Friday, February 15, 2008

Police Atrocities Define the Bush Police State

by Len Hart, The Existentialist Cowboy

Jack booted thugs can now arrest you without a warrant, without “probable cause” or evidence that you might have committed a crime. Law abiding Americans are victimized by cops gone wild, sadistic hot dogs, mental midgets and Nazi wannabes. They are inspired by the atmosphere of fear and hate. Police atrocities are to be expected.

The real criminals are in the White House and, so far, they have escaped charges and justice. There is probable cause to try Bush himself for capital crimes --but he is free while millions are brutalized without charges, trial or representation. Now under Bush, jackbooted thugs don't even bother accusing you of a crime. You can be throw in jail upon whim. You don't get to make a phone call. You don't get to call your lawyer. You don't get to call your wife or husband. And you don't get visitors.

These days –who cares if you are innocent? Bush has assumed the power to 'define' you as a terrorist. Conceivably, you could be locked up in one of Bush's hell-holes for the rest of your life. You may never get your day in court. But if you dare to protest that you are an American citizen, you risk getting kicked in the balls, tasered, strip searched and beaten. In Houston, in the seventies, a young Hispanic male was accused of being rowdy in a bar. He was never charged. Rather, Houston cops took him to a secluded part of Buffalo Bayou, beat the crap out of him, and thew him into Buffalo Bayou where he drowned.

Big Brother Bush spies on you. As early as 2002, Bush secretly ordered the National Security Agency (NSA) to monitor, intercept, and keep records on international phone calls and emails. They have simply declared they don't need court orders, they don't need probable cause, they don't need authorization, they don't even need 'reasonable suspicion', Gen. Michael Hayden's fictitious, delusional and non-existent standard. The Constitution requires 'probable cause' but you can forget about that in Bush's dictatorship. As Bush himself put it: “Stop throwing up the Constitution to me. It's just a Goddamned piece of paper” [See: A Goddamned Piece of Paper!]


THE REAL CRIMINALS ARE IN THE WHITE HOUSE

If you've ever publicly opposed Bush's war of naked aggression in Iraq, you can bet you're in NSA's database, called, typically of these mentally constipated authoritarians, TALON! How cute! This practice most certainly goes far beyond Nixon's 'enemies list', a sophomoric exercise typical of idiots who take themselves entirely too seriously. No –Bush's database, methods, scope and ruthlessness plops us in Orwellian territory without a Junior Wood Chucks guidebook. In the vernacular, we're fucked! The government has declared war upon us. In the words of Che Guevara “...the peace is already considered to be broken.” Let's put it another way. The revolution was begun when George W. Bush declared war upon the people of the United States.

War protesters, naturally, were the first to wind up in Big Bro's TALON, or database, or, to use the lingo of Bush and Bush-head: al Qaeda, literally, 'the base'. There you have it. Bush can merely define you as an 'enemy combatant' and your name winds up on his list of 'terrorists'. A 'terrorist' is anyone who opposes George W. Bush, tyrant for whom the Constitution is just a “...Goddamned piece of paper!”


Playlist Includes Michael Moore, a Brutal Strip Search and
Houston Cops Running Down and 'Running Over' a Civilian!

Don't call him "dude" or he may "kill you"

Is it a man? Is it a dude? No, it's officer Rivieri of the Baltimore Police Department who is the latest small membered thug cop to believe that it is his duty to go around bullying and wrestling discipline into innocent children. Unfortunately for this PC podge, he is also the latest cop caught on camera and made famous by Youtube.

On the video, the officer, Salvatore Rivieri, puts the boy in a headlock, pushes him to the ground, questions his upbringing, threatens to "smack" him and repeatedly accuses the youngster of showing disrespect because the youth refers to the officer as "man" and "dude." reports the Baltimore Sun.

