John Grant: Is the United States a Police State?

Honorable people like to debate whether the United States of America is a "police state," but when it comes to shutting down the expression of ideas on the political left, there is little room for argument. We are inundated in this country with propaganda boilerplate about being the greatest democracy in the world. No, we are not a police state like our friends in Saudi Arabia, or our former friends, and current enemies, in Iran. Our police agencies have figured out how to accomplish police state repression in a "softer," more sophisticated manner. Look at the September 26 report by Lawrence O'Donnell of MSNBC, on what he describes as a "violent burst of chaos" caused by armed "troublemakers" from the New York Police Department. It was a peaceful demonstration against Wall Street greed. At least it started out that way. All evidence suggests it was, then, sent careening into chaos by the police strong-arming of young protesters who had done nothing but express their views in public. In one incident, young women on the sidewalk observing the arrest of a young man in the street are corralled by cops using orange plastic nets. White-shirted Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna then walks up, un-holsters his pepper spray gun and shoots one of the women full in the face. He re-holsters his weapon and walks away.