Events in Ferguson, MO over the past week have showcased the rise of the police State in America. The specter of local police officers wearing military battle dress and brandishing M-16s, armor-plated vehicles that resist IED explosions – when, precisely, was the last time an IED was detonated on American soil? – and firing tear gas and rubber bullets on lawfully assembled citizens may finally have caused an awakening to the erosion of rights since the 9/11 attacks. Tell me, how many brave, masked, M-16 brandishing police officers does it take to secure an unarmed female? In Ferguson, and in fact all across this country, it apparently takes more than a few. I do not recognize this America, and I want no part of it.