John Whitehead
“The things we were worried would happen are happening.”—Angus Johnston, professor at the City University of New York
No one is safe.
No one is immune.
No one gets spared the anguish, fear and heartache of living under the shadow of an authoritarian police state.
That’s the message being broadcast 24/7 with every new piece of government propaganda, every new law that criminalizes otherwise lawful activity, every new policeman on the beat, every new surveillance camera casting a watchful eye, every sensationalist news story that titillates and distracts, every new prison or detention center built to house troublemakers and other undesirables, every new court ruling that gives government agents a green light to strip and steal and rape and ravage the citizenry, every school that opts to indoctrinate rather than educate, and every new justification for why Americans should comply with the government’s attempts to trample the Constitution underfoot.
Yes, COVID-19 has taken a significant toll on the nation emotionally, physically, and economically, but there are still greater dangers on the horizon.
As long as “we the people” continue to allow the government to trample our rights in the so-called name of national security, things will get worse, not better.
It’s already worse.
Now there’s talk of mass testing for COVID-19 antibodies, screening checkpoints, contact tracing, immunity passports to allow those who have recovered from the virus to move around more freely, and snitch tip lines for reporting “rule breakers” to the authorities.
If you can’t read the writing on the wall, you need to pay better attention.
These may seem like small, necessary steps in the war against the COVID-19 virus, but they’re only necessary to the police state in its efforts to further undermine the Constitution, extend its control over the populace, and feed its insatiable appetite for ever-greater powers.
Nothing is ever as simple as the government claims it is.
Whatever dangerous practices you allow the government to carry out now—whether it’s in the name of national security or protecting America’s borders or making America healthy again—rest assured, these same practices can and will be used against you when the government decides to set its sights on you.
The war on drugs turned out to be a war on the American people, waged with SWAT teams and militarized police.
The war on terror turned out to be a war on the American people, waged with warrantless surveillance and indefinite detention.
The war on immigration turned out to be a war on the American people, waged with roving government agents demanding “papers, please.”
This war on COVID-19 will be yet another war on the American people, waged with all of the surveillance weaponry at the government’s disposal: thermal imaging cameras, drones, contact tracing, biometric databases, etc.
So you see, when you talk about empowering government agents to screen the populace in order to control and prevent spread of this virus, what you’re really talking about is creating a society in which ID cards, round ups, checkpoints and detention centers become routine weapons used by the government to control and suppress the populace, no matter the threat.
This is also how you pave the way for a national identification system of epic proportions.
Imagine it: a national classification system that not only categorizes you according to your health status but also allows the government to sort you in a hundred other ways: by gender, orientation, wealth, medical condition, religious beliefs, political viewpoint, legal status, etc.
Are you starting to get the bigger picture yet?
This is just another wolf in sheep’s clothing, a “show me your papers” scheme disguised as a means of fighting a virus.
Don’t fall for it.
The ramifications of such a “show me your papers” society in which government officials are empowered to stop individuals, demand they identify themselves, and subject them to patdowns, warrantless screenings, searches, and interrogations are beyond chilling.
By allowing government agents to establish a litmus test for individuals to be able to exit a state of lockdown and engage in commerce, movement and any other right that corresponds to life in a supposedly free society, it lays the groundwork for a society in which you are required to identify yourself at any time to any government worker who demands it for any reason.
Such tactics quickly lead one down a slippery slope that ends with government agents empowered to force anyone and everyone to prove they are in compliance with every statute and regulation on the books.
It used to be that unless police had a reasonable suspicion that a person was guilty of wrongdoing, they had no legal authority to stop the person and require identification. In other words, “we the people” had the right to come and go as we please without the fear of being questioned by police or forced to identify ourselves.
Unfortunately, in this age of COVID-19, that unrestricted right to move about freely is being pitted against the government’s power to lock down communities at a moment’s notice. And in this tug-of-war between individual freedoms and government power, “we the people” have been on the losing end of the deal.
Curiously enough, these COVID-19 restrictions dovetail conveniently with a national timeline for states to comply with the Real ID Act, which imposes federal standards on identity documents such as state drivers’ licenses, a prelude to this national identification system.
