Archive for the Civil Rights/Civil Liberties Category

First Annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence (October 17, 2016)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Courts, Credit Unions, Judges, Noble Prize in Jurisprudence on October 17, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “A prize dedicated to acknowledging and celebrating the work of someone who really knows something about jurisprudence and the impact of courts, judges, lawyers and police on the lives and livelihoods of ordinary citizens.  Someone who lives the conviction that men and women should establish and respect some norms and standards that are promulgated clearly to all and enforced equally in favor of and against all.”

J          “Novel.  Appropriate.  Necessary.  And unprecedented.”

K          “The recipient of the first annual Noble Prize In Jurisprudence is . . . all of the unnamed and uncelebrated lawyers and support staff who protect and advance civil rights and civil liberties in a legal system that is usually indifferent if not hostile to such fundamental concerns.”

. . .

J          “Politics does come full circle.  Libertarian Republicans and Democratic civil libertarians can find some common ground.  The high ground.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary announcing the Noble Prize in Jurisprudence at “Award Deadlines (Livelines?) (July 25, 2016)” and “Here Comes Da Judge; Dere Goes Da Justice (August 31, 2015)” and the earlier e-commentary cited in that e-commentary.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

You can’t have my rights; I’m still using them

October 20 – International Credit Union Day

The FBI File:  The American Imprimatur Of Success (January 18, 2016)

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, FBI, Genius, Kleptocracy, Police on January 18, 2016 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “In grammar school, they extol the sacrifices and accomplishments of Woodrow Guthrie, Martin King, John Kennedy and their like and ilk.”

J          “Artists, patriots, visionaries.  The usual suspects in America.”

K          “Only a few keep reading and realize that the true mark and measure of greatness in America is to be monitored and harassed by the FBI.”

J          “Nobels, Pulitzers, Grammys and Oscars are SO overrated.”

K          “How about calling it a ‘Hoover Award’ because he and his clan were hoovering information long before data mining was all the rage.”

J          “Outrage?”

. . .

K          “Some of the rank and file in the FBI have quietly and patiently collected a file on the real economic criminals in America, yet they are not allowed to act.”

. . .

J          “The machine gun demonstration at the end of the tour made an impression on a young mind.”

K          “Amazing that they still call it the ‘Hoover Building’ despite all the revelations.”

J          “I thought about becoming ‘Efrem Zimbalist, III’ every week.”

K          “Me too.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at King Daze (January 20, 2014).]

Bumper sticker of the week:

FBI:  America’s Stasi?

Chelsea And Ed:  Time For “Con” “dign” Treatment (November 30, 2015)  

Posted in Awards / Incentives, Bureaucracy, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, O'Bama, PATRIOT Act, Privacy, Profile In Courage Award, Supreme Court on November 30, 2015 by e-commentary.org

 

. . .

K          “Tomorrow is the one year anniversary of Edward Snowden’s receipt, along with  several standing ovations in the Swedish parliament, of the Right Livelihood award for his revelations of the scale of government surveillance and monitoring.  And a fortnight ago O’Bama announced the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and forgot to mention Edward.  And right after he released Edward Pollard, a spy who pedaled state secrets for money.”

J          “He released the wrong Ed.  He’s a busy guy.”

K          “The absurdity and the insanity and the dishonesty and the hypocrisy continue in overdrive.”

. . .

K          “For two individuals who did so much to protect our liberty and freedom, neither of them should lose a moment’s freedom or liberty.  Require them each to do one thousand hours of community service.  To send a message that actions have consequences.” 

. . .

K          “The FISA Amendments Act (FAA) is the unconstitutional law that allows the government to wiretap Americans who are communicating with people overseas.  Under the FAA, the government can conduct this surveillance without naming individuals and without a traditional warrant based on a showing of probable cause.”

J          “Despite the Fourth Amendment that requires a warrant.”

K          “Yup.  Despite the Fourth Amendment that requires a warrant.  When the Supreme Court addressed whether the unconstitutional law is unconstitutional the Supreme Court did not address the constitutionality of the law itself and instead ruled that the plaintiffs could not prove the surveillance was ‘certainly impending’.”

