Why is Bernie Sanders gaining so much traction? Because both he and his supporters want a larger and more powerful Federal Government. A larger, more powerful federal government has the power to DO things. But is that a power we truly want them to have?
His supporters don’t see any threat in Big Government. They have no place in their thinking for the axiom, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is also strong enough to take from you everything you have.”
Social Justice Warriors believe law enforcement is hopelessly corrupt and not to be trusted. But oddly, they don’t mean law enforcement as a whole. They specifically mean city police. Municipal cops. (Ironically, the same police they are calling bad will show up as heroes toward the end of this article.)
Grievances against police seem to melt away when you slap a federal badge on them. Is this because enormous government agencies are the means of forced compliance to government edicts? Likely — since Forced Compliance is a social agitator’s “mother’s milk”. Why shouldn’t it be? It forces public compliance with a system they’ve bullied into submission. “Nice political career you’ve got there. A shame if something should happen to it.”
But exactly what kinds of compliance are being forced by federal agencies?
There’s the (selective) tax compliance. SJWs don’t mind the IRS is throwing its weight around at political rivals. Enemy of my enemy is my friend, and all that.
What about when the EPA charged in to Chicken Alaska? The little mining town of 17 people had agents with weapons, “police” uniforms, and body armor storm in to check for violations of the clean water act. Apparently, such enforcement required significant “police” action.
Again, however, this is big government forcing the right kind of compliance, and only harassing the right kind of citizens. There’s no danger in Alaskan prospectors being the sort of people you might see at your hot yoga class or Starbucks. Carry, on. Nothing to see here.
Just like they wouldn’t care about a white rancher shot dead after a protest that hurt nobody, after the justice system violated his rights over starting a fire he had secured permission to start in the first place. I suppose the rancher “had it coming” but a “gentle giant” that tried to wrestle a gun away from a cop after robbing a store was harmless.
Abuse of federal power is nothing new. Remember ATF and Waco Texas? How well did that work out? But again, this doesn’t affect the SJW’s so they don’t care. By the way, did you realize that altogether there’s some 73 different armed federal agencies? Me neither.
This next example should spark some interest.
It should at least get the attention of the whole foods crowd, the natural food crowd, the ‘down with Monsanto” crowd, and even the 100 mile diet crowd. It might even help them see past this single issue to the wider story.
A farmer was taking his produce to market.
Normal enough so far, right? He was selling it to local people that liked his product. A legal product to a group of consenting adults. This group of consenting adults happened to be an organic co-op.
This was a win-win scenario, right? The farmer finds a steady supply of demand for his product, and the co-op finds a reliable supplier for their needs. Everybody’s happy, right?
Not everyone. The Government is not happy. Government agencies have decided they know better than the farmer or his customer about what they should and should not buy. Raw milk, after all, is dangerous. Or, something. Whatever their reason, they don’t like it. So they did something about it.
The FDA and the DOJ showed up at his farm every couple of weeks, poking around and asking questions. Whereas “typical inspections occur annually”, these guys kept coming back again and again: without a warrant.
And here’s where the heroic cop steps up in this story. Sheriff Brad Rogers (Indiana) stepped in on his behalf. He told the FDA (in a respectable manner appropriate to his office) to kindly piss off. The Sheriff emailed them this awesome warning:
I understand that you have made recent requests to (the farmer) for documents and to appear before a grand jury, and he has had a number of inspections and attempted inspections on his farm within Elkhart County. This is notice that any further attempts to inspect this farm without a warrant signed by a judge, based on probable cause, will result in federal inspectors’ removal or arrest for trespassing by my officers or I. In addition, if any further action is taken by the federal government on (the farmer), while he is in Elkhart County, I will expect that you or federal authorities contact my office prior to such action. I will expect you to forward this information to your federal associates, including the FDA
What was the result? The Grand Jury subpoena was cancelled, for one. They haven’t been back to bother the farmer since 2011, for another.
Here’s what people forget in denouncing police. Agencies are not corrupt. Individual people are corrupt. And people can be corrupt wherever they happen to work. We are faced with two choices for law enforcement.
The first is Authority known to the local population, someone who can be held personally accountable for horrible decisions by his own friends, relatives and neighbors. He has finite limits to their power and resources.
The second is Authority unknown to local population, where “the man behind the curtain” pulls levers and switches without ever seeing the people affected by his decisions. He is unconstrained by personal investment in or attachment to the community, or his personal reputation with those injured by his decisions. The scope of his power is limited only by how seriously he takes the laws he is to operate under, and the scope of his budget. Power is both easily gained and abused in this model. (I expound this idea further here.)
Federal authority does not have police-state powers. Even if it appears they may sometimes forget that. If it seems like they are coercing you to do something, find out whether they actually have the power to do so, before complying. The larger government grows, the more its powers resemble the abuses that first triggered the events of 1776.
This is where local cops get to shine like the good guys they are. May we see many more like them.
