Well, now we know what happens when police cordon off a neighborhood, declare it a Fourth-Amendment-free zone, send SWAT teams house-to-house, and hover helicopters overhead.
People cheer and applaud. They turn out in the streets to wave little American flags.
And next we can watch as they condone demand and slaver over illegal treatment of Suspect #2 (an American citizen). We can “enjoy” a new round of anti-immigrant and anti-Islam hatred. We can observe bobbleheads nodding from Los Angeles to Hartford as Good Citizens agree with all the new promises politicians and the state-security apparatus make as they concoct onerous new ways to “protect” us all.
Did you feel that coming right from the beginning? Right from the moment the sound of the explosions boomed across the media?
Even when the possibility still existed that the bombings were the work of some random crazy or some creep with a personal grudge, the media, police, and politicians from DC down (if you can go any farther down than DC) immediately went into “All of America has been attacked!” mode.
Contrast the reaction between the marathon bombings and the tragic explosion in Texas. Which killed more? Which leveled more buildings? Which killed paramedics and EMTs who had rushed to help? And which was treated like a afterthought?
I don’t mean to minimize or dismiss the suffering of the bomb victims. What hell they’re forced to endure! What a barbarity they were struck with. And of course, the Boston disaster was a vile crime and there’s no evidence (far as I know) of a crime at that Texas fertilizer plant.
But what an excuse the marathon bombs gave the media-police-politics complex. Now they’re free to lay the groundwork for another ramp-up of the Homeland (Achtung!) Security state. And are we going to be in for it.
Jim Bovard sent me this Salon article that sums up a big part of the problem: namely that we gave up freedom for the promise of security and (as you could have predicted), didn’t get security, either. The author comes from the left; he doesn’t seem to understand that the Second Amendment is our last bulwark against the permanent loss of all the others. But he’s nailed some of the big issues.
We’re all supposed to pretend that violence against masses of people is something new — that somehow the U.S. is under unprecedented attack that requires unprecedented (and certainly Draconian) central government crackdowns and surveillance. You know they’re coming — on top of the ones we already endure.
But we can only believe that if we’re a) big babies, b) hysterical drama queens, or c) completely ignorant of history. We’re supposed to forget that, clear back in 1955, some creepazoid blew up an airliner with 39 people on board. We’re supposed to pretend the Bath school disaster wasn’t perpetrated all the way back in 1927. And those weren’t even the first highly public bombings committed in this country.
Did the federal government concoct a security state over either of those horrors? No, because back then a few things still held government back. No, because back then the 24/7 propaganda-and-hysteria machine hadn’t been completely built yet. No, because back then, Americans didn’t wet their pants and quiver in the closet every time some moron with an agenda perpetrated evil somewhere in the country.
Oh, but now government and media know no restraints. Now we’re going to get it. Only question is: what exactly are we going to get this time?
This is another very good analysis of the aftermath of the Great Boston Freedom Massacre.
http://www.rhdefense.com/2013/04/20/life-in-a-post-constitutional-world?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rhdefense%2FKPMY+%28Probable+Cause%29
Someone posted on FB that the suspect had the same due process rights as everyone else, and the ignorance, fear and venom that spewed from people was disgusting and scary. A nation full of ignorant, brainwashed, spoiled, terrified, angry children.
What are we going to get this time? I’ve been mulling over this since the incident happened. (Well, maybe for a long time before that, too.) I think something bigger will happen related to this, and the spoiled children will beg for daddy to make a totalitarian state to keep them safe.
The whole thing is horrifyingly predictable, and I’ve gotten to the point that I don’t even want to go online anymore and read the latest hysteria/bs/ignorance. The day it happened, I actually watched mainstream tv news – for about 10 minutes, then turned it off in disgust. Nobody reports news anymore. They manipulate, speculate, and do their bs stuff, and people buy it as if it were genuine news. People have to be really stupid or in total denial not to realize how they are being played by media/gubmint.
They are testing the people to see how much bs they will fall for. I don’t know what we will get this time, but it won’t be good.
I took last Monday off work (personal day). I didn’t even hear about the Boston bombs until Tuesday evening. I’ve ignored the media and most of the online news since. It really doesn’t mean much to me (that I can do anything about).
