Not content merely to issue unconstitutional coronavirus edicts and to hope cops catch people in the act of violating them, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio is now urging people to report violators to the city so police can “immediately” enforce his orders.
De Blasio, who has already threatened to shutter churches and synagogues that meet in violation of his ban on gatherings of more than 10 people, posted a video on Twitter Saturday alternately praising New Yorkers for their submissiveness and chastising those who fail to bow to his dictates.
De Blasio first flatters his audience by telling them how “extraordinary” they “have been at social distancing” despite the difficulties inherent in avoiding others in a city with a population density of over 26,000 people per square mile. “You’ve done an amazing job,” he says, and then thanks those who have heeded his orders.
“But,” he adds, “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.” (“Educate,” of course, sounds so much nicer than “threaten,” “fine,” or “arrest.”)
Fortunately, “now it’s easier than ever” to snitch on your neighbors, de Blasio continues. “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.”
How can New Yorkers so easily tattle on each other? “It’s a simple as taking a photo,” explains de Blasio. Add the location and text it or send it through an app to the city, “and we will make sure that enforcement comes right away.”
While some will undoubtedly turn their neighbors in, as has happened all across the country as liberties have been restricted in recent weeks, others saw de Blasio’s video for what it really was and responded accordingly. “I don’t want to say this is the dumbest idea anyone’s ever cooked up,” quipped Molly Jong-Fast, “but this is the dumbest idea anyone’s ever cooked up.”
“War is peace, Big Brother loves you,” tweeted Ned Ryun.
David Burge posted a photo of the former East German Stasi, infamous for its extensive network of citizen-informers, with the caption “Comrade citizen! Report all suspected anti-distancing activities to friendly New York Ministry of Social Cleanliness!”
Others replied to de Blasio’s video with evidence of his own violations of shelter-in-place and social-distancing orders. Jim Rockaway supplied a picture of the mayor’s appearance in a crowded hospital waiting room Friday. More than one person reminded de Blasio of his daily walks, complete with security detail, in a park 12 miles from his home. (De Blasio has defended the practice as necessary for him to continue with his mayoral duties.)
De Blasio, naturally, considers his curtailment of others’ freedom a small price to pay for saving lives. “Sending that photo,” he said in the video, “is going to help make sure that people are kept apart, and that’s going to stop the disease from spreading, and that’s going to save lives.”
But is it? It may stop some people from catching COVID-19, yet only a tiny percentage of those who contract the disease will die from it, and most of them have other life-threatening conditions already. Meanwhile, the government- and media-induced panic over the disease and the economic damage from the lockdowns are already causing an increase in suicides, and people are dying at home from potentially treatable conditions because they are afraid to go to hospitals that they have been led to believe are jam-packed with patients and coronaviruses. The destruction of the social fabric caused by isolation and snitching will undoubtedly have ill effects for years to come, particularly if politicians insist on maintaining these policies in one form or another for months.
None of this seems to matter to de Blasio, who is only concerned with being seen “doing something” to prevent a coronavirus crisis — never mind the Constitution, which probably didn’t cross his mind any more than it did that of New Jersey’s governor. But what else would one expect from a communist-sympathizing mayor?
Photo of Bill de Blasio: Screenshot from Facebook.com
