Too Much To Ask For?
Apparently, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown responds directly (by telephone, no less) to members of the public who write to him. In addition, he also responds to questions via YouTube.
If I were a cynical person, I might think that all of this was just a clever PR exercise to make our PM look like he’s in touch with the common man.
But I digress.
To be honest, I’d rather our fearless leader spent his every waking moment trying to find ways to dig us out of the economic shithole we’re all in, rather than wasting precious time responding to inane individuals with nothing better to do.
Having said that, I suppose it is good to be able to have a discourse with your government leaders. In fact, I’m sure that any moment now, Gordon Brown is going to respond to the 4,772 people (and counting) who have signed a petition I created last year on the UK Government website requesting a clarification of the law surrounding photography in public places. To not do so would make him appear a hypocrite, wouldn’t it?
A new police poster campaign further highlights the divide between the law, and the interpretation of it by those who enforce it. As Bruce Schneier from The Guardian recently wrote:
“The 9/11 terrorists didn’t photograph anything. Nor did the London transport bombers, the Madrid bombers, or the liquid bombers arrested in 2006. Timothy McVeigh didn’t photograph the Oklahoma City Federal Building. The Unabomber didn’t photograph anything; neither did shoe-bomber Richard Reid. Photographs aren’t being found amongst the papers of Palestinian suicide bombers. The IRA wasn’t known for its photography. Even those manufactured terrorist plots that the US government likes to talk about — the Ft. Dix terrorists, the JFK airport bombers, the Miami 7, the Lackawanna 6 — no photography.”
I couldn’t have put it better myself. Top police chiefs have stated they want to return to “common sense policing”. Does this sound like common sense?
Do we really believe that all terrorists care about is blowing things up, including themselves? If so, why would they care about CCTV cameras and escape routes? In reality, terrorism is really all about psychology and creating change through fear.
The Government would love for us to believe that everyone is a potential terrorist, distracting us from the important issues, but when you look at the numbers, it really puts things in perspective.
They have already shown that they love to watch and control us. The scary thing is that “terrorism” has given them new reasons to justify both.
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