Wretched excess…

… as usual. The Boston and Massachusetts cops, and I suppose the FBI and God knows who else, literally had a field day in the home of the bean and the cod today. Gunplay! Car chases! Infrared imaging from helicopters! Heavy exchanges of fire — with a 19-year-old in a ball cap. A whole SMSA(*) in ‘lockdown’ — America’s favorite word, for the last few years. Oh how we love a lockdown — more even than we used to love a parade. Lock me down, baby. Lock me down!

It is perhaps worth noting that the Authorities have not exactly covered themselves with glory. In spite of the ludicrous disproportion between the forces they command and those their target had at his disposal, he led them a merry chase.

I’m really glad the boat came through it OK.

————–
(*) Standard Metropolitan Statistical Area, for those who aren’t Census Bureau geeks.

18 thoughts on “Wretched excess…

  1. Thought about SMBIVA yesterday when Chris Matthews (yes, I know) was thrilling over how our every move is in camera now.

    And the cop-worship on Facebook..not to mention the American flags, the Statues of Liberty, the twin-towers images, and then every possible combo of mash up of all of the above……

  2. Their latest press conference was pathetic. It took 10,000 cops, army, airforce, navy, and marine to capture a 19 year old kid. And of course, they had to pad themselves on the shoulder. Meanwhile, no one, including the folks who were subjected to this “lockdown” questions these heavy handed tactics.

    Oh wait, I just heard Obie’s speech and his best line: “that’s why we have courts”. I think it must have been a typo and he meant to say, “that’s why we have drones”!

    • I questioned it, for what it’s worth.

      I was out around 6:45, and things were noticeably quiet. I don’t know whether the “order” to stay inside was in effect then or not.

      My entire immediate family texted or called me encouraging me to stay indoors. I don’t know whether that says something about them or about me.

      It says something about the US, though.

  3. I’m just gonna say it… and I know it’ll annoy our honorable host, but that is some dumbass stupid shit that it took thousands of cops in armor and full military gear to catch a 19 year old kid.

    I stand by my thesis… this is one stupid nation.

    lol.. or maybe not, but you know… it sure looks dumb.

    • Heh. Well, you have a strong case, but I still don’t agree. I don’t think it was stupidity; I think it was self-indulgence. Instead of sitting down and figuring out a sensible proportionate approach, they went for the theater, because they enjoy it.

      • Spectacle sells.

        ”I’m really glad the boat came through it OK.”

        Didn’t they place 30-40 shots through the hull and a grenade or two topside? Yep these can be well repaired

        AND FadduH – It’s -more- than clear you miss your Boat, the Sea and Folks at the marinas. I don’t believe that you’re young [perhaps at heart] – Juan orders you to GET ANOTHER VESSEL [even power but no gasoline] and head back to sea for a week or two at a time.

    • Detective work might appeal to certain types… But nothing like the sense of power and control of being able to lockdown a city and march storm troops trough. What initially might look like stupidity can more credibly be explained as ulterior motive.

  4. Hey, it’s not everyday you get to dress up in full gear and stand around measuring each others dicks. Is there any more pathetic profession than law enforcement?

  5. I’m just curious, did the Brits exhibit the same level of paranoia, evilness, and self-imposed lockdown during the IRA bombing campaigns? Did they lock up the whole city of London to catch a few IRA activists? Come to think of it, back in those days, we didn’t re-act the same way either: neither the first World Trade center bombing nor the Oklahoma City bombing resulted in the massive deployment of army and police, which leads me to believe that we’ve become progressively more awful and we’ll continue to get worse. They just pissed away the Miranda rights and no one’s peeped a squeak because they’re too busy celebrating the successful outcome of the latest manhunt.

    My husband had a good observation: if it wasn’t for all these snapshot photos of the suspects taken by your average citizens’ cellphones, the cops would’ve been shit out of luck! Yes, Gary Shteyngart’s Super Sad True Love Story has come to life!

    • My husband had a good observation: if it wasn’t for all these snapshot photos of the suspects taken by your average citizens’ cellphones, the cops would’ve been shit out of luck!

      (first time trying HTML here; with any luck, the above quote appears indented; too bad there’s no comment preview feature)

      Well, they weren’t entirely without alternatives. They love their lockdowns and silly authoritarian tricks so much, the cops COULD have just announced that they were keeping the whole class after school until the kid who blew up the marathon fessed up.

      And of course I had to look up Gary Shteyngart. Thank you. Now I really want to read his work.

  6. “‘CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won,’ the Boston Police Department said on its Twitter account.

    “Cops cheered as the suspect was taken into custody in Watertown, Mass., just before 9 p.m. Later, the people of Watertown flooded the streets, cheering every passing police car and armored vehicle in an impromptu parade. Chants of ‘USA! USA!’ broke out.”

    Catch the ABCB rhyme in the police tweet? Chokes me up to be an American.
    O police captain, my police captain…

  7. MJS, I believe you’re a fellow Episcopalian, or have roots therein. Here’s some fun for you. You can set that Boston cop “captured” tweet to an old time Easter hymn:

    “The hunt is o’er;
    The search is done.
    The terror’s o’er
    And justice has won….”

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