Talk about a perfect storm for bringing about a national ID card, the ultimate human tracking device.
Granted, in the absence of a national ID card, which would make the police state’s task of monitoring, tracking and singling out individual suspects far simpler, “we the people” are already tracked in a myriad of ways: through our state driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers, bank accounts, purchases and electronic transactions; by way of our correspondence and communication devices—email, phone calls and mobile phones; through chips implanted in our vehicles, identification documents, even our clothing.
Add to this the fact that businesses, schools and other facilities are relying more and more on fingerprints and facial recognition to identify us. All the while, data companies such as Acxiom are capturing vast caches of personal information to help airports, retailers, police and other government authorities instantly determine whether someone is the person he or she claims to be.
This informational glut—used to great advantage by both the government and corporate sectors—has converged into a mandate for “an internal passport,” a.k.a., a national ID card that would store information as basic as a person’s name, birth date and place of birth, as well as private information, including a Social Security number, fingerprint, retinal scan and personal, criminal and financial records.
A federalized, computerized, cross-referenced, databased system of identification policed by government agents would be the final nail in the coffin for privacy (not to mention a logistical security nightmare that would leave Americans even more vulnerable to every hacker in the cybersphere).
Americans have always resisted adopting a national ID card for good reason: it gives the government and its agents the ultimate power to target, track and terrorize the populace according to the government’s own nefarious purposes.
National ID card systems have been used before, by other oppressive governments, in the name of national security, invariably with horrifying results.
For instance, in Germany, the Nazis required all Jews to carry special stamped ID cards for travel within the country. A prelude to the yellow Star of David badges, these stamped cards were instrumental in identifying Jews for deportation to death camps in Poland.
Author Raul Hilberg summarizes the impact that such a system had on the Jews:
The whole identification system, with its personal documents, specially assigned names, and conspicuous tagging in public, was a powerful weapon in the hands of the police. First, the system was an auxiliary device that facilitated the enforcement of residence and movement restrictions. Second, it was an independent control measure in that it enabled the police to pick up any Jew, anywhere, anytime. Third, and perhaps most important, identification had a paralyzing effect on its victims.
In South Africa during apartheid, pass books were used to regulate the movement of black citizens and segregate the population. The Pass Laws Act of 1952 stipulated where, when and for how long a black African could remain in certain areas. Any government employee could strike out entries, which cancelled the permission to remain in an area. A pass book that did not have a valid entry resulted in the arrest and imprisonment of the bearer.
Identity cards played a crucial role in the genocide of the Tutsis in the central African country of Rwanda. The assault, carried out by extremist Hutu militia groups, lasted around 100 days and resulted in close to a million deaths. While the ID cards were not a precondition to the genocide, they were a facilitating factor. Once the genocide began, the production of an identity card with the designation “Tutsi” spelled a death sentence at any roadblock.
Identity cards have also helped oppressive regimes carry out eliminationist policies such as mass expulsion, forced relocation and group denationalization. Through the use of identity cards, Ethiopian authorities were able to identify people with Eritrean affiliation during the mass expulsion of 1998. The Vietnamese government was able to locate ethnic Chinese more easily during their 1978-79 expulsion. The USSR used identity cards to force the relocation of ethnic Koreans (1937), Volga Germans (1941), Kamyks and Karachai (1943), Crimean Tartars, Meshkhetian Turks, Chechens, Ingush and Balkars (1944) and ethnic Greeks (1949). And ethnic Vietnamese were identified for group denationalization through identity cards in Cambodia in 1993, as were the Kurds in Syria in 1962.
And in the United States, post-9/11, more than 750 Muslim men were rounded up on the basis of their religion and ethnicity and detained for up to eight months. Their experiences echo those of 120,000 Japanese-Americans who were similarly detained 75 years ago following the attack on Pearl Harbor.
Despite a belated apology and monetary issuance by the U.S. government, the U.S. Supreme Court has yet to declare such a practice illegal. Moreover, laws such as the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) empower the government to arrest and detain indefinitely anyone they “suspect” of being an enemy of the state.
You see, you may be innocent of wrongdoing now, but when the standard for innocence is set by the government, no one is safe.
Everyone is a suspect.
