American "Liberties"

You can be as "free as a bird" in America, the land of the free, the country that says "live free or die". But those "freedoms" exist only insofar as you are willing to give up your freedoms and accept arbitrary authority.

Here is a case to consider from BoingBoing:

I went to a conference in Albuquerque in 2009, I went to the airport there, I spoke with some people, I went to jail, I went to court, and I was acquitted. This took over a year and I owe for thousands of dollars of legal fees as a result. Here's a video I created at the airport. The State of New Mexico entered this as evidence against me last week. The jury was unconvinced that I was disorderly, trespassed, refused a lawful order, or concealed my identity from police officers with the intent to obstruct.

What I find really funny is that the police hold the view that it is mandatory that you carry ID at all times for the convenience of the police. They also hold the view that if you insist on your rights, then you are guilty of "creating a public disturbance".

Funny... it is a shame the British didn't simply arrest all those "tea partiers" in 1773 and put an end to the ridiculous claims of "Americans" to rights. Didn't they know that when "the authorities" told them to "hop" their only choice was to hop?

People wonder how a "police state" like the Nazis could have occurred in a "civilized" country like Germany. It happens when the "rights" that people have get interpreted into non-existence by the authorities and the police act on the assurance that your "rights" are in abeyance because of some "higher threat". This transformation is abetted by a people who are so terrified of some bugaboo that they willingly give up their rights without questioning authority.