To link to this article from your blog or webpage, copy and paste the url below into your blog or homepage.
A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State
a book by John W. Whitehead
(our site's book review)
The Amazon blurb says that In A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, John W. Whitehead charts America's transition from a society governed by "we the people" to a police state governed by the strong arm of the law. In such an environment, the law becomes yet another tool to oppress the people.
'We the people' is now 'we the suspects' in our police state country
As a constitutional attorney of national prominence, and as president of The Rutherford Institute, an international civil liberties organization, Whitehead has been at the forefront of the fight for civil liberties in this country. The recurring theme at the heart of A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State is that the American people are in grave danger of losing their basic freedoms. The simple fact is that the Constitution - and in particular the Bill of Rights - is being undermined on virtually every front. Indeed, everything America was founded upon is in some way being challenged.
We've degenerated from a society of liberty and privacy to a society of surveillance, police and drug-sniffing dogs in our children's schools, national databases that track our finances and activities, etc.
The openness and freedom that were once the hallmarks of our society are now in peril. We were once a society that valued individual liberty and privacy. But in recent years we have turned into a culture that has quietly accepted surveillance cameras, police and drug-sniffing dogs in our children's schools, national databases that track our finances and activities, sneak-and-peek searches of our homes without our knowledge or consent, and anti-terrorism laws that turn average Americans into suspects. In short, America has become a lockdown nation, and we are all in danger.
The author makes clear that since 9/11, we have been trading off our freedoms for the illusion of security. Why "illusion"? Because the various security agencies of our federal government admit that after 16 years of a so-called War on Terror, we have become LESS secure, not MORE secure. Dubya and Obama both helped destroy civil rights at an alarming rate, and both lied about levels of surveillance on our citizens.
Obama helped destroy civil rights at an alarming rate, and he lied about levels of surveillance on our citizens, but Snowden exposed his treachery
Dubya helped destroy civil rights at an alarming rate, and he lied about levels of surveillance on our citizens
The endless bombing, killing, torture, attacks, Abu-Ghraib abuses, Constitution erosion, TSA body scanning, warrantless wiretaps, black site prisons and renditions, and surveillance of everyone everywhere have made us less safe, not more
A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State not only explains these acute problems but is a call to action offering timely and practical initiatives for Americans to take charge of present course of history and stop the growing police state. But time is running out. We are at critical juncture and every citizen who values his or her personal freedom needs to pay close attention to the message in this book! (more by John W. Whitehead: Battlefield America: The War On the American People)
The head of our Government of Wolves is Trump; Russia's head of their Government of Wolves is Putin
"He offers example after example of the erosion of civil liberties. The Patriot Act, Whitehead says, has given government agencies like the NSA and even local police departments the ability to use electronic surveillance via GPS, cell phones, and cameras to monitor our activities, often without our knowledge."—Publishers Weekly
The Patriot Act, Whitehead says, has given government agencies like the NSA and even local police departments the ability to use electronic surveillance via GPS, cell phones, and cameras to monitor our activities, often without our knowledge
Fly #353242252 reporting: Citizen #312,756,972 doesn't seem to be hiding a thing—my conclusion is that she's clean; but just to be sure I think I'll hang around a bit longer!
Our government watches your every move
Once they create the technology, can the thought police be far behind NSA's outrage of spying on us decent citizens?
