An assassination attempt on a presidential candidate. A sitting president who declines reelection at the last minute. A politicized judiciary that fails to hold those in power accountable to the rule of law. A world at war. A nation in turmoil.
This is controlled chaos.
This election year, a referendum on which corporate puppet should occupy the White House is a lesson in how the deep state will engineer a crisis to maintain its power.
Don't get so caught up in performance that you lose sight of reality.
This never-ending series of diversions, distractions, and political dramas is the oldest con game, a magician's sleight of hand to keep you focused on the shell game at hand while your wallet is being clean stolen by the scoundrel within you.
It works the same way in every era.
Thus the police state will win, no matter which candidate is elected to the White House.
You know who loses? All of us.
Politics today is about one thing and one thing only: maintaining the status quo between those who rule (politicians, bureaucrats, corporate elites) and those who are ruled (taxpayers).
In other words, no matter who wins the next presidential election, we can rest assured that the new boss will be the same as the old boss, and that we, America's eternal underclass, will continue to be forced to march in lockstep with the police state in all matters, public and private.
Consider the following a much-needed reality check, an antidote, if you will, to the overblown campaign announcements, lofty promises, and meaningless patriotism that are landing us back in the same prison.
Fact: According to a scientific study by researchers at Princeton University, the United States does not call itself a democracy, but rather an oligarchy in which “economic elites and organized groups representing corporate interests wield significant independent influence over U.S. government policy.”
Fact: Even though the nation’s violent crime rate has dropped significantly and is at its lowest level in 60 years, the number of Americans incarcerated for nonviolent crimes, such as driving with a suspended license, continues to soar.
Fact: With over 4,500 federal crimes and over 400,000 rules and regulations, it's estimated that the average American unknowingly commits three felonies a day. In fact, according to law professor John Baker, “There is no person in the United States over the age of 18 who has not been charged with a federal crime. This is no exaggeration.”
Fact: With 38 million Americans living below the poverty line, 13 million children living in homes without enough food, and 1.2 million veterans relying on food stamps, vast amounts of taxpayer money continue to be spent on wasteful programs that do little to improve the plight of those in need.
Fact: Since 2001, Americans have spent $93 million every hour on the nation's so-called War on Terrorism.
Fact: Due to a variety of factors, including over-criminalization, home raids and roadside traffic enforcement, there are an estimated 5 million children in the United States who have at least one parent incarcerated, whether in local, state or federal prison.
Fact: At least 400-500 innocent people are killed by police officers every year. In fact, Americans are eight times more likely to die in an encounter with police than they are to be killed by a terrorist. Americans are 110 times more likely to die from food poisoning than they are to be killed in a terrorist attack. You are more likely to be killed by lightning than a police officer will be held financially responsible for misconduct.
Fact: On average, more than 100 Americans have their homes raided by SWAT teams each day. Most of these SWAT team searches are warrant-based. In recent years, there has been a significant expansion of heavily armed SWAT teams within non-security related federal agencies, including the Department of Agriculture, Railroad Retirement Board, Tennessee Valley Authority, Office of Personnel Management, Consumer Product Safety Commission, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Department of Education.
Fact: In effect, we now have a fourth branch of government: a surveillance state. This fourth branch came into being without an electoral mandate or constitutional referendum, yet it has superpowers over all other branches of government except the military. It is all-knowing, all-seeing, and all-powerful. It operates outside the reach of the President, Congress, and the courts, and it operates in lockstep with the corporate elites who actually hold the real power in Washington, DC.
Fact: Everything we do will eventually be connected to the Internet. By 2030, it is predicted that there will be 100 trillion sensor devices connecting human electronics (cell phones, laptops, etc.) to the Internet. Most (if not all) of our electronic devices will be connected to Google, which openly collaborates with government intelligence agencies. Virtually everything we do today (no matter how innocuous) is collected by the spying American police state.
Fact: Americans know very little about their country's history or how their government works. In fact, a survey by the National Constitution Center found that 41 percent of Americans “don't know that there are three branches of government, 62 percent can't name them, and 33 percent can't name any.”
Fact: Only 6 in 100 Americans know that we actually have a constitutional right to hold our government accountable for wrongdoing, as guaranteed by the Right to Petition Clause of the First Amendment.
Perhaps the most disturbing truth is that we have handed over control of our government and our lives to faceless bureaucrats who see us as nothing more than livestock to be bred, branded, slaughtered and sold for profit.
As I make clear in my book, America at War: The War on the American People and its fictionalized version, The Diary of Eric Blair, if we have any hope of restoring our freedoms and reclaiming control over our government, it rests not with politicians but with the people themselves.
One thing is certain: the comforting ritual of voting does nothing to advance freedom.
About John and Nisha Whitehead:
Constitutional lawyer and author John W. Whitehead is founder and director of the Rutherford Institute. His latest books, The Diary of Eric Blair and Battlefield America: The War on Americans, are available at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be contacted at (email protected). Nisha Whitehead is executive director of the Rutherford Institute. Information about the Rutherford Institute is available at www.rutherford.org.
