Has The Balloon Gone Up?

What is the difference between an armed band of thugs and the police?
The latter conform with the law, including the 1st, 2nd, 4th and 5th Amendments.
The former do not; they come with guns drawn, take what they want, and demand your silence — not as a civil right in a court of law but as a demandthat they make clear will be enforced with those very same guns.
One of these groups ought to be given deference and respect. The other ought to obtain neither, nor be safe anywhere from justice and retribution both before the laws of civil society and, if that fails, the laws of provenance.

This post was published at Market-Ticker on 2015-04-25.