Standing Up for Peace

[unhappycamper]

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/7333-standing-up-for-peace



Sure is a beauty, eh? And only $285,000.


Standing Up for Peace
Monday, 19 March 2012 04:23 By Jim Hightower, OtherWords | Op-Ed

During a recent city council meeting, the mayor of Keene, New Hampshire leaned over to a council member and whispered excitedly: "We're going to have our own tank."

Yes, the tank (or, more specifically, the "armored personnel vehicle&quot is the latest must-have toy for mayors and police departments. Even in this picture-perfect and tranquil New England town of about 23,000 residents, officials hurl common sense to the wind at the very thought of having such a cool ride parked in front of town hall. Maybe they'll even get to drive it in the next 4th of July parade! Never mind that Keene has no crime that would warrant rolling out a tank.

Nonetheless, thanks to such richly funded boondoggles as the "war on drugs" and the "war on terrorism," the federal government is throwing money at cities and states to militarize their various police forces. Thus, Keene was granted $285,000 by the Department of Homeland Security to buy its very own "Bearcat," an eight-ton combat vehicle.

Of course, corporations that peddle such pricey hardware testily insist that Keene needs a tank. A sales executive for Lenco Industries, which makes the Bearcat, snapped to an inquiring reporter: "I don't think there's any place in the country where you can say, 'That isn't a likely terrorist target.' Wouldn't you rather be prepared?"

[xchrom]

1. Fuck. Nt

[LiberalEsto]

2. I want my very own personal tank.

Ya think the DHS would give me one?

[felix_numinous]

3. Because peaceful demonstrators

are so much more of a threat than white supremacists, gay bashers, pot smokers and misogynistic violent criminals!!


We have upside-down justice in this country--and that is a recipe for an eventual uprising--and they know it.