Can't happen to me!

Sitting at home one night watching some tube, eating popcorn, feeling safe.  There’s a huge crash and in come the cops, guns drawn, tearing your things to pieces, insulting your wife, making crude remarks humiliating you in front of your neighbors. Nah, that can’t happen to me – I’m not a criminal.  

Don’t be too sure. These things happen all the time and sometimes someone gets shot because they thought it was a home invasion. People get paraded around naked, people get roughed up and abused because someone got a name or address wrong.  It happens.  I’ve read these sad stories since I was a kid although they don’t always get much publicity.

There’s a difference now. Someone might think you were a terrorist, an enemy combatant; these terms are defined at the discretion of some person, not written into law and if they suspect you, you’re not necessarily going to be handed a warrant, you’re not necessarily going to be arrested and brought before a judge, you may just disappear into a secret cell in some remote prison with no charges against you, no lawyer, no help, no contact with anyone, no chance. Maybe there will be a little “coercion” too, but don’t worry, you can trust the President and you can trust the government which is nearly the same thing these days.

Extreme scenario?  Sure, at least as far as we know, but it’s happening abroad and there’s far less to prevent it happening here any more.  It’s all perfectly legal.

Heil Bush