Two news items jumped out at me this morning as I did my daily news cruise, looking for fodder to appease the ever-hungry ifeminists.net newsfeed. On the surface, both items illustrate the totalitarianism that now rules the United States. Americans are no longer in danger of losing their freedom; it is gone. A more subtle message of the items, however, is the arbitrary manner in which power is being wielded by petty government agents, like airport inspectors, border guards or the police officer in the first story who arrests a woman for staring at his dog. He brutalized her not because she had broken a law but because he could and it gave him personal satisfaction. He got off on slapping her around, figuratively speaking, and he did so with a government salaray and protection. It is difficult to know which is the greater danger: the myriad of totalitarian laws that now control the daily details of life, such as whether your child can play with a rubber-band gun without being charged with a felony (the second story) or the almost absolute authority that agents like police or border guards can use in deciding whether you are 'suspicious' or otherwise out-of-line. At least, with Zig Heil laws, you can do research and make sure your paperwork/behaviour is in order. The government agent who is a bad mood or just loves aggrandizing himself/herself by brutalizing you is a wild card from whom no amount of compliance can protect you.
The two stories:
Animal cruelty case yields 'doggone' dismissal A woman facing jail time for "staring" at a police dog had charges against her dropped Monday after an Orange County prosecutor viewed videotape of the alleged crime. Jayna Hutchinson, now of Lebanon, N.H., was scheduled for a jury trial this week on a misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals.
11-Year-Old Arrested For Using Rubber Band Gun An 11-year-old Ocoee boy was arrested for playing with a toy gun. Police said the arrest was necessary, because it was a safety issue. The boy was using a rubber band gun and his father said the kid did nothing wrong, but police said they take it as a serious threat and the 11-year-old is facing felony charges.
You are invited to browse and/or join a libertarian BB that I moderate.
