Archive for the ‘Police State’ Category
Don’t misunderstand me here as I like the protection a well-trained police force provides a community. The police I know are dedicated and care for the community.
But for some time now I have been switching channels on the television when I get a chance and have discovered that there are Police Dramas on all three major networks at the same time every night of the week and for a substantial portion of the evening. Everywhere you look on contemporary television there are police. And somehow I perceive that it is not just due to viewer demand. I realize it is difficult to accept the fact that we may indeed be living in some sort of Orwellian future such as in 1984, but now more than ever the technology exists.
In one Police Drama a female police officer threatens to “frame” a suspect and in another all men were basically unproductive womanizers. The perception the public must have after viewing these shows is not the reality of real police work, I am sure. The problem though is that television has a didactic effect upon the viewer and when shows suggest that police can “frame” a person in order to get a conviction or that all men are basically unproductive womanizers, well it leaves to a certain degree an impression upon the viewer. And when they then may interact with the police in a real life situation, it is quite possible the outcome can be negative for both parties, the viewer and the real police officer. But even more disconcerting is that the viewer might think it is acceptable behavior for police to frame a suspect or that women are always the victims of domestic violence and do not instigate certain behaviors or initiate domestic disputes.
Couple that with the totalitarian fact that old ladies and babies are being searched at the airport and you can only reach one conclusion, America is now a “Police State.”
And the media is a willing part of the Police State, often softening or clouding our perceptions about that Police State. Don’t forget that fact.
Copyright © William Thien 2011
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Conservatism vs. Republicanism
Posted by: William Thien on: April 4, 2012
Is there a time coming in America’s Political History whereby conservatives are going to distance themselves from Republicans? Republicans going all the way back to Ronald Reagan have definitely given conservatives enough reason.
One of the pillars of conservatism is individual liberty. When the Supreme Court recently ruled that someone jailed for not paying a traffic ticket could be strip searched, and not just strip searched but cavity searched, I had to conclude that when everyone becomes aware of that fact, it will be a watershed moment in the history of The Republican Party, a watershed in that Conservatives are going to get in their boats and float away from The Republican Party. Why? Because the Supremes who reached said ruling were nominated predominantly by Republicans.
But that is just the latest intrusion upon individual liberty brought by Republicans. Going back to Ronald Reagan, who is known for re-invigorating the “War on Drugs,” as if the drugs themselves were massing on our borders with no help from humans, going back to Reagan, Republicans have been hacking away at individual liberties.
When Reagan re-fueled the drug war along came all kinds of search and seizure authority which until then was considered unconstitutional such as search of autos during traffic stops with no probable cause, more invasive searches of persons, personal effects, personal records, you name it, all without warrant, all in the name of The War on Drugs.
Then, when the WTC attacks occurred, along came new and more pervasive electronic searches, additional powers of intrusion, all in the name of The War on Terror and The Patriot Act, all under another Republican, George Bush Jr., necessary, perhaps, but definitely another landslide in the Republican led erosion of personal liberty in The United States. And of course none of this is without the support of Congress and The Senate comprised of both parties, which must essentially sanctify such legislation and authority. But it is under the leadership of Republican Presidents that we see the implementation of the most pervasive intrusions.
Some conservatives that I know are looking for alternatives to Republicanism as a form of conservatism.
True conservatives are fed up with Republicans in that regard and it may be time for Republicans to consider what they have done before they do more damage and find themselves squatting in prison intake and being told to cough in the shakedown of individual freedom for which they seem to have so much disregard.
Copyright © William Thien 2012
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