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Before the story disappears
in the mists of memory, exactly how did Scotland Yard so misinform everyone in the world about the subway shooting? Who made the decisions? Where did the information come from? One is haunted by the possibility that the deceptions of Number 10 about the reasons for war have drained that government of integrity.
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where are the retractions of those like Bill O'Reilly, who stated that 'big coat in the summer, ignores a warning, I woulda shot the guy.'
This should be the story about why we should not profile and how dangerous things like the PATRIOT Act can be.
To paraphrase Ben Frankin, those who would give up a little individual liberty for the sake of security deserve neither liberty nor security, and are apt to be shot in a subway for no reason whatsoever...
Okay, I made up the end, but you get the point.
August 17, 2005 7:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
August 17, 2005 7:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
The London bombers were pissed about Iraq. The bombing put the police on ultra-hightened alert. This alert led to easing of protocols and the issuing of a "shoot to kill" edict. This edict was carried out in the subway shooting.
It is easily relatable.
August 17, 2005 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
And this is why Bill O'Reilly should never carry a gun. Or a Falafel.
August 17, 2005 7:45 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's not a stretch. It's a cautionary tale. In a Democracy like Britain or the US, the federal government sets the tone. The police, as the most local branch of government, follow and express that tone, sometimes with force. Not just corruption but even honestly mistaken thought, at high levels of government is pervasive and dangerous.
August 17, 2005 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
You empower the police state, as Tony Blair has done, both rhetorically and actually, and those powers will be abused. This probably won't be the last innocent to die. You empower the police state, as George Bush has done, and those powers will be abused. The Patriot Act has been used widely in criminal investigations, and has barely if at all resulted in the arrest and conviction of terrorists. Meanwhile, the homes of art professors and novelists writing fiction about terrorist attacks are being raided, their lives turned upside down, possibly ruined for good. To say nothing of what the expanded powers of the Bush regime have meant for overseas detainees.
And where are the Democrats in all this? At least at the outset of the second world war, the GOP realized that its duty was not to lick FDR's boots, but to question his policies every step of the way. They did their best to preserve wartime civil liberties, including for Japanese-Americans. They did their best to investigate war profiteering. Today's Democrats in Washington are a pale shadow of an opposition party.
August 17, 2005 7:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
It is a similar story to our GI's conducting torture of Iraqis just for the fun of it. Once your government demonstrates a total lack of integrity, and you know they lie, resulting in thousands of deaths, just to gain a political advantage, of course you assume anything goes. It is Lord of the Flies all over again.
August 17, 2005 7:55 PM | Reply | Permalink
As frigthening the terrorists are the mistaken shooting in London, the Patriot Act, the torture at Abu Gharib shows what happens when only fear is promoted for policies. Since 9/11 the true values of this country have been buried under a desire for physical safety to the exclusion of all else. It is ironic we celebrate various holidays and the heros of past wars. What are we celebrating? That Americans put the values of this country ahead of their own safety. Bush was able to use fear to stampede us into war in Iraq.
August 17, 2005 8:39 PM | Reply | Permalink