More on small-government Joe Miller's personal cops handcuffing a journalist

Joe covered this nicely here; now Keith and Countdown have video and interviews. Small government, Joe? What's going to happen when you guys get to command real cops?

We're on dangerous ground with these personal cops — and by "we" I mean the whole country. The streets of my town are filled with private cops, acting under color of some kind of authority. Literally filled; you find 10 of them for one actual policeman. The uniforms are allowed to be so similar that you have to look for the gun to spot the real cop. (Lobbying for indistinguishable uniforms — how's that for penetrating a market?)

That's the small people world. The Big Boy world — the world of the political retainers and their owners — is filled with private plainclothes types, pseudo-Secret Service if you will. It's the next big market for thugs like Blackwater and their ilk.

So call this a "rules of engagement" story. The segment:



Hopfinger's not just a journalist; he's the editor of Alaska Dispatch.

And now a question. Why didn't the cop arrest the guys who put the reporter in cuffs? What did that cop falsely assume about the goon squad's right to do that? Serve and protect, sir.

What you can do: Action is always the antidote to news like this. You can encourage Mr. Hopfinger to sue. Here's the Alaska Dispatch's contact page. Here's Tony Hopfinger's email address: editor@alaskadispatch.com. Resistance is not yet futile.

GP