Fight the Power

Radical Chris Hitchens demonstrates his concern for the erosion of civil liberties in the Bush era by ... bitching about Mayor Bloomberg. In Hitchens' mind, the slow and painful destruction of constitutional rights in America most worthy of his time is not the detention of persons indefinitely, without bail, as material witnesses; or the deportation of foreign nationals without a hearing; or the designation of U.S. citizens as enemy combatants. No, it's the inability of drunks to light up a butt inside a New York bar.

Most of the examples of enforcement of the laws that Snitch cites, other than the smoking ban, seem abusive or unnecessary, although one suspects that Chris was silent until they came for the smokers. But they all involve fines of $200 or less, not even misdemeanors. Certainly Chris could find greater causes to champion. If he hadn't sold his soul to Dubya and the Crisco Kid, that is.

Of course, I haven't read Chris's article. Maybe the Bloomberg bit was a sidebar to a 10,000 word piece on the Ashcroft Justice Department. Would any journalist of integrity just pose for a few pictures sitting on a milk crate and the feeding the pigeons as a publicity stunt and call it a day? And would he do it just because his boss has a hard-on for the politician in question?

Chris also reports his move to New York City:

"New York City is now the domain of the snitch willing to drop a dime on a harmless fellow citizen."

(Editing courtesy of Nedra Pickler.)