IPFS Larken Rose

More About: Police State

Not to Kick Her While She's Down, But ...

Yet another story of fascist police state lunacy is now spreading around, this one about a mother of three being detained, interrogated, taken captive ("arrested"), and so on. This one was a joint effort between various levels and agencies of jackbooted thugs. I highly suggest you read the whole ridiculous story, before reading the rest of this article. You can find that story by clicking HERE.

Now, plenty of people are blasting the psychotic fascists for their behavior, and rightly so. I'm guessing you don't need me to tell you that what happened to the woman was bad. (Duh.) However, one thing about the story jumped out at me, and it may be something that most people won't consider.

The woman's horrible sin of taking a picture of a retired helicopter was, as the story says, so she could use the image on her "support the troops" web page. Of course, plenty of people will notice the irony of her patriotism leading to her being treated as a criminal and a terrorist. But I have a slightly different take.

Here we have an American, going about her life in America, not harming or threatening anyone, or even breaking any "law." And the unthinking American jackboots, who pretend to be acting on behalf of the American "government," assault, detain and torment this American. In America.

I don't mean to kick her while she's down, but I wonder if the thought has yet occurred to this woman that had she been a foreigner, in a foreign land, being accosted by American troops--those troops she so proudly supports (or at least used to)--she would probably have fared a lot worse than she did. Or does she imagine that when American mercenaries are accosting foreigners, in foreign lands, the agents of "authority" are nicer, and show more respect for individual rights, and are more courtesy and reasonable? Does she still assume, as so many Americans are determined to assume, that American soldiers only accost and assault bad people?

To be fair, allow me to add a confession. Many years ago I used to have F.O.P. and Sheriff's Department stickers on my car, as a big supporter of "law enforcement." I imagined, based upon my nationalistic, authoritarian indoctrination, that cops were the good guys. Oh, and I "supported the troops," too. Because I was still laboring under the delusion that soldiers and police are there to serve the people, protect the innocent, and stop the nasty people. (Don't laugh too loud, because I bet you once thought that, too!)

Now that she has survived her ordeal, and apparently all the idiotic charges against her have been dismissed, I wonder if the woman will rethink her view of those who carry out the will of the American "government." Or will she continue to imagine that supporting unthinking, authoritarian, control-freak mercenaries--I mean "supporting the troops"--is still a good thing to do? 


 
 
(P.S. In contrast, my hat is off to Josh Stieber, who had the courage to realize that as one of the "troops," he was not one of the good guys. Josh did something few people have the strength to do: go against popular opinion, and even against "authority," in order to do the right thing. If anyone has an address for where I could send Josh a free copy of my new book, "The Most Dangerous Superstition," I'd appreciate it. I can be reached at "larken@larkenrose.com")

(P.P.S. Come to think of it, if anyone has an address where I could send a free copy of the book to the woman who was accosted by fascists for taking a picture of a dead helicopter, I'd be happy to do that, too. It seems that coming face to face with authoritarian thuggery does help some people to reconsider their belief systems.)

8 Comments in Response to

Comment by Morpheus
Entered on:

It is GREAT she supports our OOPS and this is what she gets.  I like to know what she thinks of the government and their merry band of THUGS now!

Comment by Anonymous
Entered on:

To Skip Robinson: By the way, war is not fought in order to redistribute wealth to the standing armies. That’s a foolish statement. Have you heard Troy or Helen of Troy? If you didn’t, then you missed this great opportunity to know how and why great wars are fought.

You said "Germans and Russians murdered so many people for power, privilege and prestige." You must be referring to Hitler’s WWII Holocaust when millions of Jews were murdered and to Stalin’s purge in Russia. Hitler committed genocide out of his maniacal hatred of Jews. The Kremlin purge that occurred in the former Soviet Union was an ideological killing to purify Stalin’s version of the Communist Revolution by getting rid of what he described as "traitors" to the cause.

Anyway, to come to the light of knowledge from this darkness of not knowing what you are talking about, there is a lot of books to read as educational references.

Read also my response as typographically corrected, viz:

I do not normally waste my time responding to crazy comments, but for readers who are curious to know how crazy comments look like, I present the following: "War allows men the legal authority to rape and pillage .." H. Skip Robinson (#28829). This is a crazy comment. There is no legal authority to rape and pillage whatsoever, even in war. The educated know this. "… this must stop if we are to ever enter the next phase of civil society …" Who "must stop" this imagined bizzare "legal authority to rape and pillage – Robinson Crusoe? By what means … taking a high dosage of diazepam or restrict you in a white straitjacket?

The weird comment continues that this must be stopped [stop the legal rape and pillage ???] "… if we are to ever enter the next phase of civil society …" What the hell is "the next phase of civil society"? Does this make sense? No it does not. Hallucinations never make sense. So is delirium. Tranquilizer is prescribed when crazies like this turn dangerous.

If you hear this rumbling in the middle of the night as if it is coming from the catacomb: "Until such times [sic] as societies prohibit the redistribution of wealth to standing armies …" [where in hell is this coming from – societies prohibiting the redistribution of wealth to standing armies????] and "… consider taxation as the theft it is in reality.." [taxation is a theft????], well, you know someone not in touch with reality is on the loose and might be dangerous, and for public safety, it is your civic duty to call an ambulance or dial 911.