"John Whitehead is one of the most eloquent and knowledgeable defenders of liberty, and opponents of the growing American police state, writing today. I am pleased to recommend A Government of Wolves to anyone interested in learning how modern America increasingly resembles a dystopian science fiction film instead of a Constitutional Republic."—Ron Paul, 12-term US Congressman and former Presidential candidate
Orwell's nightmare of Big Brother watching us and thought police monitoring our thoughts didn't happen in 1984—it happened, and is happening, in the 21st century
"The loss of liberty doesn't begin with invading armies, but with creeping government that slowly and almost imperceptibly invades our privacy with cameras, drones, wiretaps and monitoring of email communication. We are told this is for our own good. In this book, John Whitehead sounds a warning about overreaching government we had better heed before the point of no return has been reached."—Cal Thomas, Syndicated and USA Today Columnist/Fox News Contributor
Modern America increasingly resembles a dystopian science fiction film instead of a Constitutional Republic—Orwell was right, and prescient
"If you’re dark-haired, brown-skinned and have the misfortune of living in Arizona in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in State of Arizona v. United States of America, get ready to be stopped, searched and questioned. Then again, if you’re a citizen living in the United States, this is merely one more component of the police state that appears to be descending upon us." (Source: In a Police State, Everyone Loses: The Supreme Court’s Ruling in Arizona v. United States Endangers Us All, John W. Whitehead, Huffington Post)
According to Whitehead, law-abiding citizens have been forced to hand over their laptops while the government officials download the information
"'What the Department of Homeland Security became under Janet Napolitano is this monstrous surveillance and very intimidating group' . . . Whitehead described Vigilant Eagle as a surveillance program conducted 'on all returning veterans from overseas' and that it includes watching 'Facebook posts, text messages, and emails of returning veterans to see if they’re going to be disgruntled.' . . . Whitehead said his group helped one such veteran file a 'major lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security.' According to Whitehead's description of the events leading up to the lawsuit, DHS agents showed up at the veteran's door, 'arrested him, and put him in a mental institution for his Facebook posts criticizing the government. We got him out, and then we sued the government.' . . . law-abiding citizens have been forced to hand over their laptops while the government officials download the information." (Source: Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, Rick Pearcey, PearceyReport)
Everything that our founding fathers warned against is now the new norm—the government has trained its sights on the American people—we have become the enemy
As Whitehead tells it, "We have been through some troubling times before in our nation's history. There were the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 when newspaper editors, civilians—who criticized the government—were placed in jail. Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War. He even arrested members of the Maryland legislature and all kinds of people around the country who objected to his policies. We had the Red Raids in the early 1920s that started off J. Edgar Hoover's career in which hundreds of people were arrested, some of them deported without any due process at all. During the First World War, Woodrow Wilson not only practically suspended but also discarded the First Amendment. Then there were the Japanese internment camps of World War II, followed by Senator Joseph McCarthy's reign of terror, which was ended by fellow senators who realized that he had gone too far. What we have now may be more insidious."
"Making the case that the government’s policies are dictated more by paranoia, power and control than need, Whitehead warns that it doesn’t really matter whether it’s a Democrat or a Republican at the helm, because the bureaucratic mindset on both sides of the aisle now seems to embody the same philosophy that has become the driving force behind the American police state. . . . The outlook for civil liberties grows bleaker by the day . . . Everything that our founding fathers warned against is now the new norm. The government has trained its sights on the American people. We have become the enemy.” (Source: Is the Government Waging War on the American People?, Jo-Carolyn Goode, Style Magazine)
When Whitehead says "We have become the enemy," it brings up the question: the enemy of whom? Regular citizens are potential enemies of the oligarchs and the shadow government. If we don't draw any attention to ourselves or step out of line, we'll be fine. But if we hang with or email or call the wrong type of people, we will attract the attention of the police state. A simple way to see what is happening is to look at the NSA surveillance of the citizens—all of them. In the last three decades, the oligarchs and the shadow government and the neocons have gained control in the United States. We're no longer considered citizens. We are cash cows of the corporatocracy to be milked whenever they feel greedy.
We're no longer considered citizens. We are cash cows of the corporatocracy to be milked whenever they feel greedy
If we get disturbed by this ugly fact and decide to rebel, hang with or email or call the wrong type of people, we will attract the attention of the police state. All the surveillance infrastructure that they claim is there to catch terrorists is really there to watch us. The 9/11 disaster, which a lot of us believe was shadow government caused, allowed the powermongers to write and pass the Patriot Act, nullifying much of the freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution. The surveillance hasn't caught terrorists, but it keeps a watch on us so that any of us unhappy with being mindless cash cows of the corporatocracy who have lost our rights and freedoms can be monitored and stomped on like cockroaches if needed.
