If my regular page loads as fast as the AMP page, to within some margin, could Google drop the AMP version and link directly to me? It would make AMP a tool for improving the web rather than replacing it.
I agree with your observations, but I wanted to offer a positive viewpoint on them. One thing I learned about the US over the years is that a lot of law enforcement's heavy-handedness is an emergent property of supporting a country with extreme notions of personal liberty, not a reaction against it. The gamut of socially acceptable behavior is much wider in the US.
That's necessarily reflected in how their police function, and shouldn't be to their detriment.