Not one person that I’ve spoken to since then has mentioned the situation. Maybe Floridians don’t really care about what happens in the People’s Republic of Massachusetts. Maybe they think, “it can never happen here.” When I’m feeling optimistic I wonder if they’ve stopped believing the media/government.
And then the optimism goes away…
The technuique of surround a neighbor hood and then go door to door and search everything is called Cordon and Search, perfected by the U.S. Army (and Marines) in Iraq. Remember the people we went to liberate? Cordon and Search as well as any other martial law tactic only works well when the people are willing to submit. Boston and the people in surrounding areas have been under government thumb for so long, this seemed like a good idea to them. The media told them it was a good thing to do and the government “asked” nicely, so why not. Gave them a nice break from their mundane lives.
Just added a link to a video and photo on Jim Bovard’s blog to show what went on in the Fourth-Amendment-Free zone. Ugh.
I haven’t seen any of the cheering drones on TV, only a few pics on facebook, but I’ll bet there weren’t many (if any) American flags. I’d bet all the flags being waved were US flags, instead.
And, yeah, I knew what was coming as soon as I heard about the bombings. I don’t think I’m alone. Anytime any new “mass shooting” or “terror attack” happens, I know what comes next. It’s as standard as the sound waves from the gunshots/explosion. I will be expected to stop exercising some more of my rights to ensure that I will be less able to stop the next Event- if it happens where I am.
The puppeticians couldn’t be more thrilled for the exciting new opportunities if they had done the murdering themselves.
I have recently had a babbling “progressive” enter my life (my sister’s girlfriend). She’s hilarious in some ways- the things she says without thinking. She just parrots whatever her beloved Ms. Madcow says (and whoever else she listens to). She babbles endlessly without ever having any actual original content to her words, and without giving any thought to what she’s saying. And she is always stunned when I give her my libertarian take on the situation. For example, she was very excited that the media/government anointed “bombers” had been killed and caught. It never even occurred to her that the cops were entering houses illegally, or that the cops actually had nothing to do with catching the guy hiding in the boat. No thought whatsoever, just reflexive reaction to what she was programmed to believe. She was shocked I wasn’t celebratory over the “news”. When I mentioned the objections I had (martial law, no warrants, flimsy “proof”, no protection of rights for the accused) she looked at me like a deer in the headlights and said “Oh, I never thought about that”. Yeah, that’s the problem. Not near enough thinking going on, in her head or most others. You might think I’m being harsh, but I assure you that a few minutes listening to her would change your mind.
The difference between Texas and Mass is clear. In Mass the all knowing Baby Daddy government was attacked. In Texas free men neither asked for nor cared about the reactions of the Federal or state government, they just dealt with it. But lets not ignore the positives in all this. Two Large American Cities (Boston and LA) saw the government brought to their knees by three men. Frankly the LA PD is scarier, they’re much more competent (and in much better shape), then the BPD. But it seems to me that 100 men resisting these assclowns would “win”. I’m beginning to see local government’s as paper tigers. Often times the closer you are to victory the further away it appears.
ENthePeasant, You nailed it!
The more of these incidents we see only demonstrate the state’s over-reaction and fear of losing control. Assclowns for sure. In LA they were shooting at anything that moved. In Beantown they acted like frightened school marms.
The bad thing is that this also demonstrates to those Jihadists that they are winning. We can expect more of these incidents to come and more police state bufoonery to be the reaction.
How long can their budgets withstand this type of overtime and the gas bills for the tanks? How long before more people see them for what they are?…gangs of thugs with badges. They are pussies without their posse and gear.
This ought to put to rest any questions anyone has about whose side law enforcement will be on when things go Tango Uniform.
And yet, I’ve read that people were cheering.
@ENthePeasant: Except that Texas Governor Rick Perry was quick to Claim President Obama as his new best friend, and beg him to send federal funds as soon as he can, aided By both John Cornyn and Ted Cruz
David, I know, but the fact is it made no difference in the execution of response operations. That’s all after the fact and probably won’t happen until Perry bends over far and long.
Of course, the donut shops weren’t on lockdown. Well, I’m sure they were well protected by the LEO bunch, so it’s okay.
“This ought to put to rest any questions anyone has about whose side law enforcement will be on when things go Tango Uniform.”
That was one of the sadder things to come out of this situation.
EEK! Look out! A Snake!!!
OH. Sorry. My bad.
It’s just a stick.
