“There’s no way to rule innocent men. The only power any government has is the power to crack down on criminals. Well, when there aren’t enough criminals, one makes them. One declares so many things to be a crime that it becomes impossible for men to live without breaking laws.”
The Virginia Governor is in favor equipping the states police forces with aerial drones that are capable of monitoring peoples every move, waiting to efficiently crack down on its citizens.
When you think about the potential for abuse, it is truly frightening:
Police drones flying over Virginia would be “great” and “the right thing to do” for the same reasons they are so effective in a battlefield environment, the state’s chief executive said Tuesday.
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, says he is open to any technology that makes law enforcement more productive. The use of drones, which was recently endorsed by the police chiefs of Fairfax County and D.C., would make better use of valuable police resources.
Increased safety and reduced manpower are among the reasons the U.S. military and intelligence community use drones on the battlefield, which is why it should be considered in Virginia, he says.
“It’s great,” he said while speaking on WTOP’s “Ask the Governor” program. “If you’re keeping police officers safe, making it more productive and saving money…it’s absolutely the right thing to do.”
McDonnell says it will make the police “more productive and saving money.“ What the hell?!?! Is Bob McDonnell trying to create a police state within Virginia?
If the “cost” to the government to issue citations will be less. Guess what the citizens of Virginia will get… More citations, more traffic tickets and more government intrusion in peoples lives. Count on it.
Governor Bob McDonnell (R-Va) should be run out of office, today, for even suggesting such an idea.
A statist is a statist regardless of what party they belong to. This is the perfect example Steve. This why we need to elect men and women of sound character who believe individual liberty and self-governance is the key to a successful republic.
Yep, a statist is a statist and Mr. McDonnell is a statist.
You highlighted the key words, the words that should scare the daylights out of any freeman.
WTF?
Unfortunately, we’re not going to elect these people until “We the People” believe in “individual liberty and self-governance” ourselves. I’ve heard every excuse in the book, but the reason that even conservatives chose Romney over Paul is because they can’t imagine life without Big Government. Cut $1 trillion? No way! Cut the DHS? That’s crazy talk! Stop defending Germany from, um, uh, well I don’t know what? Lunacy!
I keep thinking about something I said in a post the other day. I think it explains more than I thought it did at the time. Some of us (libertarians and traditional conservatives (paleos) hate the police state more than we hate the Democrats. Republicans own the police state. They built it. This is something the movement needs to address. It’s irreconcilable. The police state must be abolished.
Mr. McDonnell is so upbeat and excited about unmanned drones patrolling the skies of America watching everything.
Scary stuff. Shows there is less and less difference between the two parties as time goes on.
I know. Plus there is / was talk about McDonnell becoming Romney’s VP.
As a person who lives in VA and has met Gov. McDonnell on several occasions. His issue is not so much statism as it is a love for technology. He has done some great things as Gov and others do leave you saying WTF. I am all for making policing more safe, but this isn’t the way to go about it.
I’m a fan of technology as well. But this, in my mind, is a bad idea.
Incedibly, we find ourselves at the mercy of technology. People like McDonnell will argue that police have a right to use the latest technology; that it is nothing more than an advanced form of patrol cars. He is wrong, of course. The drones carry technology that allows police to carry out unjustified searches without due process. We are becoming a police state.
Patrol cars are visible at ground level and not loitering at 30,000 with high power cameras surveying large swaths of real estate.