[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gollum', 'I') reember thiking a few years ago when a lot of this was more acedemic conspiracy theory then reality that when the day came that the military arrested dissidents or fired on protestors it was time for the hunting rifles to come out in this country. I still feel the same way, but sure didn't expect it to happen this fast.

[gollum]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gollum', 'I') reember thiking a few years ago when a lot of this was more acedemic conspiracy theory then reality that when the day came that the military arrested dissidents or fired on protestors it was time for the hunting rifles to come out in this country. I still feel the same way, but sure didn't expect it to happen this fast.

[AgentR11]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gollum', 'B')ut will there be checkpoints where citizens are asked for their papers? Would the military search house to house for weapons at some point?

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('gollum', 'W')ould the military search house to house for weapons at some point?

[rangerone314]

Things get bad enough in this country, I'll just ditch everything and leave for an uninhabited island in a temperate zone I know of in South America.

[ritter]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'T')hings get bad enough in this country, I'll just ditch everything and leave for an uninhabited island in a temperate zone I know of in South America.

[rangerone314]

What I have in mind has substantially more elevation, lots of trees & fish in the area. Plus a cluster of other uninhabited islands near by.

[rangerone314]

To celebrate indefinite military detention in the US, I propose someone here rework the lyrics for this charming tune so it can be the new national anthem for the US: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMlJgh8yY4k

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'W')hat I have in mind has substantially more elevation, lots of trees & fish in the area. Plus a cluster of other uninhabited islands near by.

[Cloud9]

This is not a choice for old men with families. I will stand my ground and be burried in it.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Cloud9', 'T')his is not a choice for old men with families. I will stand my ground and be burried in it.

[rangerone314]

Put this out to McCain & Levin on the senate.gov contact form. Wonder if it will get a response or put me on a watch list for being a dissident. (I known what the answer would be in the Soviet Union)

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'T')here have been fundamental changes in the way the US government operates and in its relationship to its "subjects" (note: word "citizens" is no longer appropriate).

Since further changes are requested in the recent bill authorizing indeterminate detention, I suggest it is only appropriate to add an amendment to change the National Anthem as well to something more reflective of recent changes.

I suggest (of course changing the lyrics, for example "Fatherland" to "Homeland") to this charming tune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMlJgh8yY4k

[AgentR11]

I know folks hate it when I bring up capitulating to the inevitable; but civilians did manage to live and survive in Nazi Germany and communist USSR, even in East Germany under communism, people found a way to survive and be with their families.

You do have to come to accept that we have lost the right, or rather, the ability, to poke those with power in any meaningful way. I can't say that I'm happy with that change, but those in power don't seem to mind ranting nutbars on the net, nor wandering protestors on the street, as long as they keep their protests restricted to disrupting the activities of the middle class, and far away from the true nodes of power and wealth, and the infrastructure that they depend on. So perhaps we can console ourselves with the fiction of relevance for another decade or two...

Leaving the US, hoping for a better result, just doesn't seem very realistic to me. Best to harden oneself against the idiocy that is coming.

[rangerone314]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'I') know folks hate it when I bring up capitulating to the inevitable; but civilians did manage to live and survive in Nazi Germany and communist USSR, even in East Germany under communism, people found a way to survive and be with their families.

You do have to come to accept that we have lost the right, or rather, the ability, to poke those with power in any meaningful way. I can't say that I'm happy with that change, but those in power don't seem to mind ranting nutbars on the net, nor wandering protestors on the street, as long as they keep their protests restricted to disrupting the activities of the middle class, and far away from the true nodes of power and wealth, and the infrastructure that they depend on. So perhaps we can console ourselves with the fiction of relevance for another decade or two...

Leaving the US, hoping for a better result, just doesn't seem very realistic to me. Best to harden oneself against the idiocy that is coming.

[Cloud9]

Agent, I would submit that the reverse is true. The federal government is becoming more irrelevant by the day. The ascendancy of the federal government in the 20th century was brought about by external threats. The Red Scare, WW II, the Cold War and now the war on radical Islam were all vehicles that gave rise to the omnipotent, omnipresent state. The Reds joined and finally took over the Democratic Party. The Nazis were defeated. The Soviet Union fell in on itself. China turned to fascism. And now, the war on terror is looking a little ragged.
On the domestic scene, the federal government held the high ground on civil rights. Even though the racists didn’t like it, in their heart of hearts they knew that they were on the wrong side of history. As we look across the pantheon of presidents, it becomes readily apparent that the civil rights activists have won. A black man is no longer just a guest in the White House, a black man has the keys to the White House and it is the white men who are now the guests.
Now we see that the military industrial complex that Eisenhower warned us about has come to life and catapulted us into perpetual wars. We are wearing out our legions and our hospitals are filling up with maimed young men and women.
Congress as most exemplified by Barney Frank has quite literally gotten in bed with their crony capitalists sponsors and wrecked the economy. Social Security is turning into a bad joke. Medicare is unsustainable. The welfare roles expand by the day. The middle class is in ruins. Unemployment and under employment is rampant.
The federal government produces nothing. Many of its functions are redundant and reproduced on the state level. It is the largest single consumer of resources. As those resources become scarcer, the federal government will first attempt to consume its wards and then it will turn and cannibalize itself. Agency will fight agency for dominance and resources. Every job that went into Home Land Security is one job lost by the FBI and the CIA. The federal worker is no longer a civil servant, he is the new commissar.
The majority of the body politic now sees congress as a criminal class. More and more people are seeing the government as illegitimate. States are adopting doctrines of nullification. Some state officers have publicly referred to secession.
I don’t think it’s a done deal by a long shot.

[rangerone314]

If California ever got their s**t together and got rid of their welfare state, they could have a pretty good run as their own country, and even more so for Texas becoming their own country.

I'd say we gave a huge country a chance for representative government but it is just not tenable. Needs to be smaller regional governments, with more functions done locally, including food and energy production.

Federal government spends too much time butting into foreign countries affairs as well as blackmailing individual states with Federal money as a carrot, which the state's residents pay into.

Should have stuck with actual defence of the US, the postal service, scientific stuff like NASA and NOAA and USGS and stayed away from other crap.

[Newfie]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Pretorian', '')$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('rangerone314', 'W')hat I have in mind has substantially more elevation, lots of trees & fish in the area. Plus a cluster of other uninhabited islands near by.

[eXpat]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('AgentR11', 'I') know folks hate it when I bring up capitulating to the inevitable; but civilians did manage to live and survive in Nazi Germany and communist USSR, even in East Germany under communism, people found a way to survive and be with their families.

[careinke]

Well another chapter in the Obama crackdown on the free range slaves. Seems we now use predator drones in routine law enforcement. Although technically, it does not violate the Posse Comitatus Act, since they are US customs drones. Still, they are flown out of a military base.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-drone-arrest-20111211,0,324348.story

Big brother is watching you.

Just like Bush, Obama is a war criminal.

[Cloud9]

I think Big Sis has looked into the future and is scared shitless at what she sees. Control requires carrots and sticks. Run out of carrots and the stick wielders get trampled.