Hmm. It was curious that the police officer in the Washington Post reporter's video leading to his arrest looked an awful lot like a soldier, not a cop. It does seem that the reporter in the video was nearly the last person to leave--the McDonald's looks practically empty. The police officer gives "45 seconds" for people to leave. I just have to wonder what the point was of asking these people to leave. Had the store manager asked them to leave already, and had they refused? If so, then what can you say? If not, then why did that happen?

This is definitely getting unpleasant. And scary.

After the Trayvon Martin situation, I felt violated by the media, so I avoided reading much on this Ferguson stuff. But if the fellow in that video still released is indeed the same one who was killed, it's sounding more likely that he created the problem. I have to wonder why he wasn't on the sidewalk in the first place. Like Trayvon, if he'd just gone home, following the law for pedestrians instead of being in the street, he might well still be alive. I don't know what happened, but if he'd been accosted while on the sidewalk for no reason and shot down like an animal, I'd be outraged, too. But I can't think of a good reason he would end up scuffling with a police officer in the car even if the officer was out to get him. I mean, that scenario makes more sense if the officer ends up having to get out of his car and then a scuffle happens. I don't know, is it just me?

I got pulled over by the police for the first time this year, and as a black man with his wife and two small children in the car, I was pretty scared. Those lights are very disorienting to the senses. The officer just pulled me over because my tail light assembly was damaged and the white light bulbs were showing instead of the red tail lights. Some unknown person hit my car while it was parked and damaged the tail light assembly. I had to pay $100 for the parts and was fortunate the officer only gave me a warning. But it was awfully inconvenient and traumatizing.

You know, I miss the days of actually seeing police officers walk the beat. They really need to reconnect with the people they're protecting, in my opinion. I know it's a much bigger world than it used to be, but something is being lost there.

But my rambling anecdotes aside, what we are seeing is more and more response from law enforcement that is extreme. I just wonder...is obeying the law ever going to be enough anymore? In the end, I just keep thinking...we're looking at '1984' here, staring it in the face. What's the end result of that? Is everyone going to realize it in time, or is it already too late?

I take great exception to Mr. Durden comparing Libertarians to Wall St. Occupiers.