J          “We suffer because of the ignorance and intentional naiveté and dishonesty of the Supreme Court.  Goes to show.”

K          “They are only running show trials.  The plaintiffs were held not to have the ‘standing’ necessary to sue.  They were just a group of lawyers, journalists, and human rights advocates who regularly communicate with likely ‘targets’ of FAA wiretapping.”

J          “Seems like a ‘stand up’ group of individuals to me.”

K          “Since the ‘stand up’ group of Americans did not have definitive proof that they were being surveilled under the FAA, they cannot challenge the constitutionality of the unconstitutional statute.”

J          “And the government nearly always keeps its surveillance activities secret.”

K          “But you always knew they were illegally surveilling.”

J          “Sure.”

. . .

K          “‘Condign punishment’ is the ideal punishment that balances the rights and responsibilities of the individual and the society.  ‘Con’ means ‘with’ and ‘dign’ means ‘dignity’ so that condign means to provide ‘with dignity’.”

. . .

K          “Both should be given the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  They have made great personal sacrifices for our freedom.”

. . . 

[President O’Bama failed to name Edward Snowden as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.  Again.  https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/11/16/president-obama-names-recipients-presidential-medal-freedom.  He cannot.  Yet he could pardon Ed and Chelsea on the way out.]

[See the e-commentary at Hero or Traitor? (June 10, 2013), Profile In Cowardice Award (May 12, 2014) and Profile in Courage Award, 2015 (May 11, 2015).]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“For especially meritorious contribution to (1) the security or national interests of the United States, or (2) world peace, or (3) cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”  Presidential Medal of Freedom

And Edward Pollard, a spy who pedaled secrets for money, gets released.

The Police v. The People: The War Expands (November 9, 2015)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Collapse, Crime/Punishment, Police, Prison/Criminology, Race, Republicans, Unions on November 9, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

2          “Petit bourgeoisie.  That is a more accurate description.”

. . .

1          “My nick name for her is ‘Mary Poppins.’  The cop barked at her to produce her insurance and registration.  Shook up, she found both in her glove box and produced them.  He screamed at her:  ‘This is your registration and insurance.  I said I want your insurance and registration.’”

2          “A picture of one of his grand kids stuck to his driver’s license.  The cop exploded that he didn’t tell him to give him pictures of his little bastards.”

1          “She said she was relieved to be pulled over.  The car behind her had been tailgating and flashing the high beams and speeding up and slowing down as she sped up and slowed down.  The cop was hostile and cited her for speeding and reckless driving.  She also displayed out-of-state tags.  In the South.”

2          “The cop laughed and said to produce a driver’s license and proof of insurance without taking his hands off the steering wheel.”

. . .

1          “All White, all polite, all contrite and all over 48.”

2          “And yet only in the petit bourgeoisie.  When a White person who abides the law cannot even abide the law, the system is profoundly broken.”

. . .

1          “One concern with the ‘Hands Up, Don’t Shoot’ movement is that the hands must go up when the police make a reasonable request and not later at some rally with all the usual glitterati.  The troubling concern with the ‘Pants Up, Don’t Loot’ movement is that the adherents do not like Blacks.”

. . .

1          “More so than at any time in the history of the Republic, might makes right today.  For a few moments, cops have absolute might.”

2          “More so than at any time in the history of the Republic, the police are militarized Legionnaires defending Rome in its last days.”

. . .

1          “Have you noticed that some Republican governors who attack unions do not challenge the police unions.”

2          “They know who has the guns.”

. . .

1          “The cops have expanded the enemies list to include more than the usual suspects.  Blacks and Browns are not alone.  The police now only exempt the very wealthy from their wrath.”

2          “That is a curious notion of equal protection.”

. . .

1          “There will be repercussions.”

. . .

[See the e-commentary at Police Police (November 24, 2014) and at the Category “Police.”]

Bumper sticker of the week:

PIGs:  Pride, Integrity, Guts

Monitoring The Masses:  The Card And The Chip (January 12, 2015)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, Boycott Series, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Crime/Punishment, Cyberactivities, First Amendment, Freedom / Liberty, Gold, Guns, Our Future?, Plastic, Pogo Plight, Police, Privacy, Silver, Society, Technology, Terrorism on January 12, 2015 by e-commentary.org

. . .

