We Live In A Fucking Police State

We live in a fucking police state. I don't care if you don't get it, I don't care if you're too dense to see what's going on around you, I don't care if you're in denial. Your thickheadedness doesn't change the facts.

I will repeat, for the umpteenth time: A police state doesn't exist only when everyone is arrested; a police state exists when everyone CAN be arrested. 

I already stopped flying in Oct 2010 when the Reign of Molestation was implemented. And I've long sung the praises of Amtrak, which I've taken countless times, including private sleeper cars, alone. I guess I'm going to have to change my tune.

By Conor Friedersdorf in The Atlantic:

How the DEA Harasses Amtrak Passengers

. . . The officer asked him why he was traveling, and at first seemed satisfied by his explanation. But he quickly changed his tone, began acting like he knew Heuser was guilty, and asked to search his room. Since Heuser had nothing to hide and felt intimidated a part of him wanted to comply. But as a fan of the ACLU and the son of hippie parents, he instead decided to assert his right to be free from unreasonable searches.

The DEA agent pressed the matter.

“After that he asked if he could bring a dog into my room to check out the bags, to which I again said ‘no,’” said Heuser, who hasn’t passed the bar but knows a little bit about Fourth Amendment law. “Finally he told me that he was going to bring a dog, walk it by my room, and that if alerted, my room would be searched. He told me that I could not argue this and that I was not allowed to be present for the search. His reasoning for violating my right to be present was that the dog might bite me.” 

. . . Then a DEA agent lied in an attempt to gain permission to search the room . . . 
“I found my backpack moved and open, and my wallet, which was set down on the room table, had $60 missing,” he said. “I told one of the dining car attendants that I felt Amtrak and the DEA violated my rights. She told me that Amtrak is forced to give passenger info to Feds, that the DEA comes on every trip, usually arresting someone in the sleeping car or taking all their money. When I asked for her name in case I needed it later she refused and told me Amtrak would fire her.”

I can tell you this: I'll be goddamned if I allow any of these goons to search my room or my belongings. Over my dead body.

The reason these kinds of violations are going on, all over the country, is because people are allowing them. Then again, why not? Americans think nothing of allowing their own and even their children's bodies to be assaulted at the airport. And the 4th Amendment is just a quaint remnant. Who gives a shit, right? After all, "if you haven't done anything wrong, you have nothing to worry about!" 

Civil liberties -- meh, who needs them?