Busy writing about Bush's exploitation of 9/11 and the mainstream media's stenographic flair in covering it, I made a mental note then to come back to the following story, which received little attention in the mainstream media:
Nonlethal weapons such as high-power microwave devices should be used on American citizens in crowd-control situations before being used on the battlefield, the Air Force secretary said Tuesday.
The object is basically public relations. Domestic use would make it easier to avoid questions from others about possible safety considerations, said Secretary Michael Wynne. "If we're not willing to use it here against our fellow citizens, then we should not be willing to use it in a wartime situation," said Wynne.
"(Because) if I hit somebody with a nonlethal weapon and they claim that it injured them in a way that was not intended, I think that I would be vilified in the world press.
The madness of testing flesh-burning weaponry - or any weaponry! - on its own civilians, such as those who dare exercise their free speech in a protest, reeks of a fascist police state. Evidence of which lay in the Bush administration not even batting an eye at Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne's suggestion. But what should we expect from a government already bent on secret prisons, torture and ignoring international law?
Political cartoonist Stephanie McMillan nails this twisted logic. It's Sunday; burn with laughter.
Burning Sensation, by Stephanie McMillan
Minimum Security
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