90 Miles From Tyranny

Saturday, April 18, 2020

De Blasio buried in backlash when he urges New Yorkers to snap photos of rule breakers and send them in

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio unintentionally set himself up for the backlash of a lifetime this Saturday by taking to Twitter to plead with city residents to snitch on each other’s violations of basic social distancing rules and guidelines.

He issued the plea through a video in which he encouraged residents to text photos of social distancing infractions to the city’s non-emergency municipal services number.

Watch (disable your adblocker if the video doesn’t appear):

“Now look, thank you everyone who’s done [social distancing] the right way, but we still know there’s some people who need to get the message. And that means sometimes making sure the enforcement is there to educate people and make clear we’ve got to have social distancing. So, now it is easier than ever,” he enthusiastically said.

“When you see a crowd, when you see a line that’s not distanced, when you see a supermarket that’s too crowded — anything — you can report it right away so we can get help there to fix the problem. And now, it’s as simple as taking a photo.”

He continued by urging residents to snap a photo of the alleged infraction and either text it to 311-692 or use the city’s “NYC 311” app to submit it to the city.

Unfortunately for the mayor and his staff, this plan is rife with problems.

For one, de Blasio’s a raging hypocrite:

Whoops.

Second, while the idea of snitching on genuine crimes such as murder and rape is noble, the idea of snitching on social distancing seems ignoble.

Why? Because it’s these very sorts of concerns that two weeks ago led Colorado police officers to arrest a father for committing the “crime” of not social distancing enough from his own 6-year-old daughter as they played together at a park.

Moreover, this new 311 program could easily be abused by those hoping to sic the police on their personal enemies:

Third, the mayor’s priorities seem disturbingly displaced. It was only a few weeks ago that he ordered the release of hundreds of “non-violent” Rikers Island inmates on the basis that keeping them confined during the coronavirus pandemic would be detrimental to their health.

One of those inmates wound up assaulting a 62-year-old retired carpenter after his release, while another wound up breaking into a closed newsstand.

Despite these disturbing consequences, de Blasio hasn’t backtracked. Meanwhile, he’s now siccing law-abiding citizens on one another.

To many, it seems remarkably absurd.

Look:

#wordplay

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Coronavirus Authoritarianism Is Getting Out of Hand

It’s reasonable to assume that the vast majority of Americans process news and data, and calculate that self-quarantining, wearing masks, and social distancing make sense for themselves, their families, and the country.

Free people act out of self-preservation, but they shouldn’t be coerced to act through the authoritarian whims of the state. Yet this is exactly what’s happening.

There has been lots of pounding of keyboards over the power grabs of authoritarians in Central and Eastern Europe, and rightly so.

Yet right here, politicians act as though a health crisis gives them license to lord over the most private activities of the American people in ways that are wholly inconsistent with the spirit and letter of the Constitution.

In these trying times, we must turn to the greatest document in the history of the world to promise freedom and opportunity to its citizens for guidance. Find out more now >>

I’m not even talking about national political and media elites who, after fueling years of hysteria over the coming Republican dictatorship, now demand Donald Trump dominate state actions. I’m talking about local governments.

Under what imperious conception of governance does Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer believe it is within her power to unilaterally ban garden stores from selling fruit or vegetable plants and seeds?

What business is it of Vermont or Howard County, Indiana, to dictate that Walmart, Costco, or Target stop selling “nonessential” items, such as electronics or clothing?

Vermont has 628 cases of the coronavirus as of this writing. Is that the magic number authorizing the governor to ban people from buying seeds for their gardens?

Maybe a family needs new pajamas for their young kids because they’re stuck in a new town. Or maybe Mom needs a remote hard drive to help her work remotely. Or maybe Dad just likes apples. Whatever the case, it’s absolutely none of your mayor’s business.

It makes sense for places like Washington, D.C.; Virginia; and Maryland to ban large, avoidable gatherings. But it is an astonishing abuse of power to issue stay-at-home orders, enforced by criminal law, empowering police to harass and fine individuals for nothing more than taking a walk.

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