"I can trust the
U.S. government… 'It couldn't happen here!' "
It has happened
here and is happening here today. Look at some actions the U.S. government
has taken:
The U.S.
government has fought illegal wars against and broken treaties with Native
Americans. Many of those treaties remain unhonored.
The U.S.
government has made criminals of abolitionists for failing to join runaway-slave-catching
gangs.
The U.S.
government has gathered up and imprisoned innocent U.S. citizens merely
because their ancestors had come from Japan.
The U.S.
government has empowered itself to confiscate citizens' goods on the pretext
that the goods were somehow involved in the commission of a crime. It then
gets to keep the goods without any compensation to the owner, even if no
one is ever charged (much less convicted) of the crime cited. This means
that if you (a queer in a sodomy-law state) own a car, the government can
take your car on the pretext that it thinks you've had illegal sex in it.
It doesn't even need to charge you with sodomy-it gets to sell the car it
got for free and you get nothing. It's called civil asset forfeiture and
it gives the government a financial incentive to create crimes where none
exist.
The U.S.
government has instituted "get tough" mandatory sentencing policies for
those convicted of victimless crimes like personal marijuana use.