It's official: we live in a police state...

More plagiarism From C. William Michael's 2002 book ''No Greater Threat: America After September 11 and the Rise of the National Security State'' (via Sean Gonsalves), here are the 12 most common characteristics of a national security state:

1. Visible increase in uniformed security.
   Got that;
2. Lack of accountability in law enforcement.
   George Tenet got a medal for his fine WMD work and ''Brownie'' was praised for doing "a heckuva job" in the Katrina aftermath;
3. Reduced judiciary and executive treatment of suspects.
   Can you say ''detainee''?;
4. Secrecy of ruling authority and momentum of threat.
   It's an open secret that this administration has taken official secrecy to a whole new level;
5. Media in the service of the state.
   The Times held the eavesdropping story for a year, to say nothing of the WMD reporting of the major media in the run-up to the war;
6. National resources devoted to security threat.
   The most recent budget passed in Congress speaks for itself;
7. Patriotism moving to nationalism.
   Since 9-11, America was divided in two - between those who don't know the difference between patriotism and nationalism and those who are terrorist-sympathizing, blame-America-first traitors;
8. Lack of critical response by religions.
   Name one prominent national church leader critical of the way U.S. power has been wielded. At this point, I'll settle for a religious leader who isn't telling their parishioners to vote Republican to stop abortion and gay rights or who isn't calling for the assassination of foreign leaders;
9. Wartime mentality and permanent war economy.
   See any Bush speech;
10. Targeted individuals and groups.
    Scott Ritter, Richard Clarke, Joseph Wilson, Cindy Sheehan and MoveOn.org come to mind;
11. Direct attack on dissent.
    See previous comment;
    
12. Increased surveillance of citizenry.
    Or as it's being called now, a ''special collection program.''