{Time Magazine} Rand Paul: We Must Demilitarize the Police... mentions ferguson & michael brown

[Prince.Skeletor]

Anyone who thinks race does not skew the application of criminal justice in this country is just not paying close enough attention, Sen. Rand Paul writes for TIME, amid violence in Ferguson, Mo. over the police shooting death of Michael Brown

The shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown is an awful tragedy that continues to send shockwaves through the community of Ferguson, Missouri and across the nation.
If I had been told to get out of the street as a teenager, there would have been a distinct possibility that I might have smarted off. But, I wouldn’t have expected to be shot.

The outrage in Ferguson is understandable—though there is never an excuse for rioting or looting. There is a legitimate role for the police to keep the peace, but there should be a difference between a police response and a military response.

The Cato Institute’s Walter Olson observed this week how the rising militarization of law enforcement is currently playing out in Ferguson:
Why armored vehicles in a Midwestern inner suburb? Why would cops wear camouflage gear against a terrain patterned by convenience stores and beauty parlors? Why are the authorities in Ferguson, Mo. so given to quasi-martial crowd control methods (such as bans on walking on the street) and, per the reporting of Riverfront Times, the firing of tear gas at people in their own yards? (“‘This my property!’ he shouted, prompting police to fire a tear gas canister directly at his face.”) Why would someone identifying himself as an 82nd Airborne Army veteran, observing the Ferguson police scene, comment that “We rolled lighter than that in an actual warzone”?

The militarization of our law enforcement is due to an unprecedented expansion of government power in this realm. It is one thing for federal officials to work in conjunction with local authorities to reduce or solve crime. It is quite another for them to subsidize it.
Americans must never sacrifice their liberty for an illusive and dangerous, or false, security. This has been a cause I have championed for years, and one that is at a near-crisis point in our country.
Let us continue to pray for Michael Brown’s family, the people of Ferguson, police, and citizens alike.

http://time.com/3111474/rand-paul-ferguson-police/

 

[DEAD7]

I can't wait to hear the spin.

 

[theworldismine13]

bu bu bu bu bu but.....

 

[Prince.Skeletor]

On top of just making sense the other thing i like about libertarians is they try not to play the partisan game!

 

[SuperNintendo Chalmers]

What he said was on point

 

[Poppa_Dock]

im wondering is it really just to dump surplus equipment or maybe they want to make it look liek the "cops got this" so the people don't try to arm themselves too crazy. Lots of people make it look like they are trying to build some army but you have to think it's a free country, if they are building some force to oppress people how are they going to keep all the officers in order in a free country? Put yourself in the position of the hypothetical oppressive government goon, i want that blackwater salary...are they going to pay me and all the guys with me that? I literally want hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Government can't be paying millions of goons that type of money. It just seems so unrealistic to me the idea of some gustapo type force.

 

[humble forever]

im wondering is it really just to dump surplus equipment or maybe they want to make it look liek the "cops got this" so the people don't try to arm themselves too crazy. Lots of people make it look like they are trying to build some army but you have to think it's a free country, if they are building some force to oppress people how are they going to keep all the officers in order in a free country? Put yourself in the position of the hypothetical oppressive government goon, i want that blackwater salary...are they going to pay me and all the guys with me that? I literally want hundreds of thousands of dollars a month. Government can't be paying millions of goons that type of money. It just seems so unrealistic to me the idea of some gustapo type force.

Bro, blackwater does not make near that much


Rand is right here, even though im not a fan of the guy

 

[Poppa_Dock]

Bro, blackwater does not make near that much


Rand is right here, even though im not a fan of the guy

but i would want that wouldn't you? North America is way past a "warrior class" where people will just breed themselves to be warriors. People are going to want shyt to hold it all together. Me personally i'd want millions of dollars and thousands of acres of land. If they don't do that i'll start my own militia, and occupy thousands of acres of land somewhere else. You see all the dudes who come from army regiments, you think if a bunch of 82nd airborne guys agree to hold down the government, and say half of them change their mind, you think the other half would gun them down as traitors? I highly doubt it, they would all just go start a separate militia. Basically if the government thinks that in revolution tons of people would rather fight for the US government rather than just move to some place in the middle of nowhere and start their own colony type thing then they are retarded. Which is why i don't believe any of this nonsense about the government wanting to oppress everybody because it simply wouldn't work.

 

[ryshy]

but i would want that wouldn't you? North America is way past a "warrior class" where people will just breed themselves to be warriors. People are going to want shyt to hold it all together. Me personally i'd want millions of dollars and thousands of acres of land. If they don't do that i'll start my own militia, and occupy thousands of acres of land somewhere else. You see all the dudes who come from army regiments, you think if a bunch of 82nd airborne guys agree to hold down the government, and say half of them change their mind, you think the other half would gun them down as traitors? I highly doubt it, they would all just go start a separate militia. Basically if the government thinks that in revolution tons of people would rather fight for the US government rather than just move to some place in the middle of nowhere and start their own colony type thing then they are retarded. Which is why i don't believe any of this nonsense about the government wanting to oppress everybody because it simply wouldn't work.

Ud be surprised

 

[Cabbage Patch]

Meanwhile, the NRA is still silent, and the wannabe state militias doubled down on the Mexican border several states away. I see them working.

 

[Consigliere]

This is an issue that Dems and Repubs should be united on.

 

[Brown_Pride]

see the issue with this dude is you can agree with a lot of things he says but then there's stuff he says, and libertarians in general that have me feeling like this.

 

[Consigliere]

see the issue with this dude is you can agree with a lot of things he says but then there's stuff he says, and libertarians in general that have me feeling like this.

Biggest issue with his potential presidency would be his inability to do any of the wonderful things he's speaking about. The status quo reigns supreme and both parties are at fault. Unless you're talking about tax cuts and military spending or more corporate welfare forget about passing legislation.