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Monday, August 18, 2014

The Rutherford Institute :: From Boston to Ferguson: Have We Reached a Tipping Point in the Police State?

“I thought I was losing my capacity to be shocked -- but events in Missouri over just the last couple of hours have crossed a frightening line, one that makes me pray that this assault on fundamental American values is just the aberration of one rudderless Heartland community, and not the first symptoms of nation gone mad with high-tech weaponry to keep its own citizens in line.”—Journalist Will Bunch

The difference between what happened in Boston in the wake of the Boston Marathon explosion and what is happening now in Ferguson, Missouri, is not in the government’s response but in the community’s response.

This is what happens when you ignore the warning signs.

This is what happens when you fail to take alarm at the first experiment on your liberties.

This is what happens when you fail to challenge injustice and government overreach until the prison doors clang shut behind you.

Consider that it was just a little over a year ago that the city of Boston was locked down while police carried out a military-style manhunt for the suspects in the Boston Marathon explosion. At the time, Americans welcomed the city-wide lockdown, the routine invasion of their privacy, and the dismantling of every constitutional right intended to serve as a bulwark against government abuses.

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

those who sacrifice freedom for liberty and security deserve neither

Anonymous said...

Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN,

Anonymous said...

Yes, Yes.
Benjamin "hell fire club" Franklin wrote a very poignant statement regarding the public's perception of liberty.

Americans however are much much more willing to relinquish liberty to our government watch dogs. We are a pathetic society who no longer "deserve" liberty.

Ben was right.

Anonymous said...

Ferguson incident is creating too many confused people and it's unfortunate that some of our elected officials are helping that as well as our most famous race baiters. Sharpton states "the kid was only shoplifting" even though there is video footage showing him strong-arming a store clerk to obtain the cigars he "was only shoplifting". Jackson, the man made famous by bailing out Bill Clinton following his affair with "lips" actually passed a collection plate around in Ferguson. Now, we have Holder wanting a THIRD autopsy of the law breaker.

This November, I am voting AGAINST *any* incumbent official. I am simply sick and tired it it and them. Legal carry is a good deterrent. Immunity from prosecution based on the aggressors race is garbage. May the Browns, Mathias, Conways, Obamas, Holders, and Clintons please just retire and stop ruining the lives of the American people for the benefit of their wealthy donors.

Anonymous said...

No comment. You will know my comment when you do this to my Brothers in my community.

Anonymous said...

Lol police state. no such thing.

Anonymous said...

Planted agitators trying to scare America into a police state.

lmclain said...

8:49 AND 8:21....Sorry, but your own government's reporting of the transfer of 45,000 machine guns (!?), armored vehicles, sniper weapons, night vision equipment, helicopters, and so forth, to CIVILIAN police departments across the nation sort of make those statements look pretty uninformed and naive. And, of course, there are the pictures of police, who look like they are straight out of a war zone and ready to "get some".
A SWAT team of 8-15 fully armed cops is not needed to serve a traffic summons, but that's a common occurrence in todays Amerika.
It's only logical, right, that tiny little towns across this country (some with less than 10 full time cops!) NEED armored vehicles and machine guns, just in case Al-Queda invades the hardware store.
Quit scaring everyone with the terrorist boogeyman crap. And quit using it as an excuse to turn Mayberry into Fortress Fallujah, with the accompanying "security".
Cops are not your friends and neighbors any longer.
They are the strong-arm (and heavily armed) enforcers for the very people Thomas Jefferson warned us about....