Egomaniac Thug Cop Assaults 14 Year Old Kid

In free societies, police serve and protect; they do not demand obeisance and they most certainly are accorded respect when it is rightfully earned by service and duty. The four stages of the evolution of a police state are in evidence in the US, where the police have gotten it the wrong way 'round.
  1. Shut down media coverage after they steal an election
  2. Serve the central government instead of serving the citizens
  3. Enforce the policies of the central government instead of responding primarily to criminal misdeeds
  4. Spy on and intimidate citizens
Survival hints that might help keep you alive in the Bush/GOP society of fear and thuggery:
  • Never go out at night alone; always bring a witness!
  • Never go out in the daytime alone!
  • Never go anywhere unless you have back-up following you at 20 paces or so with a camcorder so that when you are assaulted or murdered, there will be a record of it!
  • When COPS are near, try your best to look like a Republican i.e, look stupid!
  • Don't look 'black' even if you are white; don't ever say 'bro!
  • Carry a copy of the Wall St Journal or the Washington Times but don't use it to wrap a cod. It could be mistaken for a .357 with gills.
Alas, it was Bertrand Russell who foresaw so many issues that now shape our lives, issues contributing to the growing feeling that we, as individuals, now count for very little in the Bush/Neocon/GOP vision of global domination and endless world wars. Whenever the idea that individuals count for little takes hold, brutality against the individual is to be expected.
"Many people would sooner die than think. In fact they do."

"I think the subject which will be of most importance politically is mass psychology.... Its importance has been enormously increased by the growth of modern methods of propaganda. Of these the most influential is what is called 'education.' Religion plays a part, though a diminishing one; the press, the cinema, and the radio play an increasing part.... It may be hoped that in time anybody will be able to persuade anybody of anything if he can catch the patient young and is provided by the State with money and equipment."

"Although this science will be diligently studied, it will be rigidly confined to the governing class. The populace will not be allowed to know how its convictions were generated. When the technique has been perfected, every government that has been in charge of education for a generation will be able to control its subjects securely without the need of armies or policemen."

--Bertrand Russell, "The Impact of Science on Society", Life under the World State 1953

.Also see: Gestapo Watch - Arrested at Gunpoint for using MP3 Player

And this update:

FBI Deputizes Private Contractors With Extraordinary Powers, Including 'Shoot to Kill'

The FBI has a new set of eyes and ears, and they're being told to protect their infrastructure at any cost. They can even kill without repercussion.

Today, more than 23,000 representatives of private industry are working quietly with the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security. The members of this rapidly growing group, called InfraGard, receive secret warnings of terrorist threats before the public does -- and, at least on one occasion, before elected officials. In return, they provide information to the government, which alarms the ACLU. But there may be more to it than that. One business executive, who showed me his InfraGard card, told me they have permission to "shoot to kill" in the event of martial law. InfraGard is "a child of the FBI," says Michael Hershman, the chairman of the advisory board of the InfraGard National Members Alliance and CEO of the Fairfax Group, an international consulting firm.


Media Conglomerates, Mergers, Concentration of Ownership, Global Issues, Updated: January 02, 2009

Share

Subscribe



GoogleYahoo!AOLBloglines

Add to Google

Add to Google

Add Cowboy Videos to Google

Add to Google

Download DivX

27 comments:

Ed Encho said...

The New Hammerhead was a perfect cowboy. He was vicious & stupid & ignorant of everything except his own fears and appetites. He beat the mortal shit out of anything that made him uneasy, for any reason at all. The Hammerhead was a perfect warrior. He defended the flag. Any flag. He learned to understand words like "orders" and "patriotism", but the secret of his success was an animal taste for blood. He thrived on motion. But he was brainless; he had to be aimed.

-Hunter S. Thompson


Meet Jack Bauer. He's America's newest hero, a pop culture icon in the land of ignorant fear and bigoted loathing, a land that routinely bestows honors on phony pigs the likes of John Wayne, John Rambo and Ronald Wilson Reagan. Here is an ugly little secret for the deep-seated television addicts in our attention deficit democracy - Jack Bauer is also an ultra violent latter day Nazi with a savage psychopathic mean streak and a king-sized hard-on for torture. Torture has become one of a growing number of previously unthinkable and utterly abominable acts that can now be wrapped in an American flag as some type of a sick endorsement of what constitutes super patriotism under the pathologically amoral regime that is the Bushreich. Jack is a hero for that much trumpeted by the neocon junta 'post 9-11' wordview, he is their champion, a thuglike doppleganger for law enforcement in the authoritarian police state.

