Army in the Streets of America

Dave Pollard writing from Canada:

I confess I don't really know what to make of the US government's decision to permanently station armed forces inside the US to serve "in times of emergency" and "to help with civil unrest and crowd control". A lot of Americans seem to think this is a significant change, but living in a country (Canada) whose citizens have been kidnapped by Homeland Security on US soil without charges or any recourse to the legal system, and secreted to foreign torture prisons, it's hard for me to see army brownshirts tasering protest groups as a significant further deterioration of civil liberties. I absolutely dread crossing the US border, knowing that Homeland Security can do anything they want to me, including now seizing my laptop and files and stealing everything in them without cause or notice (thanks to Our Descent for the link). The horses are all gone, folks, and now it doesn't much matter how much wider the barn doors are swung open. You ceded your civil liberties in 2004 when you re-elected Bush, and none of the candidates running to succeed him have voiced any indication they are planning to restore them.

Yet, we watch the mindless debates, put signs on our lawns for this candidate or that, and vote dutifully, lined up like sheep in long lines outside the school gym. The Army is wasting its time preparing to quell civil unrest. The only thing that would cause a rebellion is if tv went dead for a day. Then we would scream like babies banging our cups on the high chair.

Comments

[Gerry]

That's going to happen in February, I wonder how that one will go down?

[Phil]

That might be a turning point, who knows. Let us hope.

[em]

I'm laughing with gallows humour thinking that it might be the tv that finally wakes everyone up. I don't have much faith in even that though.

[phil]

Lights blink out in the mall? Loudspeakers from the military units in the streets: "To promote Freedom, Citizens will be in their houses after curfew at 6 pm."