Profiling for Driving While Conservative
Posted by: Blue Collar Muse in 10th Amendment, 1st Amendment, 2nd Ammendment, Blogroll, Breaking News, Common Sense, Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Obama-Nation, Terrorism, War on TerrorMy friend Josh at American Dad Blog alerted me to this article at The American Thinker.
Missouri State Police have been alerted to be on the lookout for subversive drivers who may be domestic terrorists or members of militia groups. How can Missouri Law Enforcement know the car in front of them might be carrying dangerous people? Why from their bumper stickers of course!
Among the bumper stickers listed as indicative of dangerous, anti-Americans behind the wheel are those supporting Ron Paul or other 3rd party candidates, the Gadsden flag, opposition to the North American Union, opposition to the President’s Mandatory Service agenda, the right to Keep and Bear arms and belief that the States are sovereign. All these and more are “identifiers” common to militia movements across the nation and should alert law enforcement to be cautious when dealing with occupants in cars displaying them.
In fact, they are told such people often consider police the enemy. To be fair, the report doesn’t claim that all people who hold such views are automatically terrorists bent on shooting cops at traffic stops. However, if you have such stickers on your vehicle in Missouri, tensions just went WAY up.
The officer approaching your car (who is carrying a firearm) has no way to know if you are a bad guy or not but he’s been told you might be. And you behind the wheel (who may also be armed) have no way to know if the officer is terrified you might be. Both of you are on heightened alert. How does one diffuse that situation? Will the officer ask for license, registration and white supremacist membership card, just to make sure? Should your first words be, “What did I do wrong, officer? And pay no attention to that Ron Paul nonsense on the bumper, I LOVE Barack Obama’s policies!”?
I understand the potential danger to law enforcement. But that is not an exclusively Right Wing phenomenon. The Left has their share of luncacy. Groups like Earth First and the Earth Liberation Front (ELF) along with the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) destroy millions of dollars of property and endanger the lives of citizens and law enforcement alike. It’s reported that ELF is considered one of the major terrorist groups in the US by the FBI.
Why didn’t the Missouri report list Sierra Club and PETA bumper stickers along with “Animals Are People, Too!” as indicators of Domestic Terrorists?
Distributing this sort of alert to Law Enforcement at any level is outrageous and libelous. Can you imagine what the outcry would be if Missouri had suggested its troopers be on the lookout for “I (heart) Allah” bumper stickers? What about “My child is an honor student at our local madrassa” or “Hate is not a family value”? What if they were warned to be careful approaching a car sporting an NAACP sticker? What about a La Raza supporter sticker? Free Tibet?
All these are political and religious statements that are completely permissible under our Constitution and should not be taken as any sort of indication of the proclivities for violence the driver or occupants of a car may have. Such nonsense only perpetuates intolerance, hate, suspicion and all the things we say we’re trying to combat in this nation.
It’s too late to tell Missouri’s officers, “That report? Naaaah … just kidding!” The information is already out there and is having an impact. I cannot imagine a more irresponsible act than to compile and make public such an inflammatory report. The person issuing that report should be demoted or terminated. The state should issue an apology and assure citizens that their efforts are based on solid police work, investigation, facts and proof and not snap reactions to a piece of paper glued to a man’s auto.
Blue
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Tags: Bumper Stickers as Indicators of Terrorists, Domestic Terrorism, Driving While Conservative, Environmental Terrorism, Militia Movement, MO State Highway Patrol Strategic Report on The Modern , Political Dissent, Ron Paul
Entries (RSS)
March 22nd, 2009 at 11:28 am
Gee willikers! Never knew I was such a being! I guess I’m a triple threat with my NRA sticker and a couple of bumper stickers. Lil ol’ me…..go figure.
Idjits! Plain and simple.
March 22nd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
[…] state police have been advised that certain kinds of bumper stickers on the back of cars may indicate the driver might be a […]
March 22nd, 2009 at 5:03 pm
[…] Writes Ken: […]
March 22nd, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Can’t blame the police for having suspicions. Every person, bumper sticker or not, has to be looked at as a possible criminal or attacker. It’s part of the job training..don’t trust anyone. With the economy tanked, and people getting more and more edgy, you can expect some incidents…like this.
Read what Jack Dunphy, an LAPD officer whose career spans several decades, has to say relating to Deputy Schene’s unwarranted beating of an inmate. You’ve got to realize that police are human too, and under incredible pressure.
Remember too, you might have to call…someone, someday. Who you gonna call?
March 23rd, 2009 at 6:55 am
[…] Driving While Conservative. […]
March 23rd, 2009 at 7:02 am
The MIAC report has already been an astounding success. Look at the way people are rushing to distance themselves from the militia. Instead, people should be going to sites like http://www.awrm.org to find and join the militia unit nearest to them. The real problem is that the militia has been lumped in with “hate” and racist groups like Christian Identity and the KKK.