Perhaps the intention is legit and the brain is just scattering in a terrible state of disorder that what comes out of it lacks coherence, but what I am doing is bring readers here face to face with what senseless, foolish or silly comments look like.

Nothing personal … no offense intended.

  

Comment by Anonymous
Entered on:

I do not normally waste my time responding to crazy comments, but for readers who are curious to know how crazy comments look like, I present the following: "War allows men the legal authority to rape and pillage .." H. Skip Robinson (#28829). This is a crazy comment. There is no legal authority to rape and pillage whatsoever, even in war. The educated know this. "… this must stop if we are to ever enter the next phase of civil society …" Who "must stop" this imagined "legal authority to rape and pillage – Robinson Crusoe? By what means … taking a high dosage of diazepam or restrict you in a white straitjacket?

The weird comment continues that this must be stopped [stop the legal rape and pillage ???] "… if we are to ever enter the next phase of civil society …" What the hell is "the next phase of civil society"? Does this make sense? No it does not. A hallucination never makes sense. So is delirium. Tranquilizer is prescribed when crazies like this turn dangerous.

If you hear this rumbling in the middle of the night as if it is coming from the catacomb: "Until such times [sic] as societies prohibit the redistribution of wealth to standing armies …" [where in hell is this coming from – societies prohibiting the redistribution of wealth to standing armies????] and "… consider taxation as the theft it is in reality.." [taxation is a theft????], well, you know someone not in touch with reality is on the loose and might be dangerous, and for public safety, it is your civic duty to call an ambulance or dial 911.

Perhaps the intention is legit and the brain is just scattering in a state of a terrible disorder that what comes out of it lacks coherence, but what I am doing is bring you are here face to face with what senseless, foolish or silly comments look like. Nothing personal … no offense intended.

 
Comment by Anonymously Yours
Entered on:

Some people like Bakadude just never figure out reality.  They cannot fathom how societies like the Germans and Russians murdered so many people for power, privilege and prestige. It was their police and military (mercenaries) that did the crimes and these groups have historically done such atrocities on the orders from those that pay them. That's why many in the freedom movement call them mercenaries. They historically have killed without regard, as long as they are being paid. Have you not noticed a specific psychological profile and the lack of socio-economic education within these groups. George Washington warned of the use of a standing army and Eisenhower warned of the military industrial complexes that now rule much of the world.  Our founders smartly instituted the militia and sadly did not abide by its own Constitution. 

Armies and therefore wars are perpetrated through the redistribution of wealth schemes that the ruling elites use as means of profit and prestige. Not understanding this reality has contributed to almost all the atrocities this world has ever experienced. 

War allows men the legal authority to rape and pillage and this must stop if we are to ever enter the next phase of civil society.  Until such times as societies prohibit the redistribution of wealth to standing armies, the world will be held hostage by the various groups in power.  To do this we must consider taxation as the theft it is in reality, despite its erroneously depicted necessity.  A well regulated militia won us the Revolutionary War and it will provide the best defense against both domestic and foreign enemies. Placing the lower socioeconomic classes as dispensable pawns in contrived wars around the planet is not acceptable and as history has now shown, will not foster a civil society.

Comment by Mangled Mind
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 bakadude & sonoranex both of you presented a pure Black-and-white fallacy.. denying the devil doesn't exist does not protect you from it..

Comment by sonoranex
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Having been in both the military and law enforcement I can tell you there are good and bad in each. Although the percentage of bad is small in both cases it takes very few to cause problems. The law enforcement who harassed this lady should be tried and if convected placed in general population of the prison where they would learn a lesson, I’m sure.

 

Your comment regarding the troops, supporting or not supporting is way off base. My experience, I was in the Army, has been no one is out to harass innocent people, at least not the dedicated troops. Determining who are the innocent however, is another question, but usually not left up to the average GI unless in combat, in that case much of the question is not relative. If you are promoting not supporting our troops you are not worth anyone’s time in responding. I certainly saw and heard of many like you during and after Vietnam,

 

Comment by Anonymous
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The philosophy behind this article is fallacious … at worst delusional, which teaches a treachery of self. The writer implies that we should cut the nose to spite the face.

Here’s the author’s disconnect from reality: There are always thugs in life – reality that could neither be denied nor ignored. The Military is not a picnic group … it was not created without a noble purpose, and that is to protect us and this country from thugs, local or foreign. But this service establishment itself is not without thugs in it -- like when we have rotten apples in the basket. Mothers protect their babies from harm, but there are mothers that kill them instead. Shall we line up all mothers against the wall and shoot them down one by one because some of them are the worst thugs in motherhood anyone could imagine? This author insinuates that we should harbor ill-well against the Military because of what happened to this woman who was a victim of thugs in the armed forces. The Devil never ceases to tempt the weak into taking the road down to perdition 24 hours a day. An anarcho-Libertarian from the dark side does likewise … dreams of creating an anarchist society in America, a United States of America that has neither states nor government -- a society of chaos and anarchy that no doubt electrifies the Antichrist and serves his purpose.

But believe me … this will only happen when the crows turn white.

 
Comment by Lowell Morse
Entered on:

 Good point Mr. Rose.

 

LLM


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