Obama announces restrictions on distribution of military-style equipment to police

originally posted by: St Udio
.BUT even the SQ site is skirting the issue of Obama behaving as a Lennin-Stalin-Hitler-Pol Pot....or any previous Dictator in our immediate past....

O god you Americans crack me up.

Obama may be a pretty mediocre / below average performing president but he no stalin/Hitler/Pol potts.

To say he is is a insult to the millions who died under those monsters.

You Americans are not currently being rounded in camps and killed on mass are you now? I am pretty sure I haven’t missed that in the news.

Sure the USA is not exactly the freest nation in the world any more but your still in the top 90% of the world. Room for improvement but not a dictatorship......

a reply to: crazyewok

Don't be so surprise because the links to Stalin-Hitler, is very simple, see, Obama has been exercising his executive power with executives decisions in which he can bypass congress, that is viewed by many as some kind of dictatorship in a nation that is ruled by three bodies to avoid that same problem.

a reply to: marg6043

He still is a far far far cry from Stalin or Hitler.

Again your not being killed on mass are you now?

And as for number of executive he is still behind George W Bush, Regan and Clinton.

In fact the only president in the last 30 years with less executive orders to his name is George H Bush!

Again not a fan of Obama myself but for F sake people get some perspective.

a reply to: crazyewok

Again the links is to refer as control of power, not about people been killed, now I agree that it sounds to far in the comment but then again, militarizing the police can create the possibility of citizens falling as casualties of such over reach.

As you can see in the latest news of police involved in brutality we as citizens can not really trust police anymore and military toys are for war not to patrol the streets in America.

originally posted by: marg6043
a reply to: crazyewok

Again the links is to refer as control of power, not about people been killed, now I agree that it sounds to far in the comment but then again, militarizing the police can create the possibility of citizens falling as casualties of such over reach.

As you can see in the latest news of police involved in brutality we as citizens can not really trust police anymore and military toys are for war not to patrol the streets in America.

Which was a pattern set in motion before Obama took office. One that he is taking action to reverse albit a little late.

USA has problem, big one I agree and ones you need to sort out.


But until millions of you are being executed in camps and you lose the right to come on ATS and complain please dont compare yourselfs to the plight of those under Stalin, Hitler and the other monsters.

Military style hardware is not typically required for any instance within any locality, but should that happen, who has that hardware available? Army maybe?

So, I think at least the county government should have a little bit of that stuff on hand, since US military is not permitted to perform operations on US soil absent external military invasion.

a reply to: crazyewok

I remember as it was yesterday right after the 9/11that Djtempe and I were talking about the same thing, when the patriot act was enacted by the former President, he also loved the used of executive decisions, we told many times that he was opening the door for abuse of the executive power by the next presidents to come, because once the door is open no president will want it close again.

Then again millions has not been killed in the US but two conflicts in the middle east done by former president and on going as today, can not be ignored.

a reply to: paradoxious

I believe that the national guard have such equipment readily in case of national and state emergencies.

a reply to: paradoxious

As of 2013 about 4.2 billion of DOD type gear was in police gear with an annual budget of 500 odd million,some Departments like one in Georgia has over 200 million in kit

a reply to: crazyewok

I'm with you. It's funny to me that Obama is taking heat in this when he's attempting to reverse a policy started by another president using powers that he has used less than other presidents. A policy that most people seem to agree is terrible, selling military equipment to police. Of course, that makes him like Hitler, etc.

I can't imagine what that makes Franklin Roosevelt, who used his executive orders far, far, far more than any other president, ever. Other than George H.W. Bush, who was already mentioned, Obama has had less executive orders since Gerald Ford.

I doubt anyone will bother, since my last posts were already ignored about how this isn't even a policy started by Obama, who took the blame for starting the policy along with Bush the 2nd...but just in case anyone really does want to "deny ignorance" -

en.wikipedia.org...

Not much to celebrate here. So they won't be giving guns/ammo larger than .50 cal, tanks and tracked vehicles, and mortars/launchers.