THIS TIME.
I remember first hearing about the Milgram experiment in school (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milgram_experiment) and just wondering how people could behave this way. I guess my own attitude to always question authority makes me the least likely person to ever make it in the military or police. I guess it would save me though from carrying out unconstitutional and unethical behavior on my fellow citizens, so if questioning authority ever becomes a felony, I am in deep trouble.
It seems fitting that the NY State Police PBA come out and say “We urge the citizens of New York State to remember that troopers are simply tasked with the lawful mandate to enforce the laws of the state, regardless of their personal opinion of such laws.” (http://newyork.newsday.com/news/region-state/new-york-gun-control-hudson-valley-cops-balk-at-enforcement-as-laws-take-effect-1.5123535)
Uh yeah…..so like we don’t like unconstitutional laws, but we are only following orders….seems like the same argument German soldiers made upon following Hitler’s directives. Will the military and police carry out unconstitutional and unethical laws? Sure….”just following orders.”
I noticed in the Boston videos and pictures that the SWAT teams are following their standard procedure of standing in a tightly-packed clump at the front door. Now, when looking for someone who has bombs and knows the cops are after him, that seems like a really excellent way of ensuring his bombs are as effective as possible.
I wonder if those cops were doing that because they knew they weren’t going to find a bomber, but were just using him as an excuse to get their jollies terrorizing people, or if they were legitimately too stupid to realize that bunching up in a predictable location while looking for a bomber is a Very Bad Idea.
So this is what the next step looks like!
I just went through martial law after Sandy, curfews, armed patrols, checkpoints, barricades, etc. Luckily, it didn’t devolve into what I’ve seen from Boston.
But to my mind, its just another test, to see how much tptb can get away with THIS time. People in the streets actually cheering the suspension of their rights? The sky’s the limit for future responses
It’s ALL civil unrest… and as such, not my cuppa.
But then, I don’t live in a city either. And there’s something to be said for the tactics used, being determined by the environment.
Ken: it’s just Darwin’s way of evening the odds out.
@just waiting: and the step after that:
http://jonrappoport.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/boston-bombing-citizen-video-analysts-creating-major-problems-for-controlled-media/
I mean, that’s what to do with anyone who comments about the event contrary to the official platter presented. Classify them. … And then..?
Ken Hagler, it’s quite normal behavior when humans are afraid. Ask any Army NCO, you spend so much time yelling, “Keep your #%$&ing internal, spread out”. The warren always wants to feel the warm glow of the fellow rabbits, no matter that it’s making it more dangerous. It just doesn’t compute to most humans.
Funny Stuff about the NY state police. Can only imagine why they’re doing that. Gotta feeling they know that the average shooter is better trained than they are.
There seems to be an assumption that every bite of liberty the rulers and their thugs take, is liberty lost – forever.
No. The people who matter take this, and that, until they can’t take it any more. Before the breaking point there is no warning that this time it will be different.
Jefferson noticed this tendency, and put it right in the Declaration of Independence!
The thuggery will go on up to a point. After that point, cops raiding homes will just become fat and obvious targets. Then the raids will stop.
The video of the house to house searches was appalling. But, …. with ALL the theatrics and SWAT teams and political blowhards etc etc, who found the suspect? A homeowner noticing something amiss in his backyard. All that $$ down the tubes. All the gummint had to do was tell folks ‘report anything suspicious’. I think the whole thing makes the gummint look like over reacting idiots.
Re: cops in bunches at the door. I’ve actually seen this live-a group huddled next to a sheet metal skinned Styrofoam filled garage door. First thought that came to my mind–what’s behind that door? A guy behind that door with a shotgun and Sabot rounds would break their ranks pretty quick I imagine…
I kept thinking about the short story some on this blog created recently (and The Moon is Down) while I watched this short vision of the future:
The First Day of the 2nd American Revolution – Land of the Free
That whole, Orwell’s, ‘boot on the human face forever’ thing? The question is, where does mass-man stand then? And will it matter? Will mass-man cheer then too?
I imagine you saw this short bit from da TV news already:
Rescued at the Point of A Gun, Police searching House By House in Boston:
“They’re doing the right thing” said one father describing how they pointed guns at him as held his daughter in his arms.
“I’m so happy they’re doing their job” said one woman.
Together they represented mass-man in full glory. Helots, all.