The surveillance hasn't caught terrorists, but it keeps a watch on us so that any of us unhappy with being mindless cash cows of the corporatocracy who have lost our rights and freedoms can be monitored and stomped on like cockroaches
- Militant Normals: How Regular Americans Are Rebelling Against the Elite to Reclaim Our Democracy
- Wages of Rebellion: The Moral Imperative of Revolt
- Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class—And What We Can Do about It
- Political Mind Games: How the 1% Manipulate Our Understanding of What's Happening, What's Right, and What's Possible
The shadow government oligarchs are leading the USA toward eternal war which they can exploit to have eternally expanding wealth; we follow them at our peril
You think the Oligarchy wants peace? Examine the actions of the powers-that-be—NOT their two-faced words
The politicians lie to us because if they reveal their true pro-corporatocracy (anti-citizen) agendas the public would revolt en masse
Whitehead bemoans the fact that " . . . we truly are back to where we started in the pre-Revolutionary War days, seemingly having learned next to nothing from those early days of tyranny at the hands of the British crown." Freedom crushing legislation and court rulings now render the individual completely defenseless against the encroachments of the state—the only difference between now and the pre-Revolutionary War days is that it is our own government, not the British, that is doing the oppressing. They say vigilance is the price of freedom—we seem to have failed to pay up. Those too stupid to learn from the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat them. Finally, in the words of the immortal Pogo: "We have met the enemy and he is us."
We truly are back to where we started in the pre-Revolutionary War days, seemingly having learned next to nothing from those early days of tyranny at the hands of the British crown (here is a Minuteman, a ready-in-a-minute militiaman)
Occupy Wall Street
Occupy Wall Street was a demonstation to the powers-that-be that America is tired of the lies, corruption, and limitless greed that has led the Oligarchy in charge to keep squeezing more and more money from the lower and middle classes until it's worse than just that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Now it's the 99% get poorer while the 1% get richer. The OWS demonstrators coined the 99%/1% phrase to highlight the unfair power and wealth dynamic at play in the U.S.A. They may be "mad as hell," but with the current Oligarchy in change, they ARE going to "take it anymore." What option do they have? A rebellion? They wouldn't get far. The American Revolution may have been a great success, but rebellers would fail miserably these days. Like Dorothy found out in Oz that she wasn't in Kansas anymore, 21st century American citizens are absolutely not in the late 18th century anymore. The chances of succeeding at "fighting" the powers-that-be via organized violence, by complaining, by political means, by voting in someone else, or by assassinations are between zero and nil.
Wall Street Protest: Occupy Wall Street—Copyright © 2011 by Louis Lanzano
'You know, Archibald, my bladder is a tad too full—do these windows open? I'd like to send my regards to those pesky OWS protesters'
Note that the OWS demonstrations changed nothing. The Oligarchy couldn't care less about the economic suffering of the 99%, and no amount of protesting or civil disobedience will change that.
America, Where We All Get a Piece of the Pie—Right?
The American Democracy ideal that used to involve an expectation that we would all work and all get a piece of the pie has degenerated . . .
The American Democracy ideal that used to involve an expectation that we would all work and all get a piece of the pie has degenerated into a few pigs sucking down most of the pie while the rest of us are lucky if we even get leftovers or scraps—many feel fortunate to even lick the plate. Fortunately for us, the pigs often feel it to be part of conspicuous consumption to leave a few morsels for the rest of us to fight over, as the pigs roar with laughter. See Who Will Tell The People?: The Betrayal Of American Democracy.
American Democracy has degenerated into a few pigs gorging themselves at the trough while the rest of us get crumbs
Oligarchs' 'mind games' are carefully designed to defuse and misdirect our outrage at our victimization so instead of acting against it, we end up chasing shiny objects
Emotional manipulations and playing on our worst racist, xenophobic, sexist instincts by one of the greatest snake-oil salesmen of all times—Donald Trump—convinced intelligent humans to elect him president. Trump’s propaganda playbook isn’t really anything new. It's been used by demagogues like McCarthy, Wallace, and Hitler long before Trump came along, but he is the first presidential candidate to use Hitler's playbook in the U.S.