I am in the Virginia militia (click on my name for info), and none of what this report says about the militia is accurate. None. But who will you believe, someone in the militia, or some government entity with an axe to grind? How about the Southern Poverty Law Center or the mainstream media? Surely they must know the difference between a militia and a hate group, right? Well, no, not really, or if they do they ain’t telling. I guess instilling fear brings in the donations.
A militia unit that I have trained with is listed on the SPLC’s website as a hate group. The group at one time contained two Jews, and I know for a fact that no one would be turned away for being black, hispanic, asian, Mormon, pagan, or whatever.
Racists exist in all walks of life. There are racists at your place of employment and in your place of worship. Likewise, there are racists in the militia, but the militia, like your place of employment and your place of worship, is not a racist group, nor does it allow racism to have any say in its operation. Having seen racism surface in the militia, I can tell you it mostly has to do with a frustration that non-whites TYPICALLY–NOT ALWAYS–tend not to care enough about liberty to take on the responsibility mentioned in the opening clause of the Second Amendment. So this “racism” is really a desire to see more people of color take a stand for liberty–their own and others.
Peace.
March 23rd, 2009 at 9:28 am
serr8d wrote “Can’t blame the police for having suspicions. Every person, bumper sticker or not, has to be looked at as a possible criminal or attacker.”
And I look at every cop as a possible Johannes Mehserle.
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:25 am
Who you gonna call?
Nobody. That’s the problem with this kind of thing.
Wouldn’t it be a good thing if the police behaved such that the citizenry thought it might actually be helpful to call the police in the event of a crime? As behaviour like this spreads those who can take care of themselves. . . will.
Most here in the West already know the three Ss (Shoot, shovel and shutup) if attacked by violent and/or habituated wildlife. Calling Fish & Game only results in a criminal investigation of YOUR actions. The best result is ‘no charges pressed’ on your record. How long before that starts happening with the general population when facing common crime.
It can be difficult enough to PROVE your innocence when the police are genuine impartial investigators of the law. When they no longer are impartial. . . having them at a crime scene you are involved at can do you no good unless you know ahead of time that you are a member of the ‘protected’ or preferred group.
While officers really don’t like the above consequences of their actions and their organizations actions, they usually just condemn the citizens with contrary opinions. The MSP statement essentially is doing this by attacking the ‘civilian’ militia movement.
IF officers want to change the publics perception of them, they must lead from in front rather than just denigrate the public that expresses negative opinions about them. Be the officer to say ‘no’ to bad policy. Publicly if necessary. Be the officer who is competent at field skills and passes that ability on to all the general public. Be the officer to write tickets for DUI to fellow LEO’s. Be the officer that is truly impartial regardless of department policy and training. And if you are, you might be the officer that gets to go to court to try to keep your job under your Civil Service protections. So go to court, fight, keep your job and lead other officers to do it the right way. And in your jurisdiction, people will think calling the cops might be a good thing to do when criminals strike and they need help.
Someday, when you are alone and need help, that same citizenry that you taught your best practices to, that you treated impartially, might be there to help YOU when seconds count and the backup is an eternity away.
March 23rd, 2009 at 10:59 am
Funny thing… sometimes it *is* the hippie who saves the day. After all, some of them have been in combat before. Some of them have had martial arts training. Some of them have the gumption to swing that old guitar for the sake of a life.
Don’t you?
March 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 pm
[…] Profiling: It’s okay as long as you’re white. Tweet This SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: “Blue Collar Muse”, url: “http://www.melissaclouthier.com/2009/03/23/blue-collar-muse/” }); […]
April 2nd, 2009 at 12:42 pm
[…] help that this guy is a Ron Paul supporter and, therefore, according to Missouri state officials, a potential terrorist. He might have even had subversive literature on him - you know, the Constitution, the Bible, the […]
April 15th, 2009 at 7:22 pm
I had a clean driving record for 7 years until I put on a Ron Paul bumper sticker, then I got 3 tickets in 1 year for petty infractions. I took the bumper sticker off my car and I have not had any trouble after that. The cops were already targeting Ron Paul supporters before the Missouri Report was released. Remember, cops are unionized which means they feed from the left-breast of big government. Most think fascism is a right wing movement, but fascism is actually a left wing movement. Read the history of fascism and you will see. Cops are cherry-picked for being a special brand of stupid, and that is why former military experience is so prized by cop recruiters. The military is filled with low-life losers who signed-up to kill anyone told regardless of legitimate reason. Military personnel are disposable, bargain-basement hit-men who signed up to be a paid killers and earn slave wages. SOUNDS LIKE A BUNCH OF ROCKET-SCIENTISTS!
October 25th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
[…] In the meantime, look for the media and their less-bright cousins to focus obsessively on “right-wing violence”, no matter how hard they have to imagine it. […]