The American Lockdown State
from TomDispatch:
The American Lockdown State
Post-Legal Drones, the Bin Laden Tax, and Other Wonders of Our American World
By Tom Engelhardt
Consider Inauguration Day, more than two weeks gone and already part of our distant past. In its wake, President Obama was hailed (or reviled) for his liberal second inaugural address. On that day everything from his invocation of womens rights (Seneca Falls), the civil rights movement (Selma), and the gay rights movement (Stonewall) to his wifes new bangs and Beyoncés lip-syncing was fodder for the media extravaganza. The president was even praised (or reviled) for what he took pains not to bring up: the budget deficit. Was anything, in fact, not grist for the media mill, the hordes of talking heads, and the chattering classes?
One subject, at least, got remarkably little attention during the inaugural blitz and, when mentioned, certainly struck few as odd or worth dwelling on. Yet nothing better caught our changing American world. Washington, after all, was in a lockdown mode unmatched by any inauguration from another era -- not even Lincolns second inaugural in the midst of the Civil War, or Franklin Roosevelts during World War II, or John F. Kennedys at the height of the Cold War.
Heres how NBC Nightly News described some of the security arrangements as the day approached:
The airspace above Washington... (will be) a virtual no-fly zone for 30 miles in all directions from the U.S. capital. Six miles of the Potomac and Anacostia Rivers will be shut down, with 150 blocks of downtown Washington closed to traffic, partly out of concern for car or truck bombs... with counter-snipers on top of buildings around the capital and along the parade route... (and) detectors monitoring the air for toxins... At the ready near the capital, thousands of doses of antidotes in case of a chemical or biological attack
All this security will cost about $120 million dollars for hundreds of federal agents, thousands of local police, and national guardsmen from 25 states.
Consider just the money. Its common knowledge that, until the recent deal over the renewal of the George W. Bush tax cuts for all but the richest of Americans, taxes had not been raised since the read-my-lips-no-new-taxes era of his father. Thats typical of the way we havent yet assimilated the new world we find ourselves in. After all, shouldnt that $120 million in taxpayer money spent on safety and security for a single event in Washington be considered part of an ongoing Osama bin Laden tax? ................(more)
The complete piece is at:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175646/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_paying_the_bin_laden_tax/#more