And he is the hero to the Kevlar coated goons who increasingly are drawn to ‘law’ enforcement as a paying outlet for their sadistic, psychopathic tendencies.

This is Jack's country now!

Good post Len, you are on fire lately!

EE

Unknown said...

Thanks Ed. As a specie, we are evolving into Morlocks and Eloi.

Who Gets Eaten?

Ed Encho said...

The amount of police brutality in recent years is unbelievable. I live in Florida where they just dumped that guy out of his wheelchair and the local news is actually acting as an apologist for the thugs by smearing the dude that got dumped.

This is a very bad sign, this society is becoming more barbaric and more authoritarian by the day.

Dare I say it is reminiscent of a certain European country in 20th century?

Hell, I expect the police to be jack booted fascist pigs but the adulation of this behavior has been so instilled into the public via the electronic crackpipe and shows like COPS and 24 (both FOX) that we are getting pretty fucking close to some very dangerous territory.

And it is going to get really bad in the coming months too as the Republicans ratchet up the fear and loathing.

Almost makes you want to go out and stockpile guns and ammo.

EE

Anonymous said...

FuzzFlash sez...

LH: "Bush is NOT a Texan and brings dishonor upon the state. He was born in Connecticut, attended (but did not study) Yale, a member of the Skull and Bones, a pervert, homosexual, sadist. A complete waste of human DNA."

Them thar's fighin' words, Cowboy!

The Imbecile most definitely has characteristics of a closeted homosexual. Never really put it together before, but the more I think about it, the more it rings true. Imagine having to "come out" in the Bush family and how deeply he'd have to suppress his feelings with the subsequent emotional plague and muscular armouring that would ensue.

Little wonder then that he's so fucked up! But that's no reason for America and her hegemonic underlings to suffer brutal opression not far removed from what Pier Paulo Pasolini documented in his brilliant film "Salo".

So now it's over to the people of America. Countries and their people only get courage by doing courageous things. Americans may have left it too late, unfortunately, to comprehend fully that the land of the brave, home of the free is constitutionally founded of the people, by the people and for the people and not the military industrial political complex.

Not long ago it was all right
There were no bad dreams that kept me up at night
It was not brother against brother
Mother against mother

So tell somebody
You’ve got to tell somebody
Tell somebody what happened to the usa

Now they want us to just get in line
Behind a president
When they just spend billions of dollars
Condemning and accusing
The last one from the other side

Tell somebody, tell somebody
Tell somebody
What’s happening in the usa?
Tell some body, tell somebody
Tell somebody

I want to know how far you will go
To protect our right of free speech?
Because it only took a moment
Before it faded out of reach

Oh, tell somebody, tell somebody right now
Tell somebody
What happened in the usa?
I wanna read about it in the news
I wanna read about it on TV, yeah
What happened in the usa?
When they ask you
What happened in the usa
Tell somebody
They’ll wanna know, oh people

The depth of our democracy
Is only as good as the voices of protest she protects
Voices of protest—rise!

(Rickie Lee Jones, from album Tell Somebody, Repeal The Patriot Acts Now)

Anonymous said...

...you know....a bit more honesty or depth would be really...REALLY refreshing....
...this insanity is NOT NEW....YOU PERPETUATE IT BY

1: showing that you walked around with your head in the sand as to the REAL nature of the policies you accepted by granting validity to the notion that others may dictate your circumstances. [AS A GIVEN....that is the nature of the concept "government"...]

2: continue this bizarre notion that AUTHORITY IS A GOOD IDEA....

FREEDOM: LEARN WHAT IT MEANS AND WRITE FROM THAT POV....that would be refreshing....

You can't whine about bushes thugs.....remember no knock laws in the ghetto back in the 60's...say, didn't all this once belong to the injuns? [oh...right..they had no concept of land ownership so they don't count]
...what about all them nigger slaves for 400 years?

.... eminent domain? [helllooo...]

