I take it you've never been in an actual "police state". I have. This ain't it.
Oh? So, we have to wait until we achieve an actual Khymer Cambodia, Soviet Union, or Saudi Arabia before we can use the term?
A news article or op ed I read recently pointed out there is little enough difference between a government that forbids something, and a government that makes regulations knowing those regulations will drive out of business what the government wants gone.
Seen those videos lately of cops arresting people who video'd them? Sounds like we're well on our way to a secret police to me--the cops wanta operate in secret with little accountability. How about that one where the only reason we got the video was the guy hid the chip or card from his cop-smashed phone in his mouth throughout his arrest and booking? This cop-on-private-videographer business is too frequent to be "an isolated incident."
Personally, when the fedgov, in collusion with the Federal Reserve and the banksters, can wreck the entire economy, putting 10% of people out of work, and lord knows how many people out of their homes, and drive the national debt to the moon (a huge tax liability), I call that repression. Its a different repression. Its creative. Its hidden. And, its suppressive.
This list of government abuses goes on and on and on. Today I was reading how the FDA forbade in-home AIDS tests. Op ed written by a guy who first tried to get such off the ground in the (1987?). Just when I thought I'd finally got a grip on the extent of the soft tyranny, I find out the fegov has had policies in place that have helped with the spread of the AIDS virus.
I think maybe we've been ommitting to celebrate an important day. Its not the revolution that's important; its what you do with it that counts. We should be celebrating the Bill of Rights, too. A July 4th celebration that includes a complete reading of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the fireworks. And, then a blow-out celebration of the Bill of Rights on December 15th.