What Law and Order? #BlackPanthersPBS

February 17, 2016 — 4 Comments

I am a revolutionary.  I am in flashback mode during this political season.  When I watched the PBS documentary about the Black Panther Party my mind was blown thinking about the similar tactics employed by our government today.  Police are still outside the law, are still involved in brutality rather than community protection.  In my neighborhood the police force protects criminals and refuses to respond to those who want to stop crime.  I think it is scary that abuse of power continues to be our greatest obstacle to peace and prosperity.  In 1968 J Edgar Hoover had absolute power to invade privacy and snuff Americans at will.  Today the FBI is asking Apple to give them a back door to everyone’s iPhones.  Today we have drones out killing people for our “freedom and democracy”.  Have we ever had freedom and democracy for all our citizens?  I think not.

I was involved, but not old enough to vote, in the 1968 election that sent Tricky Dick Nixon to the White House. I was in the audience at the University of Texas at Austin to listen to Eugene McCarthy, and later to Hubert Humphrey, during my freshman year on campus.  I decided to register to vote as a Libertarian as soon as I was 21.  The Democrats were more to my liking but both parties struck me as corrupt anachronisms dedicated to keeping war and prejudice alive around the globe.  I was not alone in this belief.  I am still not the only person who sees our system as dangerously off course.

We all feel that things have gotten out of hand, and we all want a better future for our country.  I know that is true, even though the campaign rhetoric has become vile and toxic.  With the new twist of a Supreme nomination stakes are high and emotions are higher.  If we the people allow super pacs and nasty grudges to continue to drive our political outcomes we will all continue to feel let down by our government.  This election, very much like the election of 1968, will have profound consequences on our image around the world as well as our own economy. No matter how you feel (Bern or no Bern) it is time to register to vote and exercise your right to elect officials you trust.  History is being made very rapidly.  Get out the vote, gentle readers.  Do it now before all the hippies drop dead from exhaustion.