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Battlefield America: The War On the American People
a book by John W. Whitehead
(our site's book review)
Widely recognized as one of the nation’s most vocal and involved civil liberties attorneys, John W. Whitehead’s approach to civil liberties issues has earned him numerous accolades and recognition. He describes this book as one that paints a terrifying portrait of a nation at war with itself and which is on the verge of undermining the basic freedoms guaranteed to the citizenry in the Constitution. Indeed, police have been transformed into extensions of the military, towns and cities have become battlefields, and the American people have been turned into enemy combatants, to be spied on, tracked, scanned, frisked, searched, subjected to all manner of intrusions, intimidated, invaded, raided, manhandled, censored, silenced, shot at, locked up, and denied due process. See The Rise of the American Corporate Security State.
Security cameras watch you everywhere—apparently not only Santa is checking whether you're naughty or nice
An increasingly aggressive, fascistic America that the founding fathers would find offensive is our current status. "Either we gather together now and attempt to restore freedom or all will be lost," says the author. His most recent book is A Government of Wolves: The Emerging American Police State, an award winning and chilling portrait of a nation in the final stages of transformation into a police state, complete with surveillance cameras, drug-sniffing dogs, SWAT team raids, roadside strip searches, blood draws at DUI checkpoints, mosquito drones, tasers, privatized prisons, GPS tracking devices, zero tolerance policies, overcriminalization, and free speech zones.
The tyranny of our police state worsens by the day
Whitehead's legal and Constitutional insights show just how far this country has descended into tyranny at the hands of those charged with protecting us. Americans are living in an "electronic concentration camp." If we are to salvage our liberties, we must be informed about how our freedoms are being compromised if we are have any chance of returning America to a land governed by individual citizens instead of by big-government in collusion with bankers, corporations and ultra-rich "fat-cats" who wish to control us and promote their own selfish agendas.
America is a land governed by big government in collusion with bankers, corporations and ultra-rich fat-cats who wish to control us and promote their own selfish agendas
Whitehead has been known to say "So what is the solution to this blatant display of imperial elitism disguising itself as a populist exercise in representative government? Stop playing the game. Stop supporting the system. Stop defending the insanity. Just stop. . . . The only thing you’re accomplishing by taking part in the 'reassurance ritual' of voting is sustaining the illusion that we have a democratic republic when in fact we are suffering from an 'economic élite domination.'" We get the government we deserve—we have forgotten that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, but we are not being vigilant, nor have we been, so bye-bye liberty!
The only thing you’re accomplishing by taking part in the 'reassurance ritual' of voting is sustaining the illusion that we have a democratic republic when in fact we are suffering from an 'economic élite domination.'
We have forgotten that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance, but we are not being vigilant, nor have we been, so bye-bye liberty!
Whitehead believes that there is a conspiracy between government and mega-corporations to bully the masses into compliance with their agenda. And he is right! It is called the corporatocracy and it is an aspect of the shadow government
The book lacks focus and verges on hysteria, and documented or factual evidential material in scarce, although footnotes are legion. See The Deep State: The Fall of the Constitution and the Rise of a Shadow Government and National Security and Double Government. Whitehead believes that there is a conspiracy between government and mega-corporations to bully the masses into compliance with their agenda. And he is right! It is called the corporatocracy and it is an aspect of the shadow government—a government that is eroding our rights and freedoms so that all those with any objections to their actions will be afraid to act. They don't care if we bitch and moan, but they want us to know that even thinking, emailing, or talking about rebelling against these corrupt ass clowns will not be tolerated.
Whitehead believes that there is a conspiracy between government and mega-corporations to bully the masses into compliance with their agenda. And he is right!
Behind the facades and election clown shows, there is a Shadow Government—the real power that actually run things
The author ends the books by warning that if we keep going on our current course, the U.S. is going to turn into a Nazi-like state that is capable of justifying racial extermination as a matter of good public policy. Whitehead wants to awaken us from our stupor so we act. He reminds us that the Founding Fathers warn us to cultivate a healthy mistrust of government. But perhaps the Liberty Movement he champions could more easily gain members without the paranoia that inundates Whitehead’s work. However, once the rant concludes, he inspires readers to do something to turn the tide and provides insights on how to make a positive difference in our American society.
Whitehead reminds us that the Founding Fathers warned us to cultivate a healthy mistrust of government
With police playing the part of soldiers on the battlefield and the American citizenry left to play the part of enemy combatants, it's a safe bet that this exercise in the absurd will not have a happy ending
He says that "Today the need for ramped up, militarized police is largely sold to the American public by way of the media through reality TV shows, and by politicians well-versed in promising greater security in exchange for the government being given greater freedom to operate as it sees fit while running roughshod over the Constitution. . . . With police playing the part of soldiers on the battlefield and the American citizenry left to play the part of enemy combatants, it's a safe bet that this exercise in the absurd will not have a happy ending."
The real political contest in the U.S. positions the power elite against all the rest of us, the 1% against the 99% (not the Republicans against the Democrats)
"Clearly, the American homeland is now ruled by a military empire. Everything our founding fathers warned against—a standing army that would see American citizens as combatants—is now the new norm. In other words, it looks like the police state is here to stay." The real political contest in this nation does not pit conservatives against liberals. Nor does it pit Republicans against Democrats. Instead, it positions the power elite against all the rest of us, the 1% against the 99%. The author, Whitehead, understands that this battle, libertarians versus authoritarians, cuts through partisanship and cable news propaganda.