And anyone can be a criminal when it’s the government determining what is a crime.
It’s no longer a matter of if, but when.
Remember, the police state does not discriminate.
At some point, it will not matter whether your skin is black or yellow or brown or white. It will not matter whether you’re an immigrant or a citizen. It will not matter whether you’re rich or poor. It won’t even matter whether you’re driving, flying or walking.
After all, government-issued bullets will kill you just as easily whether you’re a law-abiding citizen or a hardened criminal. Government jails will hold you just as easily whether you’ve obeyed every law or broken a dozen. And whether or not you’ve done anything wrong, government agents will treat you like a suspect simply because they have been trained to view and treat everyone like potential criminals.
Eventually, when the police state has turned that final screw and slammed that final door, all that will matter is whether some government agent—poorly trained, utterly ignorant and dismissive of the Constitution, way too hyped up on the power of their badges, and authorized to detain, search, interrogate, threaten and generally harass anyone they see fit—chooses to single you out for special treatment.
We’ve been having this same debate about the perils of government overreach for the past 50-plus years, and still we don’t seem to learn, or if we learn, we learn too late.
All of the excessive, abusive tactics employed by the government today—warrantless surveillance, stop and frisk searches, SWAT team raids, roadside strip searches, asset forfeiture schemes, private prisons, indefinite detention, militarized police, etc.—started out as a seemingly well-meaning plan to address some problem in society that needed a little extra help.
Be careful what you wish for: you will get more than you bargained for, especially when the government’s involved.
In the case of a national identification system, it might start off as a means of tracking COVID-19 cases in order to “safely” re-open the nation, but it will end up as a means of controlling the American people.
For those tempted to justify these draconian measures for whatever reason—for the sake of their health, the economy, or national security—remember, you can’t have it both ways.
You can’t live in a constitutional republic if you allow the government to act like a police state.
You can’t claim to value freedom if you allow the government to operate like a dictatorship.
You can’t expect to have your rights respected if you allow the government to treat whomever it pleases with disrespect and an utter disregard for the rule of law.
As I make clear in my book Battlefield America: The War on the American People, if you’re inclined to advance this double standard because you believe you have done nothing wrong and have nothing to hide, beware: there’s always a boomerang effect.
ABOUT JOHN W. WHITEHEAD
Constitutional attorney and author John W. Whitehead is founder and president of The Rutherford Institute. His new book Battlefield America: The War on the American People is available at www.amazon.com. Whitehead can be contacted at johnw@rutherford.org.
Because of the over (under) whelming response I received the first time I asked this question, I’ll try again…..how many here will take a mandated vaccine or even succumb to temperature checks (when required to enter a store, airport or wherever)?
After reading this , you may re-consider your position. No entity has the right to invade your body despite the bullcrap from Dershowitz (his statement is to create fear…it can and never will be enforced in this country…don’t let that Zionist dirt bag scare you)…
https://blog.nomorefakenews.com/2020/05/25/covid-vaccine-what-else-could-they-put-in-the-shot/
I think this post is most appropriate for this Memorial Day, 2020:
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/01/22/charlie-liteky-who-gave-back-his-medal-honor-dies.html
Quote from article:
Charlie Liteky, who gave back his Medal of Honor, dies
Published January 22, 2017
Associated Press
“SAN FRANCISCO – Charlie Liteky, an Army chaplain in Vietnam who won the Medal of Honor for rescuing more than 20 wounded men but later gave it back in protest and became a peace activist, has died.
Longtime friend Richard Olive said Liteky died Friday night at the Veterans Administration Hospital in San Francisco. He was 85.
The Army awarded Liteky the highest military decoration for his actions on Dec. 6, 1967, when his company came under intense fire from an enemy battalion in Bien Hoa province. Despite painful wounds in the neck and foot, Liteky carried more than 20 men to the landing zone to be evacuated during the fierce firefight.
“Noticing another trapped and seriously wounded man, Chaplain Liteky crawled to his aid,” the Army’s official citation reads. “Realizing that the wounded man was too heavy to carry, he rolled on his back, placed the man on his chest and through sheer determination and fortitude crawled back to the landing zone using his elbows and heels to push himself along.”