X          “Failure to present The Card, even when there is no cause or provocation, will result in immediate incarceration and summary disposition.  If The Card is not physically maintained within a fathom of The Chip, The Chip will transmit a warning signal to Headquarters and trigger an unwelcome visit.”

Z          “I hear you.  Coming to a country near you.  Everyone is now familiar with a credit, a debit or an EBT card, so the transition will be unnoticed and unchallenged.  All movement, travel, purchases and sales will be monitored at all times by The Chip implanted at birth without permission.  Cash will be non-existent and free movement only a memory.  A few rebels may barter surreptitiously, yet bartering will be more than a mere failure to report income and will also result in immediate summary disposition.  Possession of any precious metals such as Fe, Pb, Au or Ag will be strictly prohibited and swiftly prosecuted.”  

X          “Plastic cards have encouraged excessive over-consumption to date, yet they could also be used to ration scarce resources in the future.  Market the idea to the public with unrelenting fear.  ‘We’ need to adopt the system to protect us from The Terrorists.” 

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s science fact.

Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s political and economic fact.

Are your papers in order?  Is your plastic in order?

When the big boys make a run on the bank and demand a repatriation of their gold, should the little guys make a run on the bank and demand a return of their fiat dollars?

Nous sommes Charlie?  Is the concern freedom of expression for all or only for some?

Boycott TurboTax:  See Internet

Marital Musings (December 22, 2014)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Constitution, Courts, Economics, Gold Standard, Kleptocracy, Movie Reference, Radio, Russia, Silver Standard, Society, Sports, Supreme Court on December 28, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

H1        “So she said we had to set aside some time for a conversation.  I knew it would get bad.”

H2        “You don’t get to say anything.”

H1        “Except when spoken to.  So she said she had to confess that she was thinking about someone else while we were in medias res.  And she said that she was now happy to have gotten if off her chest.  I said that was fine.  She could be thinking about Mr. Magoo if it will get us through the night.  From my perspective, if I can handle the kitchen remodel, junior can get braces.  But it ended up not being fine.  I should have been upset.  She was upset that I was not upset.  I was beginning to get sort of upset that she was upset that I was not upset.”

H2        “Nothing about Gina Lollobrigida.”

H1        “She would have exercised the proviso ‘til death do us part’ and parted with me.”

. . .

H2        “She asked if I noticed that she had put on weight.  I had not noticed, so I told her that I had not noticed.  I am thinking that I get 100 points for candor and honesty and being a great guy and for being a little oblivious.  Maybe an MVP award and a hall pass.”

H1        “And she was upset that you were not upset.  And it was Katie bar the door with Katie showing you the door.”

H2        “I didn’t get a pass.  I told her that once she made the cut and was on the team, things like that did not really matter.”

H1        “And she parsed every phrase.”

H2        “‘Made the cut’ and ‘on the team’ are two separate concepts.  Saying that it is like two wrestlers who make weight and then each go off and have bacon cheeseburgers did not assuage her anxiety.”

. . .

H1        “We conversed with a counselor who opined about psychological affairs versus physical affairs and provided few insights to address our financial affairs.”

H2        “Do you think he was safe?”

H1        “She is sure that we only talk about sex.”

H2        “Safe by a mile.  Replay is clear.”

. . .

[See the latest sophistry from the Supreme Court that vitiates the Fourth Amendment.  http://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-604_ec8f.pdf.  An illegal stop is an illegal stop and not a legal stop.]

[See the commentary at “Henrietta And Henry O, Two Young Lovers: The Contemporary Gift Of The Magi (December 27, 2010).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

“Honey, would you rather I were making love to him using your name, or making love to you using his name?”  Annie Savoy, Bull Durham (1988)

Russian Exceptionalism > or = or < American Nationalism

The COMEX is instituting trading collars for the sale of gold and silver.  And the answer to Will Shortz’ “Sunday Puzzle” seeking the correct anagram for “Comex” is . . . “Fraud.”

Police Police (November 24, 2014)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Courts, Ferguson, Forfeiture, Freedom / Liberty, Judges, Judicial Arrogance, Judiciary, Perjury, Perjury/Dishonesty, Police, Race on November 24, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

D          “Do you trust the police?”

