What do the War on Drugs, the War on Terror, and campaign finance law have in common?
Police-state tactics.
Most folks now understand how the War on Drugs and the War on Terror can erode civil liberties — but how does campaign finance law fit in with the other two?
My weekend Townhall column explains.
Several years ago, Wisconsin’s Republican Governor Scott Walker sought to tame public unions in his state, and against much opposition — quite a bit of it national — not only succeeded in changing law but beat back a recall vote as well.
So Democratic Milwaukee County District Attorney John Chisholm orchestrated a crack-down on conservative groups supportive of Walker’s reforms, complete with night-time SWAT-team raids on the homes of activists who were, they judged, “on the wrong side.”
The thin rationale was possible campaign finance violations, the idea that citizens and their organizations “coordinating” with the governor to advocate for public policies is somehow illegal.
The police state tactics were used because they were available. And obviously thought to be politically acceptable. That the courts have now ruled the means — indeed, the whole probe by prosecutors — unconstitutional doesn’t negate the terrifying fact that the state used such horrific methods to attack peaceful people.
Clearly, people in government have used understandable fears regarding drugs and terrorism to erode our liberties, even when the “crimes” they fight with such illiberal overkill have nothing — absolutely nothing — to do with drugs or terror.
Except the drug that is — and the terror wielded by — out-of-control government.
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
4 replies on “Why Police-State Tactics?”
As usual a short succinct explanation that I will send to out to many who are complacent.. Many are still convinced that the police state tactics are for “those others, the bad people. But I am OK as I am a good person” Yeah, right.
From the 50s we had Dragnet, the TV show. When you had someone charged with a crime Friday and Gannon would just walk up to the door and ring the doorbell. Maybe have a squad car in case the suspect ran. This was for murderers and armed robbers. What it means is cops don’t have anything to do. And b) we need to restore grand juries to monitor and indict government criminality and aggression, like pronto. http://www.amazon.com/Hidden-4th-Branch-Governments-Nightmare/dp/1456566660/?tag=thecofcoa-20.
Surely somewhere we could find a hungry enough lawyer to sue this public official both professionally and personally.
This column scares me on so many levels. (Not that I wasn’t discouraged with the direction our country is going in to begin with.) Many years ago I read a book by James Wells, “The Underground Empire, Where Crime & Governments Embrace.” Alarming stuff about the collusion of governments with the various drug cartels to enact political gains, world wide. In this country it’s been extrapolated, after 9/11, to investigate, harass & terrorize those who don’t tow the political line.
What aren’t you on TV, Paul. You make more sense, succinctly, than all the talking heads on CNN, Fox, etc, put together.