I saw this today and felt that it perfectly summarizes so many problems in America:
On the one hand, an
innocent young black woman is brutally beaten, jailed, abused in jail, and charged with felonies for standing up for her civil rights during a conversation with a police officer.
On the other hand, a wealthy white businessman who owes the government over $1 million in unpaid fees recruits a gang of armed thugs who threaten law enforcement officers at gunpoint, preventing them from enforcing a court order. He and his gang have not yet been arrested or charged with any crime, and continue to make armed threats and obstruct justice.
We have a problem in this country with unequal enforcement of the law. A discrimination problem. It seems that if you're white and rich, you may get special treatment. If you're poor or black, you may also get special treatment -- especially hostile and savage.
Oh yes, Cliven Bundy may eventually be arrested -- after very careful and cautious deliberation, and treated with kid gloves, to avoid offending the sensibilities of the powerful and their defenders. And yes, Nubia Bowe may eventually be found not guilty in a court of law -- if she's lucky -- after a long, costly legal battle, and after having to endure all kinds of physical and psychological abuse to try to break her will and spirit.
This kind of discrimination in favor of the powerful and against the powerless is the kind of thing that happens routinely in nations that are derisively called "third world" countries.
So I ask: If armed separatists like Cliven Bundy are given wide berth by the law enforcement and criminal justice systems, while ordinary law-abiding citizens like Nubia Bowe are treated with instant, over-the-top police brutality, is this a symptom of a serious decline of American standards of civilization? If these trends of inequality and injustice continue, is America in danger of becoming a third-world country? Discuss.