By Scott Tibbs, October 10, 2014
♣ - With the paranoia about police not being able to do their jobs if they do not have a way past smartphone encryption, I have to ask: How did police do their job ten years ago, before the modern smartphone market existed?
♣ - I said a year ago that if Barack Obama's justice department files charges against George Zimmerman, Obama should be impeached. If we take our liberty, our Constitutional rights and the rule of law seriously, Congress must begin impeachment proceedings in the event such charges are filed.
♣ - Here is an excellent article at Reason.com about "stranger danger." The reality is that crime statistics just do not justify this level of paranoia that produces so many false alarms. We should be careful and take reasonable precautions to protect children, but we should not be living in terror.
♣ - Mandatory minimum sentences are an outgrowth of our paranoia about crime and drugs, and have done more harm than good. It is time for them to be abolished. We should trust judges to judge.
♣ - Is there anyone so deluded as to believe Greg Orman, the "independent" U.S. Senate candidate in Kansas, will not caucus with the Democrats if he is elected? Otherwise, why would the Democratic candidate drop out?
♣ - Yes, internet trolls exist. This is not a surprise. Trolls who actually make a false police report because they are angry about "open carry" should be prosecuted and punished to the fullest extent of the law. But a few internet trolls ranting on Facebook and Twitter is hardly cause for alarm.
♣ - One can support law enforcement while also condemning excessive force, opposing overly intrusive police tactics and defending civil liberties. That is not an either/or proposition.