.....not to mention all them southern states losing their "RIGHT TO AUTONOMY"....
Try checking out "No Treason"....

Posting nonsensicle horrific tidbits achieves nothing save for the promotion of evils dominance....
....please do not pretend you are "hipping people to the stench in their own living room [that they are trained to ignore via entertainment, education etc....

....I suppose my rant is unfair as I do not know you...[and so, I offer an apology of sorts]

However: this is not new and death, pain and suffering ought not be the price paid whilst the neighbors "dialog"....

Malcolm was right.....

If'n I "grok" the existentialist trip: then the correct subject matter would be HIPPING FOLKS TO THOSE WHO WALK WITH SELF AUTONOMY AND HOW IT CAN OFFSET ALL THIS BULLSHIT....

...or is that too obvious...[or perhaps there are so few "individualists/freethinkers" that this is all that can be said....]

yes: evil sux....AND?....
it ain't *just* bush.....
it's the whole fu**in system from top to bottom...
dig?

Anonymous said...

Today, it was announced on one the news sites I frequent that the Bush Adm. hides more data, shutting down a website which tracks US Economic Indicators on March 1. The site is known as Economic Indicators.Gov. You all might want to check it out before it is off the internet!

This is frightening news, what is he doing trying is it to isolate us from what is happening economically, to close us down and completely take over Martial Law, is that next?

Then millions of us are perhaps put in all those detention centers he has built! Very frightening news!!

Here is the link!:
http://thinkprogress.org/2008/02/13/economic-indicators

Anonymous said...

I'm sorry the link did not get posted as a live link.Copy and paste this to your address bar of your browser.

http://www.thinkprogress.org/
2008/12/13/economic-indicators

Anonymous said...

My apologies everyone, I am new at posting links in my comments. Let's try this one:

http://www.thinkprogress.org/
2008/12/13/economic-indicators

The full link is on two separate lines because when I post it one line the 'rs' is cut-off.

The copy and paste operation is in 2 steps, the first step for the first line, then a second copy and paste operation for the second line. Each line is to be pasted into the address bar of your browser window.

Anonymous said...

You should apologize. It's the most outrageous behavior I've seen in years, diane! Gimme 20 push ups and run twice around the block. And don't you ever do that again! ;)

Unknown said...

Ok kiddies...another outburst like that and you both do laps around the gym.

Fuzz wrote...

Them thar's fighin' words, Cowboy!

Will Rogers said: "I never met a man I didn't like" Will had not met George Bush.

Will was from Oklahoma of Native American descent. We may even be of the same tribe. We really need a guy like Will now.

Diane B. said...

Today, it was announced on one the news sites I frequent that the Bush Adm. hides more data, shutting down a website which tracks US Economic Indicators on March 1.

I saw something about that and am not surprised. I was surprised that I was able to get the "goods" on Ronald Reagan on the Government's own sites --Census Bureau and
The Bureau of Labor Statistics,

There is much redundancy on this sort of thing and will search for alternatives.

Anonymous said...

Fuzz sez...

Oh-oh, someone who's name begins with a "d" has been watching Full Metal Jacket again.

----------------------------------

Pogue Colonel: Marine, what is that button on your body armor?
Private Joker: A peace symbol, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Where'd you get it?
Private Joker: I don't remember, sir.
Pogue Colonel: What is that you've got written on your helmet?
Private Joker: "Born to Kill", sir.
Pogue Colonel: You write "Born to Kill" on your helmet and you wear a peace button. What's that supposed to be, some kind of sick joke?
Private Joker: No, sir.
Pogue Colonel: You'd better get your head and your ass wired together, or I will take a giant shit on you.
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Now answer my question or you'll be standing tall before the man.
Private Joker: I think I was trying to suggest something about the duality of man, sir.
Pogue Colonel: The what?
Private Joker: The duality of man. The Jungian thing, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Whose side are you on, son?
Private Joker: Our side, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Don't you love your country?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Then how about getting with the program? Why don't you jump on the team and come on in for the big win?
Private Joker: Yes, sir.
Pogue Colonel: Son, all I've ever asked of my marines is that they obey my orders as they would the word of God. We are here to help the Vietnamese, because inside every gook there is an American trying to get out. It's a hardball world, son. We've gotta keep our heads until this peace craze blows over.
Private Joker: Aye-aye, sir.

