"In the US you have the police acting by decree; they can do what they damn well please providing it's not explicitly banned and thus they get away with murder."
I love it when non-US citizens or residents attempt to explain how America works to Americans - but highly resent it when Americans offer opinions about how their country works.
American police do not act by decree. What they can and cannot do is as constrained by the Constitution and by law as any other American. And while there have been a few cases that have been very highly publicized by a hostile media as reputedly being murder, subsequent court action based on evidence and testimony generally reveals that the police did not in fact murder.
The Founders decided that two countries - one North, one South, one with slavery and one without - would likely not survive a British assault (e.g., the War of 1812). So rather then lose the South, they compromised. Slavery was permitted, but the number of representatives allocated on the basis of the slave population was reduced by 40% so as to ensure that the South did not have a irreducible majority in the House of Representatives and banned the importation of slaves after a fixed date.
Jefferson (a slave owner himself) among others predicted that it would lead to major conflict down the road. They were right. But at the cost of 600,000 lives slavery was ended and the nation was held together.
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Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "keep the community clean" -- You're for purity, eh?
"not to burst your bubble there but the US government recently admitted they faked the initial moon landings at the time."
That's hilarious. And here I thought you were being SERIOUS about all the other stuff you posted here. Thanks for the laugh!
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "keep the community clean" -- You're for purity, eh?
"not to burst your bubble there but the US government recently admitted they faked the initial moon landings at the time."
That's hilarious. And here I thought you were being SERIOUS about all the other stuff you posted here. Thanks for the laugh!
Re: Policing by Consent
"In the US you have the police acting by decree; they can do what they damn well please providing it's not explicitly banned and thus they get away with murder."
I love it when non-US citizens or residents attempt to explain how America works to Americans - but highly resent it when Americans offer opinions about how their country works.
American police do not act by decree. What they can and cannot do is as constrained by the Constitution and by law as any other American. And while there have been a few cases that have been very highly publicized by a hostile media as reputedly being murder, subsequent court action based on evidence and testimony generally reveals that the police did not in fact murder.
Re: Re: The US Constitution is amazing
The Founders decided that two countries - one North, one South, one with slavery and one without - would likely not survive a British assault (e.g., the War of 1812). So rather then lose the South, they compromised. Slavery was permitted, but the number of representatives allocated on the basis of the slave population was reduced by 40% so as to ensure that the South did not have a irreducible majority in the House of Representatives and banned the importation of slaves after a fixed date.
Jefferson (a slave owner himself) among others predicted that it would lead to major conflict down the road. They were right. But at the cost of 600,000 lives slavery was ended and the nation was held together.