Re: Wot?
"Whether they are actually "your bastards" is a moot point."
Indeed. Whosever bastards they are, they govern uncompromisingly for the special interests who enable them to stay in power.
Regarding the point about local law enforcement, I believe that we in the US may well be seeing a movement to discredit and disempower local law enforcement as a precursor to establishing what amounts to a national police state. (For this discussion, I would define a "police state" as one in which the executive branch of the national government exercises the discretion to bring criminal charges against and imprison its citizens selectively and with virtual impunity.)
As Dylan observed, you don't have to be a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. . .Consider the following:
A local cop has the questionable judgment to get macho on a 6-4 300 pound black male walking down the middle of the street at 2:00 AM, lets the kid get within arm's reach and is incredibly lucky not to get shot or get his head twisted off. He reacts by shooting the young man. A tragedy for all concerned, but not indictable a grand jury decides. People riot; the Obama Administration is outraged--goes balls to the wall investigating and pontificating for political gain.
An even larger black man--a virtual giant requiring a several policemen to subdue--dies after resisting arrest. One of the officer's has his arm around the man's neck during the struggle. This is immediately characterized as a lethal choke hold, although this does not appear to have been supported by the findings of the autopsy. Looking at the video, it is not apparent to me that the situation warranted an attempt at a physical takedown. Neither the situation nor the crime itself involved violence until the police attempted to subdue Garner. The combination of the victim's physical condition and the exertion of the takedown caused the man's death. Again, a tragedy, but not according to the grand jury, indictable. Again the Obama administration postures, people riot . . .
Consider now the case of Miriam Carey, a relatively petite young black woman--Chased through the streets of Washington in broad daylight; ultimately surrounded by dozens of armed and armored men, many with fully automatic weapons; and shot in the back from a safe distance by multiple shooters who are immediately hailed by federal and DC police spokespersons as heroes. The shooters, whoever they are, subsequently fully exonerated as acting in accordance with local policy.
The Obama administration and Justice department stay quiet as mice. No one but the family expresses any outrage. Nobody riots. The "spontaneous rioters" understand the message from the feds. Screw with us and we can come after (and even kill) you with impunity.
Terrorism has arguably achieved its goal of changing our society. And that is the greater tragedy. Thousands have been killed by terrorism for no other reason than that they were citizens of free countries. It falls to us, the people to defend the freedoms that terrorism deprived them of.