Ron Paul: Police Manhunt For Boston Marathon Bombing Suspects, Scarier Than Attack

[FA_Q2]

You saw how many videos of people pulled from their homes at gun-point, out of the thousands of homes searched?

What were the exact circumstances of the gunpoint? Were they being the prisses I'm talking about, and blatantly trying to resist the necessary search for a loose terrorist in the area? Do you know everything, to draw a conclusion?

If you were an Officer in a shootout with bombs and guns between two men, and one of the men was loose within a restricted area, would you not be vigilant and take each vantage point for possible shooting, like second story windows, very seriously?

Who's shoes do you have to imagine being in? A guy from Tennessee who's totally separated from the bombing and not living or policing inside the area where the bomber is at large? I'm sure it's hard for people to understand when they don't even offer a modicum of "benefit of the doubt" to people inside such a dire situation as a man on the loose in a rural neighborhood who is thought to have bombs and an intent to mass-kill.

It's so easy, from the sidelines.

The entire incident in the first place was unjustified.

I, since I can only speak for myself here, am not attacking this incident based on the one video that we have (now 2 it seems) but rather on the entire incident in the first place. You keep referring to the *one* video as if that was indicative of the larger picture. There is a clear problem when we have MILITARY (not the police but MILITARY) involved in a criminal pursuit. When we quarantine an entire area of a city and demand that they search homes without warrants. That is unacceptable to me. This entire incident is a clear case of a complete overreaction because of this asinine fear of terrorism that we have allowed to fester in this country and it highlights how complacent of a society we have become to the powers that be every time that we are exposed to some errant terrorists plots.

What scares me most of all is that there are people such as yourself that are attacking those that raise the bullshit flag when this type of stuff happens. I should not see military on the streets of an American city unless they are simply traveling somewhere. I should not see them engaged in any kind of anti-criminal activity unless there is something on the scale of the LA riots going on (aka. Thousands of citizens have gone crazy). That is not the military’s purpose. Nor will I ever accept that the new ‘reasonable’ search and seizure includes thousands of people whenever the government damn well decides it.

Isnt using the military for policing a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act?

That is federal. I am unaware of what troops they used but I ASSUME (yes, that’s always a good idea, I know ) that it was the guard that was used. It takes to much red tape to engage the federals that fast. The guard only needs an order from the governor to get up and going.

Personally, it does not matter to me. The military has a purpose and they are trained and equipped for that purpose only. It is to bring death and destruction onto the target. They are not equipped like the police are where the purpose is keeping the peace. The two functions are completely different and the military simply does not belong on the streets.

 

[paulitician]

All just a test-run for when the real civil unrest shit hits the fan. This test-run proves that most Americans will go along with just about anything Big Brother does. Mission accomplished. Look for more hoarding of Ammo from Homeland Security. They're prepping for what they see as an inevitability.

 

[The Rabbi]

All just a test-run for when the real civil unrest shit hits the fan. This test-run proves that most Americans will go along with just about anything Big Brother does. Mission accomplished. Look for more hoarding of Ammo from Homeland Security. They're prepping for what they see as an inevitability.

Let's see what happens if they try that in, say, Montana, or Georgia.

 

[paulitician]

All just a test-run for when the real civil unrest shit hits the fan. This test-run proves that most Americans will go along with just about anything Big Brother does. Mission accomplished. Look for more hoarding of Ammo from Homeland Security. They're prepping for what they see as an inevitability.

Let's see what happens if they try that in, say, Montana, or Georgia.

This test-run was a huge success. The Sheeple will gladly go along with just about anything. Look for more of these operations in the near future. Our Government is well-aware of the awful Civil Unrest that is coming. This Welfare/Warfare State is going to collapse at some point. It cannot be sustained. And that's when our real problems begin.

 

[Londoner]

They had the clout to repeal the patriot act. It had terrible popularity, they all RAN ON GETTING RID OF IT and it was one of the more effective sticks that they used to beat Bush over the head with. At least it was that way up until they expanded and reauthorized it.

Both parties are in the bag for increased power. They are damn near identical these days on everything but tax policy. Even in that area, there is little difference as they tinker with the tax details and leave the major tax problems in place. Face it, the dems crave the power as the republicans do.

Perhaps you are right on all of this.

But I did want to tease out a particular concept, that is only tangentially related.

My sense is that the postwar GOP was hedged in by the New Deal and Big Government in the same way that the post-Reagan Left was hedged in by Reaganomics and (later) the War on Terror. Meaning, Nixon created the EPA and was a big government Keynesian because of the political climate - there was a consensus for Big Government. By that same logic Clinton supported deregulation and small government (at least rhetorically) because there was a consensus for market solutions. This is why Clinton ditched Labor for Wall Street along with passing NAFTA, which gave capital a tremendous advantage over Labor. It's also why he declared the "era of big government over" in his state of the union - and it's why his financial team was lead by noted Wall Street Free Marketeer Richard Rubin. He passed an entire universe of policies that were antithetical to his platform (and his base) because it made sense politically. Meaning, the other side hedged him into their policies as effectively as Nixon was hedged in by the still very powerful consensus for Big Government - (the same government that defeated the Nazis, built the Hoover Dam and the Interstate... and put a man on the moon. This is before the Reagan Revolution successfully convinced America that Government couldn't run a laundromat. During the Nixon presidency, more people still believed that government could be part of the solution. So Nixon was hedged in by this consensus).

Similarly with Obama and national security.

Powerful orators like Hannity and Levine supported the War on Terror - from Guantanamo to the Patriot Act and the erosion of Habeas Corpus. They claimed Obama was weak on national defense. They said it over and over. Michael Savage said he was a Muslim double agent. Indeed, had Obama dismantled national security tools like the Patriot Act, he would have given the other side exactly the press clippings they needed. They already have Bill Ayers on a terminal loop.

Optics are important, and both sides play the game. For instance, the Right has to be very shrewd about Medicare when they campaign in places like Florida. But their core principal is to repeal it. Listen carefully to Grover Norquist. He wants to go back to the America before Teddy Roosevelt and the Socialists took over.

Each side has "fifth rails" which force them into double speak and political gymnastics. But to the point: I'm giving Bush and Movement Conservatism more credit than you. I think the Rightwing message machine destroyed popular opposition to the Patriot Act, Homeland Security, and the War on Terrorism - all of which are Big Government nightmares that concentrate massive amounts of power and money in Washington (but don't make us any safer. Government can't end poverty, change the weather, or defeat evil. But they can waste money making all those things worse).

Dukakis had that famous photo taken of him in the tank not because he is strong on defense, but because the Right so effectively uses national security to win elections.

 

[Politico]

Isnt using the military for policing a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act?

Yeah execept they didn't.

 

[Jarlaxle]

They did. There were National Guard troops involved.

 

[Politico]

Who are not the regular military...fail.