"American Stasi"

Charles Pierce is always a good read, as evidenced by the fact that he wrote the phrase from which I stole the title to this post.

 http://www.esquire.com/blogs/politics/nypd-spy-on-liberal-groups-7552703

To wit:

I expect we'll be hearing howls of outrage, and anguished cries for Liberty (!) from all the Republican contenders when word gets around that the NYPD apparently woke up one morning and decided it was the American Stasi.I expect we'll hear humble apologies from the people who laughed at the nervous-liberal slippery slope arguments about how unleashing the power of the U.S. intelligence apparatus on American Muslims invariably would result in that power's being loosed generally on people who disagreed with the government itself, and for any reason. I expect the president and his men will condemn this inexcusable abridgement of the Bill of Rights vigorously and vow to make whole its victims to the full extent of the law.

Why a metropolitan police force is sending officers (undercover, no less) to any other metropolitan area for the sole purpose of spying on American citizens is beyond me, but then again I'm still trying to sort the utility of police departments of all sizes routinely employing assault weapons in their day-to-day operations and obtaining armored vehicles to ride around in.

Jebus Is A Small Part Of The Problem

This is exactly right, for those who have any fantasies that the burn-it-down approach of the American right wing is something new or more virulent than in the past:

http://nomoremister.blogspot.com/2010/09/its-not-unchecked-christianism-its.html

They are a deeply sickening bunch, and when they have destroyed government and hoovered up all the cash they will stand atop the rubble with a big fucking megaphone and declare victory in all our names, whilst we wander the streets, dazed and shell-shocked, squabbling over scraps from dumpsters and killing one another for control of sodden cardboard boxes to use as shelter.