L          “No.  You?”

D          “No.  But you are White and in the ruling class?”

L          “The petit bourgeoisie perhaps, but hardly in the ruling class.  Look at you.  You are White and in the ruling class.”

D          “The medical guild?  At least you are a sustaining member of the rule class.  You make the rules, you break the rules.  Imagine what would happen if I were not in the White class.”

L          “No need to imagine.”

D          “I try not to interface with the police, because they just get in my face.  The last police officer who pulled me over when I was driving at precisely the speed limit said that if I moved in any way, he would shoot and then charge me with resisting arrest and attempting a battery on a police officer.  Then he laughed and said to produce a driver’s license and proof of insurance without taking my hands off the steering wheel.  When a White person who abides the law cannot even abide the law, the system is profoundly broken.”

L          “The first fifteen seconds are critical.  I got a trooper talking about his success on opening day and was let off with a warning.  Saved by gadwalls and pintails.  And I had been burning the carbon off the rings before he arrested my momentum and let me off with a warning.”

D          “So I need to shoot a gun not to get shot.”

L          “I have seen the police serve as a private army for private parties against those who are not connected.  And the judges who are petitioned to remedy the situation do not care at all as long as they get paid their regular pay check and handsome pension.  That’s the solution.  Before you get pulled over, you need to be a judge first.  The cops apologize and wish the judge a good day.  Drink with candid judges to get the full story.”

D          “I’ll pass.  Or stay in my lane and stay below the speed limit.  The last time a neighbor called the cops, the cops would not respond until halftime.  And the home team was not even in scoring position in the second quarter.”

L          “I had someone try to invade the house and the cops discounted it as petty vandalism without a second thought.  Petty vandalism is not investigated.  Judges have said privately that cops lie all the time under oath on the stand.  When I asked a judge why he always accepts their testimony, he stated without hesitation that he is paid to believe the cops.”

D          “A judge on the ethical take who takes the cop’s word.  At least they did not discount the possible home invasion as mere hooliganism.  You can understand those who observe:  ‘When seconds counts, the police are minutes away.’  The cops are a quarter or an inning or a period away.  We are on our own.”

. . .

L          “Congress should pass omnibus legislation that repudiates and repeals and pre-empts each and every forfeiture statute of any kind by any government at any time under any circumstances.  When police shake down a citizen today, they can later allege that they were engaged in a civil forfeiture in the field.”

D          “Get a car or a boat or a plane that the cops don’t want to steal from you.  They always want money.”

. . .

D          “I am not even a lawyer, but I could see that the prosecutor Bob McCulloch sent clear signals to the grand jury.  The grand jury had heard dozens of cases in previous weeks that included a suggestion by the prosecutor to return a bill.  Except in that one case.  The grand jury obeyed.  The process failed.  Now and forever, there is no way for the process to unfail.  Law is too important and complex to leave to the lawyers and judges.”

L          “Rest assured, prosecutors lie all the time.”

D          “Lawyers and judges rationalize their many mistakes by saying that time has passed and the matter is over.  My colleagues bury our mistakes when we bury the body.  Yet, your violations to the body politic live on forever.  One of the lingering problems is that there are many bad if not evil characters out there who are far more of a threat than the police, yet the police are the only ones who threaten me.”

L          “The country needs to debate a national truce or there will be continued strife.”

. . .

Bumper stickers of the week:

When seconds counts, the police are hours away harassing an innocent citizen or watching the next play.

“A doctor can bury his mistakes, but an architect can only advise his clients to plant vines.”  Frank Lloyd Wright

De-militarize the police; police the military

Nobody Cares

Ebola: The Halcyon Days Of The Panic-demic In A “Peak” Health Care-less System (October 13, 2014)

Posted in Book Reference, Bureaucracy, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Ebola, Health Care, Military, Pogo Plight, Population, Privacy, Public Health on October 13, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

1          “Who can you trust?  Events are moving so quickly.  Fraud and deception work effectively in finance and politics, but Mother Nature is indifferent to and immune from the shenanigans and machinations of mortals.”