To better understand why the 1%’s mind games work so often, it helps to consider the science of persuasion. Whenever we try to influence someone’s attitudes, beliefs, or behaviors, we’re engaging in persuasion. Political mind games are some of the most sneaky, disingenuous, underhanded, merciless persuasion methods ever dreamed up. See:
- Media Control, Second Edition: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda
- Media Sexploitation,
- Propaganda
- Fake News: How Propaganda Influenced the 2016 Election, A Historical Comparison to 1930's Germany
- The Propaganda Project
- Propaganda and the Public Mind
Though control is used to instill political correctness into students in universities, and it is also used to deliver propaganda into our receptive little minds so that we purchase things we don't need obsessively and so we never question the 'authorities'
Folks, If You Thought the Patriot Act and the NSA Screwed Us, Wait Until You Hear about the National Defense Authorization Act
"In 2014 alone, terrorism killed nearly 30,000 men, women and children. As horrible as this is, terrorism may not be the worst threat to freedom that we face. The real threat is how quickly we Americans have given our government carte blanche to fight the War on Terror. This has already caused far greater damage to our civil liberties than the terrorists themselves could ever hope to achieve. In 2012, the U.S. Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) with relatively little attention from the media despite the freedoms it obliterated. The NDAA was enacted to empower the U.S. military to fight the war on terror. But buried in this law are two provisions (Sections 1021 and 1022) that authorize the indefinite military detention, without charge or trial, of any person labeled a “belligerent,” including an American citizen." (Source: Dear Americans: This Law Makes It Possible To Arrest And Jail You Indefinitely Anytime, Steve Mariotti, Huffington Post)
The NDAA makes it possible to arrest and jail you indefinitely anytime for any reason after they label you a 'belligerent'
Whitehead as well as Steve Mariotti of Huffington Post emphasize how terrible NDAA is for civil rights. In 1933, the German government under Hitler passed the Reichstag Fire Decree which basically suspended civil rights—the NDAA is so similar it looks to be modelled after that Hitlerian decree. If the government decides you are "belligerent," whether you are a protester, activist, placard carrier, person with a government-questioning bumper sticker, podcaster questioning NDAA, blogger saying NDAA is bad, or even a blogger who makes fun of Trump's hair, you could face indefinite military detention, without charge or trial, and they can revoke your citizenship! Does that sound like a free country with freedom of the press, a Constitution, and the rule of law to you? See Freedom of the Press—an American Delusion and Democracy—an American Delusion.
First the NSA burned the Constitution with Patriot act surveillance, then clowns in Congress passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), burning civil rights. Can you say POLICE STATE?
According to Steve Mariotti of Huffington Post, Dan Johnson of People Against NDAA (PANDA) says "We came up with a plan, however, that has proven very effective:
Phase 1: Pass local ordinances that require local law enforcement to uphold the Constitution, and prohibit the application of the laws of war in that jurisdiction.
Phase 2: Encourage law enforcement to implement penalties in localities that have passed such ordinances for police officers who fail to comply with them.
Phase 3: Repeat this strategy at the state level, and eventually repeal the 2012 NDAA’s detention provisions at the federal level." (Source: This Administration Now Has The Power To Indefinitely Detain Americans Without Charge Or Trial, Steve Mariotti, Huffington Post)
John W. Whitehead is an attorney and author who has written, debated and practiced widely in the area of constitutional law and human rights. Whitehead's concern for the persecuted and oppressed led him, in 1982, to establish The Rutherford Institute, a nonprofit civil liberties and human rights organization whose international headquarters are located in Charlottesville, Virginia. Whitehead serves as the Institute’s president and spokesperson, in addition to writing a weekly commentary that is posted on The Rutherford Institute’s website (www.rutherford.org), as well as being distributed to several hundred newspapers, and hosting a national public service radio campaign. Whitehead's aggressive, pioneering approach to civil liberties issues has earned him numerous accolades, including the Hungarian Medal of Freedom.