Think The Police State Will Protect You?
How wildly naive of you. Daniel McAdams blogs at Lew Rockwell:
The police state did not catch the suspect. The borg did not catch the suspect. Martial law did not catch the suspect. People forced to stay in their homes did not catch the suspect. Warrantless searches did not catch the suspect.Like the government's initial failure (or worse) to identify and apprehend the suspects before the bombing, the government also failed in its military assault on an entire city.
Let us never forget that Dzhokar Tsarnaev was discovered by a private citizen, who happened to go out and check on his boat (i.e. violating the lockdown order of the cops), see a body inside of it, and call the cops. In other words, the police state achieved nothing but the psychological conditioning of the population: when we, the state, decide any particular event is important enough, you will lose every single right including possibly the right to life if you resist.
UPDATE: The citizen didn't violate the lockdown order. He went out after it. Sorry -- I was tired when I posted this (after Los Angeles Times Festival of Books panel) and should have paid closer attention.
And we've gone to half-staff on the US flag - thus elevating the actions of madmen to that of a lifetime of public service by a senior US official.
Doomed. That's the USA.
Radwaste at April 22, 2013 2:53 AM
Add in that the boat he was hiding was a block and a half outside the search perimeter.
Jim P. at April 22, 2013 7:05 AM
It wasn't a lockdown order, it was a lockdown request. There were still people out (my mom was one of them, she just HAD to have her chai soy latte), there just weren't many. Folks stayed inside because they -wanted- to help the cops.
NicoleK at April 22, 2013 7:23 AM
Doomed. That's the USA.
I'm afraid that's true. These last 12 years have been awful. Two ignorant, ass backwards presidents.
Stinky the Clown at April 22, 2013 7:58 AM
Horrible and tragic though this entire wretched Boston bombing episode has been, it is an outlier -- an unlikely, almost random, event (unless it was actually instigated by the FBI, as some analysts believe). Rather than lavish time and resources on attempting to prevent a similar occurrence in the future, the public and the government should focus on clearing up some problems that they can and should do something about, like environmental degradation, species extinctions, inequitable distribution of wealth, etc. What we should NOT do is dismantle our Bill of Rights and our procedures for due process, which are meant to insure we don't punish innocent people by mistake.
Dan White at April 22, 2013 8:43 AM
The Mayor of Boston has just told the public that the two Chechens acted alone.
It's a bit early for such a presumptuous statement, doncha think? One suspect dead, the other unable to speak... Dead men tell no unwanted truths.
jefe at April 22, 2013 8:47 AM
environmental degradation, species extinctions -- The environment is in much better shape than it has been because and despite the efforts of the EPA. When was the last time you heard of the Cuyahoga River lighting on fire? But at this point the EPA is getting ridiculous on some of it.
inequitable distribution of wealth -- Do you mean the capitalists like Bill Gates, Larry Ellison and Warren Buffet that risked their money, time, and effort to build a fortune. Or are you talking about the trust fund babies like the Kennedy's and Carnegie's?
Or how about the inequitable distribution of my tax dollars out of my pockets to people who are physically and mentally capable of work but haven't worked a day in their pathetic lives.
Jim P. at April 22, 2013 10:54 AM
"Inequitable distribution of wealth".
What a pantload.
Wealth can't be distributed, only destroyed. It is given to those who simply piss it away. Not only has every measure to do this made it harder to GET ahead and STAY ahead, it has devalued the dollar, by taking away the effort needed to earn one.
An hour of work is worth more dollars now, not because labor is magically more valuable, but because the buck is crap now. Get used to it: the DOLLAR IS NOT A FIXED VALUE.
Somehow, when I say this, I imagine people drooling blankly and going back to see what Honey Boo Boo is doing. Bah.
Radwaste at April 22, 2013 1:00 PM
Stinky - go further. Know who John Huang is? Know when Haliburton started in the ME?
Maybe not. If you were busy listening to the Monica Lewinsky Story, you got done.
Radwaste at April 23, 2013 4:40 AM
I'm not sure if I would have "obeyed" the lockdown request or not. Part of me would say screw them who they hell are they to tell us what to do; Yet, on the other hand, I hope that I would be smarter than to be out with so many cops being jittery and trigger happy.
And, I suspect that many Bostonians are in that second frame of mind. Too afraid of the cops to be out.
Charles at April 23, 2013 2:33 PM
"smarter than to be out with so many cops being jittery and trigger happy."
L.A. knows EXACTLY what you're talking about.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/23/us/california-dorner-women-shot-settlement/index.html?hpt=us_c2
Gog_Magog_Carpet_Reclaimers at April 23, 2013 10:58 PM
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