedom of choice, freedom of religion and freedom of speech will be a thing of the past. They won’t even be a memory because they will certainly not teach about them in History classes in the Government run Schools. It is happening and it isn’t just one party that is doing it.
“We the people, in order to form a more perfect Union” will be replaced with “You the people, in order to serve your Government better”.