I have abstained from commenting on the whole Boston ordeal but a lot of it is very troubling to me. I’m not a conspiracy theorist and I believe the two brothers did it and I am happy they both got caught, along with anyone else who may be involved. But the way they caught them? Declaring an entire city under martial law (That’s what it was) Going house to house searching with no warrants or no due process or even probable cause. Holding law abiding citizens at gunpoint while the Police and /or the FBI search their homes?
I have to believe that it would be better if that brother remained uncaught for months than it is for just one person to have to submit to an involuntary search of his/her home at gunpoint.
We all wanted the bombers caught but is this really how we wanted it done? Is this really something we as citizens consider acceptable?
And now we have CISPA, The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act clearing the house? CISPA will allow private sector firms to search personal and sensitive user data of ordinary U.S. residents to identify “threat information,” which can then be shared with other opt-in firms and the U.S. government — without the need for a court-ordered warrant.
Is this what we really want? I think This sadly sums it up:
10 Responses
Have We Become a Police State? http://t.co/0tuTY5Hdh2
Public safety doesn’t matter? These two planted bombs, threw bombs from moving vehicles, fired we don’t know how many bullets, and you are worried that people were asked to stay inside while they found them? Why not focus on the causes of this behavior instead?
I was shocked at the way they went about it. Well not so much shocked at the way they did it, it was more that people went along with it. Sure I wanted the guys caught but I think Boston just gave any nut a blueprint on how to really terrorize a city.
Anyways, it doesn’t really matter what we think acceptable anymore, the government is going to do what it wants regardless.
Cortney Parham liked this on Facebook.
I agree with ya Unka Mikey 🙂
Hey doll…LTNS I miss ya…new pic is HOT!
I miss you too! And thanks, glad you like it. 🙂
Nobody declared martial law. Ever hear of Clear and Present Danger? I also agree that the lockdown was a horrible idea (it gave the terrorists power) but it was within the rights of the executive considering the armed and marauding nature of the terrorists.
As someone else noted, while many worry about the “nanny state” and “police state” and “loss of personal freedoms”, we must also realize that it was basically private security video footage that made it possible to figure out who planted the bombs and get after them in a short period of time. If I give up a small amount of freedom because I can’t carry an AK-47 or I might get video taped in a public place, I don’t see the damage done. What I give up is nothing compared to what I get back.
Absolute freedom is like any other absolute – it’s dangerous, and is often used as a weapon against everyone else.
You’re right, no one declared “martial law.” That name is as harsh as “war” which they also don’t use anymore. They wrapped it up in a cute name called “SHELTER-IN-PLACE” so everyone didn’t panic. The only difference between this and full martial law, is that citizens didn’t get arrested if they actually did leave their house. Other than that, it was as close to martial law as any city has ever seen since hurricane Katrina where the National Guard and police went door to door in true military fashion, removing legal gun owners of their firearms. For their own safety of course.
9000+ police in tactical gear, drones in the air, and helicopters, all for two guys… slightly overkill. The funny thing is, they still didn’t catch the last brother, a civilian did who went out to have a smoke.