Tampa police, hosts to Occupy Tampa & the RNC, have their own tank

The militarization of U.S. police departments continues apace. This is what waits for any protestors at the 2012 Republican National Convention in Tampa.

Click the image to see how wonderful this thing really is. Reminds me of the streets of Cairo the last time I was there — pre-Tahrir tanks on the street corners.

This all started with SWAT teams — birthed in L.A. in 1968 and soon after glorified, in the growing Dirty Harry environment, by their own worshipful TV show.

Since then we have armed our cops with more and more military gear, and more and more instant permission to react "as they see fit."

In a time of "rebellion" can you imagine the enhanced "permission" these folks will think they have? After all, if you bring a gun to a party, someone's going to shoot it.

GP