Militarizing Mayberry: state and local police agencies are being transformed into paramilitary affiliates of a centralized police force controlled by Washington, D.C. (On the Home Front).

In the mythical hamlet of Mayberry, as depicted on the beloved Andy Griffith Show, Sheriff Andy Taylor wore his authority lightly, rarely even carrying a gun. His comically high-strung deputy, Barney Fife, was issued a single bullet, which he never used.

While The Andy Griffith Show is idealized fiction, "Sheriff Andy" does embody an authentic American concept of law enforcement: The lawman whose role is to protect and serve the community in which he lives.

The antithesis of that noble concept is an army of occupation, accountable only to the distant ruling elite whose whims it enforces on a tyrannized population. Tragically, America is moving away from ...