So, in the aftermath of my somewhat controversial comparison of violence in Iraq and violence in Chicago, does anyone want to take a stab at comparing the security situations in Iraq compared to the policies now being implemented in Washington, DC?
D.C. police will seal off entire neighborhoods, set up checkpoints and kick out strangers under a new program that D.C. officials hope will help them rescue the city from its out-of-control violence.
Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.
Lanier has been struggling to reverse D.C.’s spiraling crime rate but has been forced by public outcry to scale back several initiatives including her “All Hands on Deck” weekends and plans for warrantless, door-to-door searches for drugs and guns.
Of course, I would never dream of comparing the two situations. Wouldn't be politically correct.
Aside: Good thing that DC has a gun ban, otherwise things would be much, much worse!
This must have been in response to the recent DC suicide bombings that killed 40-50 people each, right?
In all seriousness, though, that does seem pretty extreme. Warrantless, door to door searches?
Also from the article:
Emphasis added.
Doesn't that big city up north in Cook County have one of those precious gun bans as well?
Not that you'd ever know it by looking at the crime statistics.
Yep. I'm still clinging to my guns and my bible. I'm one of those bitter Americans.
As was pointed out several times in the other thread, the U.S. government has spent around one trillion dollars over the last six years trying to stabilize the situation in Iraq. They have taken the security problems in Iraq very, very seriously. The inner cities of America have, for the most part, been abandoned by the U.S. government, with a fraction of the money spent in Iraq going into programs to curb the violence.
The inner cities of America have police departments. In our federal system, police work is done by state and local governments.
"The inner cities of America have, for the most part, been abandoned by the U.S. government, with a fraction of the money spent in Iraq going into programs to curb the violence."
Problem is, the US government also gave inner cities the death sentence with LBJ's "great society". Let's see...drugs, violence, murders, several generations of single teen mothers (one after another - most/all of them on public aid), and poverty still rules. How many trillions were spent on this gem of a program, to get such a crummy end result?
Hurrican Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans, yet the "great society' couldn't even get out of the way. And government came in a bailed it all out all over again... and is still bailing it out.
The inner cities were created by people who did nothing but take advantage of the generosity of the US goverment.
AnF I am with you--I'm still clinging to my guns and my bible. I'm one of those bitter Americans.
Those folks in Chicago are so lucky to have the government protecting them.
And D.C.'s mayor is from my oh so libreral and civil libertarian Oberlin College.
Go figure.
Under an executive order expected to be announced today, police Chief Cathy L. Lanier will have the authority to designate “Neighborhood Safety Zones.” At least six officers will man cordons around those zones and demand identification from people coming in and out of them. Anyone who doesn’t live there, work there or have “legitimate reason” to be there will be sent away or face arrest, documents obtained by The Examiner show.
While DC is under attack, and while I dont decry what she is saying, can someone explain to me what "legitimate reason" to be somewhere is? Does this mean that kids from the burbs are not allowed in certain neighborhoods where crack is sold? I wonder how many minutes before the ACLU gets a court order to stop it.
The inner cities haven't been abandoned. We pump plenty of money into cities--a study of New Orleans shows that much of the money sent for improvement of levees was diverted by local politicians to other things, including their pockets, and in one memorable case, his freezer. How about the effect of the "don't be a snitch" policy of the rap culture on law enforcement's ability to address crime? How about a society who comes up with every excuse in the book to explain bad behavior, rather than holding criminals responsible for that bad behavior. If money was the answer to all of our problems, we wouldn't have problems, because we've certainly poured plenty of money into cities, education, etc over the last 3 or 4 decades, and frankly, we've gotten a terrible return on the money.
How about a society who comes up with every excuse in the book to explain bad behavior, rather than holding criminals responsible for that bad behavior.
You do know that America has more of its citizens in prison (both as a percentage and as a total number) than any other country in the world, right?
So far you've claimed that the money being sent into inner cities is being stolen by corrupt politicians, you've blamed hip hop, and you've declared that the country who has made a big business out of incarceration doesn't lock up enough of its citizens.
Brilliant analysis. Maybe we should send in the 1st Armored Division and take back the streets of Baltimore for the people?
Bring it on!
Hurrican Katrina was bearing down on New Orleans, yet the "great society' couldn't even get out of the way. And government came in a bailed it all out all over again... and is still bailing it out.
No, it's not. Have you been to New Orleans? The government most certainly did not bail out the areas you are talking about. The government didn't even make insurance companies make good on their obligations that they made millions off of acruing and then refused to honor.
I know plenty of people who disagree with me on the solution to inner-city problems. That's natural--they are tough issues with no easy solutions. But it's disheartening to see people make such ridiculous caricatures of inner-city life based on no real experience. I mean we have to deal with the negative influences of rap culture everyday (not to be confused with hip-hop culture) but two things:
1) Who do you think dictates the content of mainstream rap culture (hint: they look more like you than me)?
2) Where do you think "no snitching" culture started? It pre-dates "rap" by decades or centuries?
Also, this thread is veering dangerously toward "we subsidizes the urban areas with our tax money" fable again. Remember--WE subsidize downstate.
Xian - have you seen Hip Hop: Beyond Beats and Rhymes? Very, very good stuff.
Yeah, we showed it to the kids. In many cases, it got them thinking in new directions.
I think that's where my confidence in these debates comes from--I'm always aware that I could be wrong, but I strive to learn more. I'd feel really stupid trying to argue about the role of hip-hop if I knew nothing about it.
Everyone deserves a chance to speak and voice their opinion, but that opinion is only worthwhile if people actually put forth the effort to be remotely knowledgable about the situation in question.