Unknown said...

Fuzz sez...

Oh-oh, someone who's name begins with a "d" has been watching Full Metal Jacket again.

I am reminded of the pic of John Lennon flashing the peace symbol under the Statue of Liberty.

Unknown said...

An interesting link:

Hippie Roots & The Perennial Subculture

It would seem that the "hippie" or "hippy" movement had origins in both 1930s Harlem Jazz scene and, much earlier, the German forests in the 19th Century.

Anonymous said...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19355.htm

Please Len!? Install "HALOSCAN" to advance the "COMMENTS" of your blog?

Please take a look at the informationclearinghouse-site(and others)who use this "CONSUMER/READER-FRIENDLY COMMENTS-TOOL"?!

Thank You!

Anonymous said...

Fuzz sez..

Ah, Len that was a fantastic link. Absolutely enjoyed it, recognised and related to many of the heroes and freaks; my philosophical forebears. Semi-straightened out for nearly 30 years to turn a filthy middle class buck and raise a family. My youngest is 16 and will soon be fledged. Then me and my darlin' soul buddy are goin' back. Not to the deep woods or the desert but far enough from the Rat Race to live among decent people, fresh air and nature's beauty while it's still on offer. Been planning it for some time actually. Solar power, permaculture garden, smallish but with "the works", huge underground water storage. And lots of journeys to visit family and friends, music and cultural fests (and hopefully even war crimes tribunals in The Hague). This will keep the effervescence in life's champagne and the fading dream of Justice alive.
The battle for the viability of The Biosphere is this century's grandest battle no matter what happens to economys or nation states. There's not really much of Green Gables left and too many Silent Springs have been rendered permanently toxic.

Still, wherever one roams or puts roots, broadband to the www would be nice before they close it down forever, for our own protection, of course!
-------------------------
ed encho, great quote from Unca Duke and comments about Jack Bauer.

Btw y'all, Sean Penn's new film "In The Wild" is well worth a squizz, and benmerc, old son, this song's for you.

GOIN’ BACK
by Gerry Goffin & Carole King

I think I’m going back
to the things I learned so well in my youth
I think I’m returning to
the days when I was young enough to know the truth

Now there are no games to only pass the time
No more electric trains, no more trees to climb
Thinking young and growing older is no sin
And I can play the game of life to win

I can recall a time
when I wasn’t ashamed to reach out to a friend
Now I think I’ve got
a lot more than my toys to lend

Now there’s much to do than watch my sailboat glide
And every day can be my magic carpet ride
A little bit of freedom is all we lack
So catch me if you can, I’m going back

A little bit of courage is all we lack
So catch me if you can, I’m going back
Going back

Anonymous said...

Red Alert!! New Bill to Allow Police Misconduct to be Hidden From Public

http://www.kutv.com/content/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=49094c36-ec83-4306-954a-eca063c62693

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the lyrics Fuzz...sentiments worthy of pursuit.
benmerc

Anonymous said...

Read this book!

Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America, 344 pages, South End Press (August 2007)ISBN: 0896087719

Beginning with its provocative title, Williams' account of contemporary law enforcement argues that instances of police brutality in the U.S. are not aberrations but, instead, reflect the long, symbiotic relationship between those in power and the police hired to protect that power.

Unknown said...

Fuzz sez..

Ah, Len that was a fantastic link. Absolutely enjoyed it, recognised and related to many of the heroes and freaks; my philosophical forebears.

Fuzz, I would never have known that you had anything at all to do with 'hippieism'.

Anonymous said...

Red Alert!! New Bill to Allow Police Misconduct to be Hidden From Public

I would think that bill to be unconstitutional on its face. Keep us posted if you can.

Anonymous said...

