Rioting in Los Angeles

The King jury confirmed what some of us have know: We live in a police state. Zero tolerance allows the government to seize your assets on vague suspicions and keep them even if you are not charged with a crime. Buying a bus ticket now puts a person in jeopardy of a search and seizure without cause. Your home and car can be searched based only on a “good faith” intention by the police. The Rehnquist court has gutted the Constitution and given an amount of power to the government and police agencies previously only seen in fascist countries.

White elderly conservative voters are America’s largest voting bloc. They fear young people, minorities, the poor, gays; in short, everyone not like them. They believe only “other people” will be affected by government brutality, and they have put into power people who promise to keep them safe from fear. While waving their flags, they have destroyed the Constitution, the only symbol in this country that ever really meant anything.

KATHERINE WAYNE, San Diego