protesters and police officers at checkpoint on Ocean Avenue, Kennebunkport, Maine. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
A small group warns drivers of a police checkpoint on a roadway.
The demonstrators aren’t necessarily effective at warning the drivers, but they are are effective at putting the police on notice that the people (a few of them, at least) are watching the cops and supporting the Constitution. The demonstrators are also effective at putting drivers (who go through the checkpoint) on notice that it’s possible to resist purported authority. And, thanks to their video on YouTube, there’s no telling how many more people will see and embrace the possibility of civil resistance to purported authority.
In the end, the demonstrators arenn’t simply warning motorists that they’re headed for a police checkpoint. The demonstrators are actually making a civil effort to resist martial law. The confrontation between the police and the demonstrators isn’t particularly dramatic, but it’s like a first round in a boxing match where the two opponents begin to feel each other out in anticipation of a later brawl. It’s fairly civil now, but we can wonder how much longer such confrontations will remain civil.
The incident is kinda funny and little profound. The cops ask the demonstrators if anyone speaks English. No one answers, but everyone is using their cell phones to video the police officers. (Something about the silence reminds me of the Blue Man Group.) Confronted by both silence and video cameras, the police seem befuddled.
A police lieutenant appears to try to walk into one of the demonstrator’s signs. I’m guessing that if he hit the sign, he mght charge the demonstrator with “blocking the public sidewalk” or some such. The demonstrator sees the cop coming, deftly moves the sign and defeats any potential conflict.
The cops go away. The people rule (laugh).
But in this mild confrontation, we can also see signs that an overt confrontation may be coming wherein the people will either choose to fight for their liberty or passively submit to governmental power–and the cops will choose to either serve and protect the people or serve and protect the government (by beating the people down). It might be a several years before we reach that confrontational moment–but when we do, either one side will back down, or we’ll see confrontations that are without trace of “civility” and openly violent.
If society degenerates to a point where confrontations with the police turn persistently violent, the cops can’t win. Police represent about 0.3% of the population. They’re outnumbered about 300 to 1–in a nation that’s armed to the teeth. If “powers that be” recruited all of the US military to help impose a police state in the USA, the cops and military together would still be outnumbered by about 150 to 1–in an armed nation.
Yes, the police state would have tanks and helicopters and bizarre new weapons for crowd control. But many of the police/military would side with the people. Even if they didn’t, their chances of violently subduing a nation where they’re outnumbered 150 to 1 is pretty close to zero. Even if you have a 50 caliber machine gun and your adversaries have nothing but rocks and bricks, if you’re outnumbered 150 to 1, you’re gonna lose.
If the police and military continue to choose to serve and protect the government rather than the people, I guarantee that the government will sacrifice every cop and enlisted man to maintain the government’s power. If the cops choose to continue as nothing more than knee-breakers for the mob that runs this country, they’re headed for personal catastrophe.
Any confrontation between the people and the police is ironic and even tragic in that the police and the people have far more in common with each other than either side has with the “powers that be”. From the perspective of the “powers,” the police are just “house niggers” and the people are “field niggers”. None of those “niggers” will ever be invited to feast in the massa’s mansion or marry the massa’s daughter. Any confrontation between the “house niggers” and “field niggers” will be viewed with glee by the “powers” (“Look! The niggers are killin’ each other! Ha!“)
Nevertheless, if the police insist on serving those “powers” rather than the People, the police will pay a price in the same sense that pround Nazi storm-troopers of WWII paid a price for “just following orders” of Adolph Hitler. Those storm-troopers thought they couldn’t be beat and fought to subject foreign and domestic peoples to the will of their government. But ultimately, those same storm-troopers helped to destroy their own nation and leave their children with a pile of guilt and rubble to grow up in. When a nation is rent by civil war, all sides suffer. Only a handful of “powers” truly profit. When a government works contrary to the best interests of its own people, that government (and those who work for it) is headed for oblivion.
