Not With a Bang, But...

Many prominent bloggers have commented on the farcical events surrounding the calling out of a SWAT-like team to deal with a bunch of Tea Party protesters in Quincy, IL. Many videos can be found here. Some folks (not necessarily the ones linked, mind you) have commented that this is evidence that the US is sliding further into a Brazil-style police state; others have opined that such Barney-Fife-cum-SWAT-wannabes would fare poorly against determined opposition; still others blame Clinton/Bush/Øbama for starting/continuing/escalating the assault on the First Amendment.

We're not headed for the lawlessness of Mad-Max here, folks - we can't survive a freakin' bank going under, never mind the complete and utter collapse of society. What we're witnessing, live and direct in our lifetime, is a slow-but-steady slide into European-style socialism, possibly followed up with a 1984-like police state. As more and more Americans become dependent on the government for their livelihood, we're seeing fewer folks willing to rock the boat for fear of upsetting Uncle Sucker.

Private industry is getting squeezed, and those that aren't getting out are voicing their opinions - and finding the response from the government to be more like the Keystone SWATs than a "beer summit". We're seeing police pulled from areas of Detroit, or refusing to respond to traffic accidents in Philadelphia, or any other number of small, seemingly insignificant incidents that, taken by themselves, don't mean all that much. But added together, it's a frightening picture indeed of the world that our children will inherit. And some of us don't seem to mind all that at all...

Robbing Peter to pay Paul only works as long as Peter stays compliant...

That is all.