We Need Better Ways To Protect Ourselves From Our Government

This has happened to me, too, though the consequences were not as severe. I was held for two days in Marin County for not agreeing with a police officer that I was DUI (I was stone sober).

I was also detained for 4 hours in San Francisco for pointing out that an officer was threatening me with an arrest for not wanting to give any information I wasn't legally required to provide.

Do not mistake my statements to mean that I think we don't need law enforcement, we do. But we need officers who will uphold the word and spirit of the laws, not thugs who abuse their position. We need to improve our ability to weed out bad apples before they cause harm, to detect bad apples that have gotten in, to remove or rehabilitate apples that are going bad, and to provide antidotes to those have been poisoned by the rot.

Finally, I want to point out that he was on a stretch of road that is riddled with violent crime these days. What if he had been a bad guy? What if he'd had a bomb in his trunk? What if the actions taken by the officers was the best way to ensure their safety against violent retaliation they've experienced in similar circumstances? Should we consider parts of the US more like war zones, and assume that in a war, you must take sides - and that in these regions you either need to side with the authorities or the outlaws? I think that's a more common sense solution: expect to be treated differently by police in different regions and under different circumstances. Pick your allies, enemies, and your battles. Realize that some environments may necessitate violation of the word of the law to fight for its spirit- but never loose sight of the goal of a country by and for the people. This requires balance of priorities: in my opinion the balance has shifted too far towards security and too far from freedom. I think the guy in the video would agree. I would also recommend that authorities learn to pick their allies, enemies, and their battles. Did this guy really come off as someone with a bomb or a person in their trunk? Even if he was doing something technically illegal, do you think it was worth violently violating his rights to prevent him from doing it? He just doesn't come off as someone who wants to do wrong. OK, I'm ranting ...