Boston’s Progressives: We Support Our “Voluntary” Police State

While many of us look in horror at Boston’s destruction of what is left of the Bill of Rights, Bostonians themselves are in full congratulatory mode, as those who gave us Political Correctness now redefine the Police State, and proudly so. From the ultra-Progressive Boston Globe to the “man on the street,” Boston’s citizens are telling us that “shelter-in-place” was not martial law but rather a selfless act of voluntary cooperation with the experts. And How Dare anyone express a different viewpoint!

Lest readers think that Bostonians objected to being brutalized by paramilitary police, here are some comments from people who happily and smugly obeyed orders:

There’s a difference between paralysis and stillness. Stillness is deliberate. It was a tool – a tactical move. The police did not order us to stay in our houses – they requested it, and we complied, not because we were terrorized and not because we were sheep to the police state, but because we knew that in doing so, we left the police and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as the only pieces out on the board. We wanted him captured. For us, staying indoors on Friday was no different from staying in during a winter storm so that the snowplows could clear the streets. We were giving the professionals room to work.

If there was any doubt that I lived in one of the most enlightened places on the planet, it disappeared on Friday. You tell me where else in the world having thousands of armed officers on your city’s streets is comforting? It is here, in Boston.

The difference between a police state and shelter-in-place is that on Friday, Boston residents were *asked* to stay home. They looked around, saw the sense of that, and exercised their dignity as citizens by deciding to cooperate. I have also not heard of anyone being harrassed for not going along (certainly not everyone did, many for good reasons), excluding the few who were warned (yelled at) when about to blunder into a live-fire zone.

Personally, my reaction Friday was that it seemed like overkill, and I do hope there will be sufficient postmortem to decide if it was in fact proportionate. But given the way it turned out, it looks for the most part like people’s trust in the system was vindicated.

Well said, everyone. We showed common sense and caring for the community good, without whining about our “rights” being restricted. We knew the smartest thing was staying out of the way so the professionals could do their job. And to all the first responders, volunteers, medical people, and fellow citizens who’ve cared for the survivors and their families this week, my deepest heartfelt thanks.

Yes, this. Just shared it on my Facebook timeline. This is what civilization looks like.

Indeed, this photo of a police officer threatening to shoot someone for looking out the window does seem to signify what our “civilization” has become. I guess Bostonians are proud of that, too:

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7:36 am on April 23, 2013