2          “The government and the public are still mired at Stage 1.  The government is denying the threat because it has no plan.  The public is denying the threat because it has no idea.”

1          “I am collecting the quotations of the major players to document the response in real time.  Dr. Frieden with the CDCE and Dr. Fauci with NIAID/NIH are not prepared and have not been candid.  A test patient, Dr. Nancy Snyderman with NBC, agrees to a voluntary quarantine and then brazenly violates the quarantine, refuses to accept responsibility and escapes accountability.”

2          “We as a society need to move through the stages from denial to anger to bargaining to depression to acceptance of a plan more quickly than the virus is moving.”

1          “The health care-less system will peak after it fills the nineteen available beds.”

. . .

2          “Easy to say that everything reasonable must be done to contain and eliminate the menace in West Africa.”

. . .

2          “Viewers of Fox tv are yelling at the tube for the government to do something.  The Republicans who advertise on the network cut funding to the CDCE and other programs.”

1          “If the Democrats had provided an additional five billion dollars in funding to the CDCE, what would have happened?”

2          “The CDCE would have lobbied for another five billion dollars.”

1          “Or ten.  And yet the Democrats cut funding, as if any amount of funding matters.  Some researcher who sent repeated e-mails to those in power warning of the dangers of Ebola is not happy.”

2          “I can forward some of the e-mails.”

. . .

2          “A communicable disease is communicated by public transportation.  Even if the disease is not transmitted at this time via air, the public is transmitted via air.  Ebola is small enough to fit in a ‘carry on’ bag.  Ebola will hitchhike and stow away.  Air travel must be purposefully restricted.  Restrictions are costly, but the costs of limiting air travel must be weighed against the costs of not limiting air travel.”

1          “All costs should be calculated.  We need to address the resulting deprivations of privacy and limitations on constitutional rights before the public is too terrified to think.”

. . .

2          “One of the bench marks will be bleach sales.”

1          “Or overflow patients camping in tents in parking lots.”

. . .

1          “The female RNs are underpaid to do the work while the male MBAs who make the decisions take almost all the profits.  The RNs are underpaid to care for the sick and the dying and are not paid anything to get sick and to die in the process.  When a nurse is called in to care for someone sick with Ebola at an institution unprepared for the challenge, she or he should in good conscience call in sick.”

2          “She or he will get there and then be blamed for the negligence of the hospital.”

1          “The American military personnel being deployed to Africa are not being provided combat pay.  The ‘charge of the blight brigade’ should occasion charges against those giving the orders.”

2          “No one gets it.”

1          “Everyone will get it unless all of us get it.”

. . .

[See http://prosperouswaydown.com/category/subtopics/healthcare-subsystems/ebola-healthcare-subsystems/  Five stages of grief and five stages of collapse in a dire scenario.  http://cluborlov.blogspot.com/2014/10/ebola-and-five-stages-of-collapse.html#more.  Consider Earth Abides by George R. Stewart.]

Bumper stickers of the week:

Be clean

Get a flu shot

Wash your hands

Take your kids to the park

Prepare to hunker down

Be calm and panic (but do so with poise and dignity)

The Federal Government, In Practice (September 15, 2014)

Posted in Banks and Banking System, CIA, Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Congress, Courts, Federal Reserve, Judges, Judicial Arrogance, Judiciary, National Defense Authorization Act / FY 2012, Presidency, USA PATRIOT Act on September 15, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

S          “So the Founding Fathers are blamed for and credited with many things.  Everyone agrees they were inspired by Montesquieu’s notion of the separation of powers providing for executive, legislative and judicial functions.  The division of labor and duties seems so clean and elegant in your civics class.  Yet, in practice, the process is so tainted and untidy.”

