19

WANBO™, (welcome to America, now bend over)

   I just happened to be watching TV the other day and an episode of Cops came on, (not my preferred viewing pleasure), unfortunately the remote was a few inches out of reach. (Oh well, I’ll just have to suffer through it). I noticed that while there where a lot idiots getting arrested (and rightly so), I also noticed that in the majority of cases the rights of the individual were completely ignored. Watching this show on a regular basis would lead the viewer to believe that they have no rights during a police stop. One instance had an individual told to exit his vehicle, at which point he was handcuffed, (presumably for the officers protection), then searched. At what point in time did the police have the right to do a routine traffic stop, handcuff and search an individual with out probable cause, or does our mere presence on the road now constitute probable cause?
  
    The Fourth Amendment of the constitution, (remember the constitution? It’s there to protect our rights), prohibits unwarranted search and seizure, the Fifth Amendment gives you the right to not answer any questions. It would seem, (from this show anyway), that being removed from your vehicle and being handcuffed and detained without probable cause is becoming the normal, accepted practice. It appears to be a violation of your constitutional rights, and if you don’t exercise your rights you lose them. You don’t have to cop an attitude or be rude to the police, they have a job to do after all, but you also have “Constitutional Rights” that “They are Sworn to Protect, so the police shouldn’t cop an attitude if you insist on your rights.

   Now granted the episodes shown on TV are undoubtedly an extremely small percentage of all the traffic stops recorded by the Dashboard Cameras, an of course are selected solely for dramatic effect, the point is this; If you see something often enough then it becomes the accepted norm, and this is where the problem lies.

   The large percentage of Police Procedural shows on TV attest to the fact that the majority of the populace watch these shows, and since TV is a vastly superior method of modifying social behavior on a mass scale, we soon become accustomed to, and accept these breaches of our constitutional rights, as long as the bad guy gets it in the end.

   Another interesting thing I’ve noticed on these shows are the episodes where some naïve high school kid gets stopped and arrested for purchasing drugs at a “Known Crack House”, now if it’s a “Known Crack House”, bust the dealer and the problem is solved. It seems almost as if they leave the “Known Crack House” in operation, and since drug dealing is not taxable by it’s very nature of being illegal, they can tax the dealer by proxy (busting the buyer), and thereby generate income. Same for prostitution, pick up the prostitutes or the john’s every once in a while and collect tax through the fines they impose and generate a renewable income when the town coffers get low.
 
   At what point in time did the police stop being our friends, what is that point in our moral compass where the common good changed into the common desire for the accumulation of cash/power. I was going to include politicians in the equation but that moral compass has been spinning wildly since the advent of the ogglets. The main goal today seems to be the separation of the “common oggs” from their hard earned income, which seems to be the case in all aspects of our current lifestyles. The “common ogg really just wants enough money to live a relatively comfortable life free from worry, while the rich and powerful want the same thing but on a 80’ yacht berthed at a dock at their million dollar vacation home, (slightly different idea of comfort).    The “common oggs” just want their children to have good educational opportunities, good health care, and of course the rights afforded by our constitution, (or are they just privileges that can be revoked at any time?). It just seems that for most, hard work and perseverance don’t pay off like they used to, and the constant struggle to maintain, “the head above water posture”, is a losing battle. Everyone wants a piece of your pie and, they all want a larger piece than the next guy, from the insurance scams in their myriad of disguises, the taxman, the credit mongers, the secondary taxmen (police), your TV provider and the rest of the utility dudes, and let’s not forget you churches and charities , all the way down to your corner store, EVERYONE!!!!!

(not trying to depress anyone here, just pointing things out and asking people to wake up and pay attention)

http://www.flexyourrights.org/