He left the priesthood and in 1983, married former Catholic nun and peace activist Judy Balch in San Francisco. His wife introduced him to refugees from El Salvador, “teenagers, whose fathers had been killed and tortured. I didn’t believe it, but I kept going to more and more of these meetings and it became clear these people weren’t blowing in the wind,” Liteky told the San Francisco Chronicle in a March, 2000 interview.
Twenty years after his heroic actions in Vietnam, Liteky left the Medal of Honor — awarded under the name of Angelo J. Liteky — and a letter to President Ronald Reagan at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington in protest of the country’s foreign policy in Central America, where U.S.-backed dictators were fighting bloody wars against left-leaning rebels.
After that, Liteky spent years protesting against the U.S. Army School of the Americas, an academy at Fort Benning, Georgia, where the U.S. Army trained soldiers from Central and South America and the Caribbean. He was sentenced to one year in federal prison in 2000 for entering the school without permission and splashing its rotunda with their own blood.
In 2003, he traveled to Baghdad with other peace protesters to bear witness to the war and work with children in an orphanage and at hospitals.
Olive said Saturday he remembers Liteky for his humility. “It was three years after I met Charlie and bonded a fast friendship that I learned he was a Medal of Honor recipient” when Liteky told him about his plans to renounce the medal, Olive said.
There are no plans for a funeral, Olive said.”
If this giant American Hero and Citizen, who was a football star in High School decades ago 1949 in Jacksonville, Florida, is not a true American Hero, who is? This country has degenerated to the bottom of the sewer. It may never rise again. What a shameful disgrace this expletive deleted has become. Winfield J. Abbe, Ph.D., Physics.
Now there is a true hero…what a story…thanks WJA.
While all the above hanky panky has been going on our new top General has been up to some secret games of his own according to a well written article linked:
https://heavy.com/news/2018/12/general-mark-milley/ quote:
“Throughout his career, General Milley has never forgotten his roots. He returned to Belmont Hill in November 2015, just a few months after his promotion to Army Chief of Staff. He was given an Alumni Award and addressed the high school boys in a special address. General Milley encouraged them to give back to their communities and to value strong character. “Keep in mind your obligation to society, to others. There’s so much more to life than making a buck. The greatest satisfaction any of you will ever get is in service to others… At the end of the day, in the dark of the night, when no one is around you and things aren’t going well, it is your character that holds you together.””
“General Milley also joined other military leaders in denouncing the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, that occurred in August 2017. The rally included white nationalists chanting anti-Semitic sentiments and carrying torches. A woman named Heather Heyer was killed when a man deliberately plowed his car into a group of counterprotesters.”
https://militarycorruption.com/milley/ quote:
“WEST POINT KNOWINGLY GRADUATED A SEXUAL PREDATOR – ATTEMPTS MADE TO INTIMIDATE FEMALE INVESTIGATING OFFICER – COVER-UP APPROVED BY 4-STAR GENERAL MARK MILLEY – CONGRESS IS DECEIVED THAT ARMY TAKES SEXUAL MISCONDUCT SERIOUSLY – ZERO TOLERANCE JUST A BIG JOKE”
December 9, 2019 Admin
https://www.mediaite.com/online/rnc-speaker-scott-baio-seemingly-suggests-sandy-hook-and-charlottesville-were-false-flags/
In a tweet, actor and Republican activist Scott Baio suggested that the Sandy Hook school shooting and the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, Virginia may both be hoaxes.
Baio quote-retweeted a photo that suggested Heyer’s mother and the mother of a Sandy Hook victim are the same person — asserting that she is a crisis actor in two false flag attacks.
The account Baio retweeted promotes a website called “ShadyHoaxComix” — the site is used to push the claim that the Sandy Hook shooting was a hoax. The website’s introductory statement reads, “Sandy Hook was fake. Any questions?”
Professor Jim Fetzer has also addressed this issue many times. Sandy Hook, Boston Bombing and 9/11/01 were all fake sympathy scams. 9/11/01 was done by criminals in Israel aided by criminals Bush, Cheney and the four star generals. Muslims were the patsies blamed. The point was to get the fools in America to pay for wars for Israel. Here is a link to a great interview with researcher Chris Bollyn who has studied this extensively as has Jim also:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yutvaoLg1gQ
The blog host Host Jim Fetzer edited a scholarly book on the topic of Sandy Hook Hoax. I’ve read it and its excellent.