T          “In my class, I try to tidy up the mess.  I present this outline of the grand plan on the board to spark discussion:

Post 1787:          Theory:     Practice:

President            34%           30% (implement laws)
Congress             33%           60% (make laws)
Judiciary             33%           10% (interpret laws)
National Bank      0%             0% (inspire debate)

The judiciary was little more than an administrative agency with possibility until the Supreme Court developed the doctrine of judicial review in Marbury v. Madison in 1803.  The political plate tectonics shifted and now we have:

2014:

President                             44% (determines most major domestic and foreign policy initiatives)

Congress                              21% (drives economic activities via substantial ad hoc spending largely for defense, interest and entitlements)

Judiciary                              35% (makes laws)

Federal Reserve                 33% (the private bank with the misleading name establishes monetary policy and directs fiscal policy by default because of Congressional grid lock and thus effectively runs the economy, with little public participation)

National Security State    39% (shapes domestic and foreign affairs via a motley and myriad montage of agencies, contractors, sub-contractors and others with little oversight)

S          “So sixty-eight percent of government policy is imposed by federal judges and the Federal Reserve Board of Governors/Big Bankers who are not elected.”

T          “The Founding Fathers are said to have been anti-democratic.  I know they would be surprised at what has emerged in practice in America.”

S          “So thirty-nine percent of domestic and foreign surveillance and activities are determined by unknown and unaccountable agents and operatives.”

T          “Who knows.”

. . .

S          “So we need to track the federal Debt which is now over 17 Trillion dollars and also the Federal Reserve Debt which is now over 4 Trillion dollars.”

T          “While you are at it, try to fathom the 100s of Trillions of dollars in derivatives that were never on the Founding Fathers’ radar and are off the public radar today.”

S          “That fraud will doom the Republic some day.”

. . .

S          “So the Big Bankers favor war because it is so profitable, so the large number of Big Bankers in power results in an over-production of war.”

T          “Accord.”

. . .

T          “Republicans want a powerful ‘unitary’ President when a Republican is in the White House and an effete President when a Democrat is in the White House.”

S          “And everyone agrees that federal judges are politicians in black robes.”

T          “Accord, young scholar.  See why this is so much fun.”

. . .

[T:  Teacher; S:  Student]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The Declaration of Independence is America’s Original Organic Poem.  The Constitution is America’s Owners’ Manual.  Signed on September 17, 1787.

There is no law.  There is only ideology.

Watertown? Ferguson? Your Town? Your Son? Will They Allow It In Laramie? (August 11, 2014)

Posted in Civil Rights/Civil Liberties, Ferguson, Guns, Military, Oath Keepers, Police, Race on August 11, 2014 by e-commentary.org

. . .

K          “The official response to the Boston Marathon bombing provided a convenient beta test for the imposition of martial law in America.  Systematic house-to-house raids in locked-down Watertown, Massachusetts gave us a glimpse of the future.”

J          “They did not even look like cops.  They did not look like a para-military.  They looked like the military on a mission to search and destroy.  They dress in riot gear and expect to chaperon a cotillion?”

K          “They are now roaming Ferguson as if it is Fallujah.  The foreign policy doctrine that ‘It became necessary to destroy the village in order to save it’ may now be a doctrine of American domestic policy.”

J          “A few ordinary citizens in Watertown obtained a few seconds of furtive images on cell phones that were avoided by the major television networks and archived on YouTube.  You too can view and decide.”

K          “In a crisis, the Internet and cell phones in an area could be disabled by the authorities.  Someone may need to capture an event with a Polaroid and celluloid and communicate with cans and a string.”

. . .

K          “Too many citizens think they will make their last stand with their gun in hand.  The authorities will simply vaporize someone who is inconvenient.”

J          “Some folks are fooling themselves.  Any citizen who resists will be secreted away at night or exterminated without seeing the light of day.”

K          “One of the recent challenges is a failure.  The public response by some at the Cliven Bundy Ranch in Bunkerville, Nevada was misplaced and misdirected.  Bundy is a racist deadbeat who owes money to all of us for exploiting our land for years.  The public must fight the right fight.”

J          “When you loot a local business, you lose a local business.”

. . .

J          “Nixon asked if it would play in Peoria to gauge whether Middle America would allow it.”

K          “Some say they may have tolerated it in Massachusetts because the state has strict gun control laws.”

J          “Will they allow it in Laramie?”

. . .

[See the e-commentary titled “Men In Pink: Today’s Sensitive New SWAT Togs (August 20, 2012).”]

Bumper stickers of the week:

The folks in Ferguson, Missouri appear not to yearn to allow it

De-militarize the police; police the military