The Mayor of New York City, not to be outdone by George Bush, has a plan to turn a once-great American city into a virtual prison. Since technology has almost outstripped the need for traveling papers, there's not really much need for "papers, please" checkpoints any more.
Second most scary phrase in the American lexicon: We're from the government, and we have a plan.
According to this story, the NYPD and police in the boroughs and in surrounding cities within 50 miles of Manhattan will be using radiation detectors to find nuclear weapons, illicit x-ray machines and old radium wristwatches. I'll be watching for the first time they send SWAT in smashing down the doors of a dentist's office.
NYPD will also be monitoring and recording the license plate numbers of all cars and trucks that enter lower Manhattan. They'll be installing more and more cameras all over the city so as to be able to track vehicles as they go about their business.
And....get this! They plan to place 3000 cameras below Canal Street--in the area surrounding the location of the World Trade Center.
Second memo to der fuhrer: They've already destroyed the World Trade Center. There's no point in protecting it anymore. And they didn't do it with anything that a camera in every square foot of Lower Manhattan, with a half-dozen cops watching each monitor could've stopped.
They're already rousting selected subway riders (being careful to never offend any islamic terrorists) to see if they're carrying any nunchuks or brass knuckles. They've already, decades ago, stripped New Yorkers of their right to self defense.
Here's the ultimate solution: Place a wall around New York City and dozens of machine gun towers at intervals atop the wall. Let no one in or out on pain of death. NYC will be safe, as will the ghost of the World Trade Center. It worked well in the movie.....Just make sure fuhrer Bloomberg remains inside! Y'know, I used to like New York.
Goose stepping toward totalitarianism.
Warm regards,
Col. Hogan
Stalag California
4 comments:
The masses are being slow boiled CH. Then again New York is a liberal state, liberals are the first ones to cry about civil liberties, it's ironic that they should lose their own. Unless i've always been right, that they only cared for the liberties of terrorists and scumbags.
MK,
The old frog in the kettle metaphor, eh? I agree.
They're doing that stuff here in LA, too, but not as fast. The city is claiming poverty while heavily funding the arts, especially the non-traditional arts, and in trying to fight gangs without offending the gangsters.
Truly discouraging. Since, what? '71, there's been a resurgence in libertianism (small l) and with Goldwater, LP, Friedman, Rand, Cato, Reason, IJ, all the books from the Col.'s favorite authors, et. al. you'd think the effect would be greater, but it seems that the creeping socialism is still crawling along quite 'nicely'.
We need something better than 'eternal vigilance' from those of us who care about it.
It's like playing 'whack a mole' with thousands of holes.... and the moles are grabbing something, each time they pop up :-\
Kent,
I think it's because I've been laying about and not finishing my novel--you know the one. It really looks pretty good, but I'm stumped for a climax sequence. I think, once finished, it'll turn the tide. Maybe not, but it's worth a try.
Seriously, I see a lot more recognition of libertarian and objectivist tenets among those I chat with, but, so far, it doesn't seem to have reached the big time policy makers.
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