File is a pic of front and back of this book.
I discovered it was a hoax about 48 hours after it happened in 2012. Its one of THE most ugly episodes in US history. My comments and graphics about Sandy Hook Hoax on FaceBook got me banned from FB for life.
This book was banned by Amazon dot com….world’s largest seller of books. This is a total violation of the 1st Amendment. Its now available as a free PDF.
Attachment
When I went to town (Live Oak, Fl) yesterday, I noticed two huge cell towers (5G?) that were being stored in a warehouse area that I cut through to get to the main road. As I drove a bit further, I noticed another one being transported on the main road, likely on its way to the same place I had seen the other two. Just now, my neighbor returned from town and said there were 30…yep, thirty in the same area. So, they brought in 27 more in a very short period of time. Quite telling, I would say. He could be pulling my leg, but I’ll find out and take some pics later today.
These things were long, friends….at least 100 feet with a pilot truck in the front and behind.
Just wondering if anyone else has noticed the same in their area.
Here are the pics I took this AM…everything is behind a fence, so it’s difficult to get a good shot. There are about thirty (as best I could count) and they are about 100 feet tall and 4 feet wide at the bottom. Absolutely massive. I purposefully photographed the top lest anyone think they are drainage pipes or some such. If this is going on in Live Oak, Fl…a very small town, imagine how many are going up in larger towns. These have not been there in storage. They were all placed there in one day. That means there must have been a caravan of thirty trucks bringing them in, as it takes one truck to deliver each pole and two pilot cars.
It’s disgusting and we HAVE NO CONTROL.
https://i.imgur.com/zOM603D.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/nPOqWfp.jpg
And could this be the reason for the big rush???
You see, Apple holds a launch event every year in September.
On September 8th, everyone expects Apple to reveal their very first 5G iPhone.
Yes these appear to be some sort of tower. I counted 30 of them. They don’t seem to be be drainage pipes.
These will have an attached steel base flange with huge bolts… which are then attached to a concrete -rebar foundation.
The public reaction during this Scam-demic shows a mix of confusion (heads in sand) and zealous faith in government. People are programmed to comply and by extension angrily denounce anyone who doesn’t. Its telling that three of the countries with the largest “reported” infection/death rates are the US, the UK and Italy. In other words the seats of the Deep State apparatus. Zionist attack dog Dershowitz stating that we “don’t have a right not to be vaccinated” and Trump announcing Operation Warp Speed (an embarrassing title at best) shows that they’re moving as quickly as they can, to forcibly vaccinate the planet, starting with the a for mentioned three Deep State operational centers. Trump doesn’t seem to be concerned about posse comitatus (yeah we know Boy Bush crapped on it) when he announced that the military will be used to vaccinate at least 100 million US citizens….to start. This is not going to end well.
This is an excellent article that offers a very complete synopsis of where we are at this moment. I find these circumstances are by far the most dire and daunting I have found myself in for my 75 years on this earth. But what’s missing is a suggestion as to what each of us can do to bring this to an end. And please to not think writing a letter to some corrupted CONgressperson will offer any relief.
****************And in line with that, I would like to inquire as to what anyone here is doing NOW in the way of any activity or idea to stop this madness.************
And while I have some attention, here is what the CDC is ordering (or suggesting?) WHAT WE DO TO OUR CHILDREN AND GRAND CHILDREN. HAVE WE AS A SOCIETY LOST OUR COLLECTIVE MIND???
((AND, I might ask at this juncture, ARE GUIDELINES NOW MANDATES??))
CDC guidelines for re-opening schools
Ensure that student and staff groupings are as static as possible by having the same group of children stay with the same staff (all day for young children, and as much as possible for older children).
Restrict mixing between groups.
Cancel all field trips, inter-group events, and extracurricular activities (Step 1).
Limit gatherings, events, and extracurricular activities to those that can maintain social distancing, support proper hand hygiene, and restrict attendance of those from higher transmission areas (Step 2; Note: restricting attendance from those in Step 1 areas).