In the end, the people still run this country. Insofar as any government comes overtly oppose the people’s best interests, the people will realize that opposition and then shut that government down. Those who fight for and defend a government that’s working against its own people are doomed to pay a very serious price.
video
00:06:04
In a similar vein, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) recently announced that they were making a “app” available for cellphones that would secretly record any confrontations with the police. The recording is sent to the ACLU for review and is stored outside of your cellphone so the cops can’t delete it.
Apparently, if you see the cops coming, you push 3 buttons your cellphone and the cellphone will record your “meeting”. The “app” is called “Police Tape“. You can learn more at:
http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2012/07/03/aclu-nj-launches-smartphone-app-that-lets-users-secretly-record-police-stops/
Or watch a brief video (00:02:20) at:
This app seems to work only for New Jersey. But, if so, we can expect to soon see similar apps for all of the other states. Pretty cool, hmm?
The police seem prone to increasingly violence as the police state advances. The people seem prone to increased civil resistance and even technological innovation to resist the police state. The people are trying to “play nice”. The government is trying to figure out how far the people can be pushed.
We shall see.
Joseph S Haas
July 5, 2012 at 12:31 PM
Alfred, I think the time and place for this was because what? that former President Bush was at his Summer Estate on the ocean there and so the local police on a request from “Secret Service” of to make sure that no rocket launchers be aimed at his windows? (;-) – - Maybe I’ve been watching too many Vic Morrow “Combat!” episodes on METV? (;-) BTW I like going swimming nearby at York Harbor Beach. The parking is free for all, but with a 2-hour limit.
Adask
July 5, 2012 at 1:00 PM
Yep. The picture in the attached photo involves the Bush administration. I only used it because I couldn’t bind a better photo to use for “police check points”.
Yartap
July 5, 2012 at 6:45 PM
SILENCE IS GOLDEN…….I just loved it!
Never talk to or answer the police. Do not consent to any request of their’s (ANY REQUEST). “Sir, will you pull your car to the side of the road.”(DO NOT MOVE). You ask only and all the questions. Repeat questions until YOU get their answer.
VALIANT LIBERTY
July 7, 2012 at 6:31 AM
You are exactly correct. Never, never, never under any circumstances, talk to the police, not even to say hello to a cop in church. Do not talk to other people when the cops are listening. Cops are always gathering intel so they can hang a rap on you. If you are confronted and questioned by a cop, answer his questions with your own questions such as, “Do I have any legal duty or obligation to answer?” “What exactly are you fishing for?” “What crime are you accusing me of?” Or perhaps, “Why do you need to know?” Maybe you might bluntly ask, “Are you attempting to trick me into incriminating myself?” That one really takes them aback. Or you might say, “I cannot answer that question without my attorney present.” If you are not terribly creative, you might simply tell them that, “I have nothing to say.” Everyone that is in prison talked to the cops and they will use whatever you say against you, so say nothing. You are not going to talk them out of giving you a traffic ticket or arresting you.
Answering questions with questions drives the crazy and there is nothing they can do about it. It becomes fun after a little practice. This technique works well on you children too. If you have children, practice on them. For instance, “Daddy, will you buy me that toy?” You say, “Why do you need it? What’s wrong with the toys you already have?” Why don’t you play with the toys you have?” The expressions on the faces of your children will be similar to the expressions on the faces of the cops once you perfect the technique.
Here is a link to a video of a real law professor and a cop lecturing a bunch of law students on why you should never talk to cops. It is worth your time. It might keep you out of jail. Take notes.
Jethro
July 6, 2012 at 7:55 AM
I fully agree the People and the cops have more in common with each other than they do with the PTB. However, I observe a trend where cops are increasingly relishing whatever little power they (may) wield. Instead of a spirit of service, they emit a spirit of dominance and compliance — “You do what I say! You OBEY ME!” Minor traffic stops become occasions to utilize intimidation tactics; airport waiting areas are patrolled by goons who expect you to “Comply with my orders!” They may be “house niggers” who’ve been given a few privileged crumbs over the “field niggers”, but if they continue down the same path, it’s not going to end well for them, massa’s glee notwithstanding.