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United States News Title: USA: The Tyranny of the Police State Disguised as Law-and-Order By John W Whitehead US Constitutional attorney, Charlottesville, Virginia: This is the point, as the poet W. B. Yeats warned, when things fall apart and anarchy is loosed upon the world. We have seen this convergence before in Hitlers Germany, in Stalins Russia, in Mussolinis Italy, and in Maos China: the rise of strongmen and demagogues, the ascendency of profit-driven politics over deep-seated principles, the warring nationalism that seeks to divide and conquer, the callous disregard for basic human rights and dignity, and the silence of people who should know better. Yet no matter how many times the world has been down this road before, we cant seem to avoid repeating the deadly mistakes of the past. This is not just playing out on a national and international scale. It is wreaking havoc at the most immediate level, as well, creating rifts and polarities within families and friends, neighbourhoods and communities that keep the populace warring among themselves and incapable of presenting a united front in the face of the governments goose-stepping despotism. We are definitely in desperate need of a populace that can stand united against the governments authoritarian tendencies. Surely we can manage to find some common ground in the midst of the destructive, disrupting, diverting, discordant babble being beamed down at us by the powers-that-be? Disagree all you want about healthcare, abortion and immigrationhot-button issues that are guaranteed to stir up the masses, secure campaign contributions and turn political discourse into a circus free-for-allbut never forget that our power as a citizenry comes from our ability to agree and stand united on certain principles that should be non-negotiable. For instance, the U.S. government is operating in the negative on every front. For the first time in the nations history, it is expected that the federal deficit will surpass $1 trillion this year, not to mention the national debt which is approaching $23 trillion. Meanwhile, the nations sorely neglected infrastructurerailroads, water pipelines, ports, dams, bridges, airports and roadsis rapidly deteriorating. No matter how we might differ about how the government allocates its spending, surely we can agree that the governments irresponsible spending, which has saddled us with insurmountable debt, is pushing the country to the edge of financial and physical ruin. Let me give you a few more. The U.S. military empires determination to police the rest of the world, with more than 1.3 million U.S. troops being stationed at roughly 1000 military bases in over 150 countries, is bleeding the country dry at a rate of more than $15 billion a month (or $20 million an hour)and thats just what the government spends on foreign wars. No matter how we might differ about the role of the U.S. military in foreign affairs, surely we can agree that Americas war spending and commitment to policing the rest of the world is bankrupting the nation and spreading our troops dangerously thin. All of the imperial powers amassed by Barack Obama and George W. Bush were inherited by Donald Trump. These presidential powersacquired through the use of executive orders, decrees, memorandums, proclamations, national security directives and legislative signing statements and which can be activated by any sitting presidentenable past, president and future presidents to operate above the law and beyond the reach of the Constitution. Increasingly, at home, were facing an unbelievable show of force by government agents. For example, with alarming regularity, unarmed men, women, children and even pets are being gunned down by police officers who shoot first and ask questions later. Just recently, in fact, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals cleared a cop who aimed for a familys dog (who showed no signs of aggression), missed, and instead shot a 10-year-old lying on the ground. No matter how we might differ about where to draw that blue line of allegiance to the police state, surely we can agree that police shouldnt go around terrorizing and shooting innocent, unarmed children and adults or be absolved of wrongdoing for doing so. At its core, this is not a debate about politics, or constitutionalism, or even tyranny disguised as law-and-order. This is a condemnation of the monsters with human faces that have infiltrated our government. Yet as I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, the unavoidable truth is that the government has become almost indistinguishable from the evil it claims to be fighting, whether that evil takes the form of terrorism, torture, drug trafficking, sex trafficking, murder, violence, theft, pornography, scientific experimentations or some other diabolical means of inflicting pain, suffering and servitude on humanity. Therein lies the problem. Its time to wake up and take a good, hard look around you. Start by recognizing evil and injustice and tyranny for what they are. Stop being apathetic. Stop being neutral. Stop being accomplices. Stop being distracted by the political theatre staged by the Deep State: they want you watching the show while they manipulate things behind the scenes. Refuse to play politics with your principles. Dont settle for the lesser of two evils. Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His new book Battlefield America: The War on the American People is available at www.amazon.com.
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