are people up in arms about this new police state thing, or did i just miss it?

[katekat]

First I heard this report on NPR that totally freaked me out. These poor people are put in ankle bracelets becuase they're applying for residency in the US. And then I went to talkleft and found out that I'm not the only one crying foul:

Homeland Security is requiring immigrants in 8 cities who are in the process of applying for residency to wear electronic monitoring ankle bracelets 24/7.

These people have never been accused of a crime. There are 1,700 of them to date. Homeland Security says monitoring will prevent those ordered deported from running and hiding. But, a 2003 Justice Department report blamed inadequate record keeping by immigration officials as the reason for problems deporting non-detained aliens.

Why are Americans so apathetic about this?

[full entry at talkleft]

And I second the thought. Why are Americans so apathetic about this? We're putting people in chains for applying or appealing their applications to join the US. Is it really because we don't believe the government wouldn't stoop to using the same tactics on US citizens? Because I seriously doubt the current administration would hesitate. Pretty soon we'll all be criminals. With little dohickeys around our ankles instead of a hangman's noose around our necks.

Comments

[psychoadept.livejournal.com]

I ain't a bit apathetic. Jesus Christ. However, I do feel completely fucking helpless to do anything about it. All the distopian literature out there, and people still don't get it. *is incoherent with rage*

[katekat]

i hear that. it drives me nuts to read this stuff, and to not know where i can take it. pass the word though - you never know when that'll help

(btw, i like the icon... it's good for rage, isn't it?)

[psychoadept.livejournal.com]

Well, Ripper generally is, isn't he?

[dara-starscream.livejournal.com]

I'd ask if you're kidding . . . except you're not. Motherfuck.

Yes I am more than a little alarmed by this . . . but thanks to the magic of the Electoral College in the last election, my vote didn't count.
-BJ

[katekat]

I'd ask if you're kidding . . . except you're not.

I so wish I was. Truly, truly, truly.

my vote didn't count.

I'm beginning to wonder if *any* of our votes counted in the last election... and i voted in CA last time. I was just saying to EB that I don't want to believe the election was rigged (because then I loose faith in the process), but it's either that, or believe that the rest of the US really does believe that Bush was best (and then I loose my faith in people). It's not a good or happy choice.

[dara-starscream.livejournal.com]

How often do you talk to people who live outside the city? I've got a stepfamily that, while I love them to death, is staunchly Republican. The Democrats had a canadite whose main selling point was that he wasn't Bush, apathy did it's thing (the idea is that the United States has the lowest voter turnout per capita of a democratic nation), and we've got a jackass in the main office and the far scarier people who use him as a rubber stamp. To riff Anthony Swofford (if you've never read Jarhead, I recommend it highly), the people might be anti-war, but the men who have the guns are not. Let me put it this way; I don't see the status quo lasting much into the next decade. Subtract that and what do we have? Anarchy is not a good thing.

(deep breath) I need to have my uncle on tap; he's better at this than I am. I try to ignore politics.
-BJ

[katekat]

How often do you talk to people who live outside the city?

You're right - I'm in a liberal bubble. It's hard for me to move outside of it, though, because part of me doesn't *want* to move outside of it. Then I have to live in a world where the ideals I hold most dear are completely antithetical to most people's. Not fun. Not that I'm sticking my head in the sand, but, it's just painful.

And you're right, anarchy is not a good thing. Neither is the current political situation, but it's what we've got. Ugh.

[dara-starscream.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it. I'm the same way when it comes to Buffy. The only fans I have real contact with are grown-up women Giles fans. I did a search for fanvids once, and it came as a shock how overrepresented Spike fans are in this fandom. I don't believe this election was rigged, at least not in the outright sense (I don't think the vote counts themselves were hinky), but I don't believe it was done well.

And let the recording angels note, I am a loyal and patriotic American. I believe in the democratic process and the system of the democratic republic. I just believe it is long overdue for an overhaul. It's not working in service of the country as a whole any more.
-BJ