Our Enemies in Blue: Police and Power in America, 344 pages, South End Press (August 2007)ISBN: 0896087719

Beginning with its provocative title, Williams' account of contemporary law enforcement argues that instances of police brutality in the U.S. are not aberrations but, instead, reflect the long, symbiotic relationship between those in power and the police hired to protect that power.

I grew up suspicious of cops. In my home town, the Sherrif, himself, ran all the rackets and prostitution, drugs, et al. He took his cut and lived well. Those who didn't agree, were taken somewhere out in the prairie where the shit was beat out of them.

Anonymous said...

Damien, I laughed when I read my punishment. Dear, Dear, I couldn't do it if I tried...you see my appendix burst about a week ago, I guess you get the picture, but I really laughed trying to imagine doing it!!

Anonymous said...

Len, have you seen this article about InfraGard?

http://www.alternet.org/rights/76388/?page=1

marain

Unknown said...

Thanks, marain...I added an excerpt from your link as an update to this article and: Bush Wages War on Americans

Farnsworth68 said...

Having grown up on the "wrong side of the tracks", close to that vague border between lawbreaking and law-abiding, blessed with older cousins with the same last name, all of whom were forced into the Navy to keep from going to jail, I can say that the police state has always been there, but it's been underground and not visible to most people (we always knew it was there).
Not until the current maladministration have they actually put on the jackboots, strapped the Sam Brown belts across their manly torsos, and stepped out of the shadows.
I agree that we are the 21st Century equivalent of Berlin circa 1934. We can stop it, but now it won't be easy. I'm sure I'm vocal and public enough with my antipathy to the BFEE, to the point where I always make alternate travel plans in case I'm on the "no fly list" when I get the airport.
Great blog, BTW. You're on my blogroll at One Pissed Off Veteran.

Anonymous said...

Good on ya, Lennie. If only Mollie was still around to add her comments.

She could have said it in such a sweeter manner, and still gut ya.

More, please.

farang

Unknown said...

farang, thanks for reminding us of the great Molly Ivins. Now ---Molly had a REAL Texas accent and there is nothing wrong with it. It is soft, slighty twangy and those who have mastered it, like Jim Hightower, use it to great effect.

Real Texans, like the Irish, are gifted storytellers. Molly had that gift. My father used to tell me about the great Will Rogers. Rogers, like Molly, died prematurely but in a plane crash with pilot Wylie Post. What a loss!

Rogers got started doing rope tricks in Vaudeville. One day, he screwed up the tricks big time and started making wise cracks about it. The rest is history.

Rogers satirized the Roosevelt administration. "Someone had a plan to teach hogs birth control. Now it's become a habit with 'em!" I might have said that he was the Jon Stewart of his day --but he wasn't Jewish.

Rogers was, in fact, an Oklahoma Cherokee who was adopted by Texas which usually makes fun of "Okies". I might have come from Oklahoma as well if my Mother's ancestors hadn't escaped the famous "Trail of Tears".

Farnsworth68 said...

Having grown up on the "wrong side of the tracks", close to that vague border between lawbreaking and law-abiding, blessed with older cousins with the same last name, all of whom were forced into the Navy to keep from going to jail, I can say that the police state has always been there, but it's been underground and not visible to most people (we always knew it was there).

You're right. It's always there just bubbling under the surface like a 'B' Movie swamp monster. All it takes to unleash these roaches is an evil GOP regime. "Law and Order" has always been a GOP code word for: "now you good 'ol boys can go and crack open of some hippy/nigger/mescan heads'. They never dissapoint.

Anonymous said...

What can I say? Dutch as I am?


I say!




KILLLLC UNDERWATER THEM BOARD THEM AS SOME LITTER IN A CATS BOX WHO SHIT ON A HOME-LIKE MATTER!

TAKE CARE OF THE CATS!

THE WELFED CATS.

TAKE CARA YOU "STUPIODO AMERICANS"

Anonymous said...

The last I've said I liked most.

The last thing I did I liked most.

The last thought I like most!


Almost international almost, in 1972!




The last time I LIKED MOST!


AND now, in comtemplation? 2008?


MORE POSSIBYLITIES, its all in one word.

So, there you go EXiSTENSIALISTIC!

And there you end as well!?