Where are those gun waving conservitives to protect freedom now?

The United States Department of Homeland Security has outright admitted to be planning on expanding their 'political dissident reeducation vans' out beyond Portland.

The short version.

The original NPR interview.

If this doesn't scare the everloving SHIT out of you, it SHOULD. This is literally government sanctioned kidnapping. It's not 'police work'. It's not 'being arrested'. It is a group of unidentified armed and armored men grabbing people off the street. This is straight up exactly what China does. What Russia does. Are you a political dissident? You are now under threat of simply 'disappearing'.

You want to know why we're all getting our panties in a twist over 'fascists'? THIS IS FASCISM!!!

Comments

[Lofty Withers]

Nobody should be surprised.

[Latrans]

5317512
I'm certainly not at it happening, just that they're openly admitting to it already.

[Luminous Grace]

They're presumably back in their homes, lounging in piles of ammo while the authoritarian government they've always feared terrorizes people they don't like.

[iisaw]

5317512
When the DHS was hastily created during the panic after 911, there were many, many people who pointed out that, under the Patriot Act they could be used this way... as an unaccountable secret police. Those people were shouted down as unpatriotic.

Well...

Here we are.

[Latrans]

5317898
I have always hated the PATRIOT Act. It was a horrible reactionary cludge and blatant power grab. The surrounding discourse reminded me of this quote from an interview by Gustave Gilbert with some guy named Hermann Göring.

Göring: Why, of course, the people don’t want war. Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don’t want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood.

But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship.

Gilbert: There is one difference. In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars.

Göring: Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country.

For those unfamiliar (STUDY YOUR HISTORY, DAMMIT), look up just who this Mr. Göring was and try to think on how it might be relevant today.