Josef K, citizen of the U.S.A.

I don’t know about you, but when I’m out driving and a police car is behind me, I get nervous, even though I’m pretty sure I’ve done nothing wrong. Pretty sure, that is. And I’m white! This anxiety is widespread, I’m sure, but it is not natural, and it should not be acceptable. Thomas L. Knapp’s latest commentary at Center for a Stateless Society (by the way, they’re having a fundraiser) asks a disturbing question: “How do you know you’re living in a police state?” A quick and easy way to tell:

Are you comforted by the knowledge that the police are out on patrol, fighting crime? Or do you start to worry — do you get that tight feeling down in your gut, expecting to be pulled over at any moment for some offense that you don’t — probably can’t — know you’ve committed?

Also, Lew Rockwell has a funny and incisive take on Nancy Pelosi’s recent troubles with the foreign-policy wing of the police state.