Restrict nonessential visitors, volunteers, and activities involving other groups at the same time.
Space seating/desks to at least six feet apart.
Turn desks to face in the same direction (rather than facing each other), or have students sit on only one side of tables, spaced apart.
Close communal use spaces such as dining halls and playgrounds if possible; otherwise stagger use and disinfect in between use.
If a cafeteria or group dining room is typically used, serve meals in classrooms instead. Serve individually plated meals and hold activities in separate classrooms and ensure the safety of children with food allergies.
Create social distance between children on school buses (for example, seating children one child per seat, every other row) where possible.
Consider limiting nonessential visitors, volunteers, and activities involving other groups. Restrict attendance of those from higher transmission areas (Step 1 or 2 areas).
Consider staggering arrival and drop-off times or locations, or put in place other protocols to limit close contact with parents or caregivers as much as possible.
Just to add, as a live interview with Buttar and 100 other professionals is just finishing, PLEASE see if you can find it somewhere OR just sign up for London Real and see it on Brian Rose’s channel. It is astounding and eye-opening!
https://tinyurl.com/ya6csxau
A nation that created the TSA [travel security administration] and allows its officers to grope the genitals of males, the vagina’s and breast area of females at airports will allow anything to happen to that nation.
Remember, this is all done for your ”safety” . The coronavirus total lockdown and the destruction of the US economy is all done for your safety. Hide in your home and you will feel ”safe” from the scary virus. Stay 6 feet from your fellow human and you will be ”safe” from their nonexistent contamination.
Feel safe now?
And folks wonder why I am losing faith in my fellow traveler.
Is THIS really the best we can do….is this our best or even ANY answer to this outrageous lie?
One of the most ridiculous things I have seen…but, give it time…there will be more.
Welcome to the asylum!!
https://153news.net/watch_video.php?v=96O31RNMS2BB
https://www.foxnews.com/us/los-angeles-nutritional-supplement-company-must-stop-marketing-radish-paste-as-coronavirus-preventative-judge-says Quote:
“The city attorney’s office sued the Koreatown business, Insan Healing, claiming the company had violated state false advertising laws when it promoted $99.95 a bottle radish paste as a “must-have product for the protection and prevention of the COVID-19,” The Los Angeles Times reported.
The paste has not been tested by the Food and Drug Administration as a preventative against the virus, City Atty. Mike Feuer said.”
The late Frederick R. Klenner, M.D. cured all childhood viral diseases up to and including polio before 1949 with Vitamin C. Criminals in the FDA have been obstructing this information for over 70 years! All criminals in the FDA should be sitting in a jail cell for life. Here are two references which document these facts:www.doctoryourself.com/klennerpaper.html http://orthomolecular.org/library/jom/1991/pdf/1991-v06n02-p099.pdf
The US FDA are a bunch of liars and con artists bought and paid for by corrupt pharmaceutical companies.
All readers of this blog MUST see the following You Tube.This is a remarkable person talking about Covid and other aspects of the vexing problems we face.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ua6meLlYJdY
Thanks for the video Bahmi.
The governments are meant to do what the people want, or the people should kick them out.
The apathy of the people has allowed this.
Time has come for the citizens to run for government and fix the mess.
Trump is better than the democrats, but that is not much of a compliment.
Only the sick should be quarantined, not the healthy.
Yes, only the sick should be in quarantine. The lockdown of ALL people is wholly about control…..its diabolical.
Mass Testing is meaningless and is a scare tactic. The so-called coronavirus Tests prove nothing. If you’ve had a flu shot in the past 10 years you have a good chance to test positive [because there are conronavirus antibodies in your blood because there were neutered corona particles in the flu vaccine.]
If you test Negative, you could be infected 20 minutes later. Add to that a huge % of false Pos. and false Neg tests, so you end up with a big nothing.
Ken O’keefe is a former U.S. Marine. Here is his powerful statement from LAX in 2016. It is time for most Americans to wake up. It may be too late now. Ken is a real patriot with the kind of guts and courage the Founders had. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqPofDjY0og
https://i.imgur.com/OIiQ5ES.jpg