Boston became the laughingstock of the country earlier this year after two incidents in which it responded to harmless devices as if they were real terrorist threats. Now Sen. Ed Kennedy (D-Mass.) wants to make absurd overreaction into national policy.
On January 31, Boston terrorized its own citizens, closing down traffic in parts of the city for several hours and sending out bomb squads to remove what turned out to be light boards, part of a marketing campaign by Turner Broadcasting for its Aqua Teen Hunger Force cartoon. That’s bad enough, but to make matters worse, officials continued to publicly call the light boards threats, even after they had been informed as to what they were.
Some people thought it was a fluke. But on February 28, they did it again. This time, they blew up a state-owned traffic counting device.
While Mayor Thomas Menino was able to extort $2 million from Turner Broadcasting to reimburse the city for his officials’ mistakes in the Mooninite incident, he completely failed to get any money out of the Commonwealth for blowing up its traffic counter. He did, however, prove that absurd overreaction to completely harmless, ordinary things is city policy.
And this isn’t even new for Boston; it turns out they have a long history of misinterpreting and overreacting to common, ordinary things. In 2004, officials there charged Joe Previtera with two felonies, “false report of location of explosives” and a “hoax device” for his anti-war protest in which he dressed like a tortured prisoner from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Officials complained about the stereo wires tied to his fingers. (The charges were later dropped.)
Sen. Kennedy’s bill, S. 735, the so-called Terrorist Hoax Improvements Act of 2007 would, among other things, attach civil liability to anyone whose actions were misinterpreted by authorities as being a hoax and who didn’t immediately notify those authorities about the actual nature of the incident.
This would make it much easier for officials to get large sums of money out of hapless people and companies who weren’t making any hoaxes at all, nor intending to do so. In other words, if the cops go nuts and overreact to something you did, even if it was perfectly reasonable and normal, you could be required to pay for the emergency response, no matter how absurd their actions were.
And the worst part of this bill?
“There’s nothing in the bill allowing individuals or corporations to sue government officials when hare-brained overreactions interfere with their lives and business or destroy their property,” says Jim Harper, director of information policy studies at the Cato Institute.
I disagree.
The worst part of this bill is that it discourages anything “out of the ordinary.” Ultimately, this bill and bills like it which will certainly follow will enforce a national policy of uniformity in every aspect of our lives. Wearing the wrong color hat could someday be a crime. Oh, wait, in some places it already is.
We are all unique people. Allowing this stupidity to go forward is just one of many steps towards suppressing that uniqueness and moving us all toward the democratic ideal of mindless automatons who always follow the rules, never question our masters, and never, never express our individuality.
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Ultimately, the war supporters in Congress prevailed in the vote on the resolution. Still, the vote was significant because it places every member of Congress on the record as supporting or not supporting the unconstitutional, costly, violent occupation of a country that never attacked us. This vote should serve as an important reminder to the American people of where their representatives really stand when it comes to policing the world, empire building, and war.
Gardner Goldsmith explains why claims by politicians that consumers can become "irrational" and why claims by the same politicians that government can help "fix" markets are both false and misleading. He also explains what the terms Praxeology and Epistemology mean, which is key in understanding how to place free markets in their proper place among human history.
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May 09, 2007
Attacking irrelevance « Blunt Object
Kevin Fields
May 09, 2007
Never trust anybody over the age of 30. :-)
Ray
May 09, 2007
I would think that once the authorities did ask, then some liability should attach to your failing to disclose what you knew about the incident if your actions triggered it. IE: you, acme inc., put up a weird advertising device, and someone said “that looks like something from acme”. Then if the authorities ask you “you know anything about this” you should have to admit it or be libable. Any though of marketing secrets, or embargoed press releases should not apply.
Barring something like this what really would be the logic about this. The authorities can really over do things. A few years ago — pre 9/11 — I was in the woods. I love nature photography, and have tools to do it well. One of those tools is a 800mm lens with a low f stop. (BIG BIG BIG tube you mount on a tripod) Even though I was miles from any target someone might want to shoot a missile at, someone reported a guy with a missile in the woods, and they responded a great deal of police resources to respond to the “attack”. I see no reason to think I should be liable for this. Now if they had come to me and I didn’t want to admit that I had such a lens and instead said “Hey think I did see the guy, it might have been a missile launcher”. Then liability should attach.
Anthony Pugh
May 09, 2007
This bill would also be a violation of the 5th amendment right against self incrimination.
Bruce Spencer
May 09, 2007
The scare tactic by Sen. Kennedy, in attempting to further suppress Freedom of Speech, should fall on deaf ears. It also diminishes his role as a “leader.” Consider Homeland Security that uses an elevated color code to warn Americans about a pending attack. But what about the 2,000,000 citizens who are colorblind? They will be unprotected!!! Bruce Spencer
Bruce Spencer
May 09, 2007
Homeland Security uses a color code to warn us of an impending attack. But what about the 2,000,000 colorblind? They remain unprotected!!! Shame on them. Bruce Spencer
Fraud Guy
May 10, 2007
Another law. Just what we need.
geri
May 16, 2007
Passing the blame is the American way. At least in our government. Just another twist on an old game. “I don’t want to feel stupid about what I did so I’m going to point the finger at you.”
david
Jul 13, 2007
The Government of the United States has totally, and collectively, lost their freakin mind(s)! Cops all over the nation have turned into brown shirt facists. The Constitution has been marginalized to the point of being irrelevant. The DOJ is a joke. Tony ‘Snowjob’ Snow couldn’t tell the truth if his momma asked him his name. All the while the Bankers and the Fed are collecting more and more tributes from the people (i.e. rich getting richer/poor getting poorer). Is it just me or does Bush do the exact opposite of what would be the correct thing to do in every single situation he encounters as President?
REVOLUTION. REVOLT NOW!
HERE’S HOW WE DO IT.
It’s time folks. It’s time for ‘We the People’ to do something. Here’s how our revolution needs to start. Buy nothing from corporations – buy tax free on the internet or locally from mom and pop shops. Stop paying back loans and stop paying off debt. Withdrawal all your money from the banks (i.e. run on the banks). Buy guns and as much ammunition as you can. Stop driving so much. Don’t buy newspapers. TURN OFF THE TELEVISION! It is only good for getting brainwashed by the propaganda machine (i.e. corporate media). Stop going to and renting movies. Fax your congressmen and write them letters. Make a form letter of what you want to say and shower them with it. Get together with friends and brainstorm ways to not buy or use corporate products – like stop shopping at Walt-Mart or Target. I have never bought anything from Wal-Mart. Learn how to cook and stop eating out. Invest in windmills and solar panels. This is type of stuff is how we are going to make our point! Hit em in the wallet. It’s the only way. REVOLT NOW! WE CAN GET OUR FREEDOM BACK WITHOUT KILLING OR TAKING ON POLITICIANS. BUT WE HAVE TO DO IT TOGETHER. START TODAY AND PASS THE WORD.