People, please stop screaming "police state!" (And read the whole post before commenting, please.)

[BreweryYardRat]

The events in Minneapolis are a gross abuse of power by the police. Nobody with three brain cells to rub together is doubting that.

If left unchecked, it may very well lead to a police state. (I think it's a minor miracle we managed to survive the late 1800s-early 1900s without turning fascist. God knows some of the oligarchs at the top gave it their best shot.)

But, to paraphrase a professor of mine... As long as we can call the police on this bullshit, and call the government on its bullshit, and not have to worry about a jackboot kicking down our door in the middle of the night, it's not a totalitarian state yet!

Don't let it get that way, either. We need to make sure the bastards responsible for this are stripped of their badges -- permanently -- and sued for false arrest. In civil court, since there's no hope in hell of convicting a corrupt cop in a criminal court 99% of the time -- another major issue that needs to be dealt with.

And screaming "police state" rather than "gross abuse of power" gives those bloviating right-wing motherfuckers dominating the mainstream media more ammunition to paint us as hysterical to Joe Six-pack (who probably gets his "news" ONLY from the MSM)...which could hurt our chances in the election and give these oligarchical/theocratic right-wing motherfuckers a chance to take us MUCH further down the road to...drum-roll please...a police state.

P.S. Please stop with the swastika flags. A lot of people, including myself, have pride in what the flag is supposed to represent. Poor ol' flag's been grossly misused by the Republicans over the past 30 years. It doesn't need to be tarred with the same brush as the fucking Nazis. We're not that far gone yet. You can express your opinion of the country's direction that way. That's your right. I think it's tasteless and incorrect. That's my right.

Besides, a dollar-sign flag would be more appropriate, seeing how it is, unfortunately, the truth. At least at the moment. Hopefully, the next couple decades will let us fix that.

[seemslikeadream]

1. ask the people who were arrested what they think

[Fumesucker]

2. Name a country on earth that has a higher percentage of its population in prison than the USA..

That should be simple..

[jdlh8894]

7. Percentage?

Off the top of my head -12,maybe 15.

[lonestarnot]

8. You are wrong then.

12 to 15 times.

[Fumesucker]

10. The question was...

Name a country

On our planet

That has a higher percentage of its population

In prison

Than the land of the free?



Exactly what is so hard to understand about that?

[Hannah Bell]

11. World Prison Population List. Seventh ed.

The number of prisoners held in 214 countries is reported. Over 9.25 million people are incarcerated, with almost 50% held in the U.S., followed by China, then Russia. The U.S. has the highest prison population rate of 738 per 100,000 of its national population, well above Russia (611 per 100,000). Rates below 150 per 100,000 are experienced by 61% of the countries reviewed.

Accession Number: 022140


http://nicic.org/Library/022140

[Lars39]

3. So what person or persons in power over the police are making them

stop these abuses of power?

[BreweryYardRat]

12. We have power over the police. People don't remember that.

"Government derives from the consent of the governed." Better to fix things NOW while we've only got a huge mess to clean up, rather than later, when it will be a colossal mess.

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

4. This is but the first day.

They have a number to go and one thing you can say about our repuke friends and their minions in law enforcement, it does seem they are getting exactly what they want, what they planned for and what they wanted to happen.

I have seen this movie before. I will be very surprised if, by the end of the repuke convention, there is not real blood and a lot of it in the streets. That seems to be where this is all leading.

[Fumesucker]

9. There's blood in the streets, it's up to my ankles

There's blood in the streets, it's up to my knees.

Peace Frog. The Doors.

[hfojvt]

5. POLICE STATE! POLICE STATE!

It's totally a police state when somebody posts an OP that tells me what to say or not say on a message board. :argh:

PS - using the word mofo in an essay also gives the M$M a way to paint us as rude and crude. :hide:

[madrchsod]

6. to many government agents in this play

but it`s great theater for the folks watching the tv.