Have they been giving that stuff away already? I cannot think of a reason that would have ever justified grenade launchers for police departmets.....so what exactly is going to change here?

You're all so afraid. My God, get over it.

a reply to: bigfatfurrytexan

No they haven't.

I have never heard of an agency using anything bigger than a .308.

I have never heard of an agency using "weaponized aircraft."

Tracked vehicles tear up the paved roads, so they are useless.

The "grenade launchers" (definitely scary sounding) were of the 40mm variety, only used to fire non lethal rounds such as tear gas against a rioting crowd.

This, to me, sounds like nothing more than a feel good measure to appease the masses. I don't think it really changes anything as MRAPS are not tracked and can still be had through the program.

a reply to: crazyewok

I'm not an Obama fan, but you've got a good point. In this case, I'll gladly say he has done a good job. Hopefully, its not just window dressing and they go through with recalling these "banned" weapons. We need more of the old police " To Protect and to Serve" not so much the " To Punish and Enslave."

a reply to: crazyewok




Hitler, Stalin and etc all had to started somewhere with something.

a reply to: DAVID64

You have to consider how many people have those too though, is it really acceptable for these police to be routinely equipped with something to compete against other weapons they will probably never encounter in their careers?

Why can't the US do what several other countries around the world do, have these things on standby, but require a certain level of risk/threat to be declared before they are used?

One of the problems with American culture is that everyone wants to be a hero, it's all about the image of "serving", rather than actually doing the damn job and doing it well. Too many young men go into policing thinking they're in Iraq, with a massive ego and a massive chip on their shoulder. Giving them this kind of equipment only makes them even more arrogant and dangerous.

We know it's true, there are potentially hundreds of thousands of American police officers just itching for a war zone shootout, because they want to walk away being patted on the back and hailed as a hero.

When that's the kind of psychology you're working with you don't reinforce that by giving them access to military grade equipment.

Just because one in a million Americans has a kevlar vest and an automatic rifle does not mean every cop should also have that when dealing with basic crimes - the vast majority of which do not even require an armed response, let alone military weaponry.

And do I even need to point the utter insanity of police serving warrants with guns pointed, slamming down doors, going in like it's a raid in Fallujah?

Maybe if police forces across the country had not systematically abused their position and the toys they've been given they wouldn't now be getting the kind of response they are getting?

This is the first needed step in a lot more work to be done before the people and the police are on an even and proper footing in the US. There's potentially decades of work ahead to remove the psychopathy of the average Police officer and teach them that they are EQUALS, not superior to the public, and that they are there to SERVE, not CONTROL.

a reply to: Rocker2013

"have them on hand" means nothing in a police society that puts a high value on things like "show of force".

Any military swag is put into a recruiting video to show how hardcore the department is, and how much excitement you will face on the job. I watched some police recruiting videos and it looked more like a recruiting for mercenaries.

I would like to take a different approach to this OP. What would say if you were in Baltimore with teenagers throwing rocks the size of softballs at you with no protection? No helmets or body armor that was donated by the military. How many policemen would be hospitalized or killed. How about Ferguson? Cop cars burnt, property destroyed with several military hand-me-down vehicles present with no civilian causalities. What's the point of removing hand-me-down vehicles from the police?

Some say that rioter feel intimidated by police in riot gear and camouflage uniforms. No one asks how cops feel when a hundred teenagers throwing softball size chunks of concrete at them.

Some say the teenagers were there because social media flash mob texting. They say that these teens are disadvantaged and were acting out because of their oppression. If I were poor my children wouldn't have cell phones! My cell phone ain't cheap with no children on my service just my wife. These fine Americans are not oppressed but impressed with the thug-life. Obama need not change anything!

a reply to: DAVID64

They shouldn't have allowed it to get so far in the first place.

But at least they've realised they have gone way too far and are doing something about it now.

a reply to: MysterX



So,all this means is that local Police won`t be getting armored divisions and aircraft carriers?