Law and Order is code for Authoritarisnism

This video below is the basis for my comments. I recommend the video as a chance to see multiple scenes from the inauguration day protests in Washington, DC.

I wish I shared the guarded optimism expressed in the video, but I don't see the days of authoritarian policing coming to an end in America anytime soon. The militarization of the police has been in progress for several decades and has taken place under both Democratic and Republican governments. Reversing it would be a huge task and neither political party sees a political advantage in doing so. On the contrary, both parties find the process to be in line with their ideology.

Both political parties stress "law and order," and use the phrase as code for authoritarianism. As a result, our police forces are now typical of those historically seen in repressive governments. Responses to protests in America (with gas, projectiles, and truncheons) are not unlike what we have seen in Panama, Nicaragua, Columbia, Nigeria, South Africa and what we continue to see today in Iran,  Honduras, and Egypt.

Once we start rounding up our citizens like cattle, democracy is dead.

On 31/12/17, 60 people (students) were arrested at a birthday party in Cartersville, Georgia. More than likely it was a mass arrest (or a mass false arrest) without legitimate cause. It is almost inconceivable that all 60 people presented probable cause for their arrest. Just like it was inconceivable that the 200 or so protesters arrested in Washington, DC, presented probable cause.

The high profile mass detentions in DC, and previously in New York City, offered cover for arrests like the ones in Georgia to continue unabated. The prosecution (read as the US Judiciary) of those who were near an alleged crime has offered the police the legal backing needed to randomly arrest people by assuming "guilt by proximity."

It's clear the police are now acting as a blunt unconstitutional force with the goal of coercion, extortion, and intimidation of Americans, with those having the least power, being the most heavily targeted. Policing changes that have taken place in America are part of the natural political evolution towards authoritarianism that is taking place, not just in America, but around the world.

The rules are changing -- tag, you're a criminal.
And as a criminal, you are subject to continuous control.

Federal, state and local governments are using the executive and legislative branches to criminalize dissent and any behaviors that challenge those in power or challenge the views of those who support those in power. Then they use the police and the judicial branch to make sure citizens constantly feel the boot of authority on their neck as a gentle reminder that conformity is better than a criminal record or prison.

2018: Practice makes perfect.

The US government has become so illegitimate that it has turned its power and resources toward suppressing dissent. It now rounds up its citizens like cattle just to demonstrate its power and procedures to do so. Oddly, most citizens have yet to realize these changes, while some, mainly Republicans and conservatives, have embraced these authoritarian changes as the way to save America. However, those in power know what's coming, and they don't plan to be caught off-guard. They have time to make sure that a government "For the people and by the people," will never happen in America.