"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." ~ H.L. Mencken
The Cops' Military Toys Aren't Just for Catching Terrorists
Contrary to popular belief, it’s not 9/11 that militarized police. The march toward cops who look and behave like soldiers occupying a hostile country started in the 80s. Richard Nixon declared a war on drugs, but it wasn’t until Ronald Reagan that it was decided that the conflict should involve real weapons of war. In the past 11 years, terrorism has been the excuse for all manner of police and security-state maneuvering, but it’s all part of the same drive toward giving law enforcement broader powers—supposed terrorism-fighting tools like “sneak and peek warrants” are used today to go after drug offenders.
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