New at Reason
Shawn Macomber wonders what happened to personal freedoms near the Statue of Liberty.
Comments to "New at Reason":
Jamie Kelly | January 17, 2008, 5:06pm | #
Shawn Macomber, who blogs at shawnmacomber.com, is writing a book on the global class war.Ooh, can't wait for that.
svf | January 17, 2008, 5:11pm | #
Penn Jillette: "He's not unelectable if we all vote for him."Smartest thing I've heard all day...
Rhywun | January 17, 2008, 5:19pm | #
I'm surprised she's not pimping the drug war while she's at it.The Statue is a gift from French citizens and has come to symbolize hope for naked women everywhere... BOCCE BALLS!!
Mister DNA | January 17, 2008, 5:28pm | #
She is French, ya know.Maybe we should change her name to the Statue of 9/11 Changed Everything.
crimethink | January 17, 2008, 5:34pm | #
Instead there’s a wall dedicated to “the price” Lady Liberty (“born a celebrity”!) has “paid” for her fame, as perfidious “manufacturers around the world have not hesitated to use and abuse the Statue to sell everything from cigars to soap.”...and even political parties!
Paul | January 17, 2008, 5:36pm | #
Any kid paying attention would notice that Liberty Island exudes anything but.Sounds like an excellent opportunity to take my five-year-old to the Lady. I can show her, in real time, what in hell is wrong with this country by taking her to the very symbol of it.
tarran | January 17, 2008, 5:42pm | #
The U.S. government's misuse of the image is probably the most disgusting and egregious though.Ayn_Randian | January 17, 2008, 5:50pm | #
The very vivid image of some wannabe War-On-Liberty "Hero" punk-ass security guard putting elderly, real-live war heroes through the wringer makes me want to punch the first TSA agent I see.I realize I shouldn't be governed by emotions, but that image nearly moves me to angry tears.
Marcvs | January 17, 2008, 5:54pm | #
Penn Jillette: "He's not unelectable if we all vote for him."Silly Penn, so naive.
Marcvs | January 17, 2008, 5:55pm | #
I realize I shouldn't be governed by emotions, but that image nearly moves me to angry tears.
Why? Are you an android masquerading as a human?
Pro Libertate | January 17, 2008, 6:06pm | #
Tonight on "It's the Mind", we examine the phenomenon of déjà vu, that strange feeling we sometimes get that we've lived through something before.Pro Libertate | January 17, 2008, 6:09pm | #
Ah, the coveted Penn Jillette endorsement. If only Paul had asked Penn to campaign for him--that would've been great. Oprah campaigning for Obama is puerile and only highlights the emptiness of Obama. Penn campaigning for Paul would've been disturbing. . .frightening, even.Russ 2000 | January 17, 2008, 6:23pm | #
Fuck that, I wanna see TELLER campaigning for Ron Paul.Anonymoose. | January 17, 2008, 6:28pm | #
Ah, the coveted Penn Jillette endorsement. If only Paul had asked Penn to campaign for him--that would've been great. Oprah campaigning for Obama is puerile and only highlights the emptiness of Obama. Penn campaigning for Paul would've been disturbing. . .frightening, even.It would've been great. He would've performed this trick at every Ron Paul event.
TrickyVic | January 17, 2008, 6:35pm | #
"""Visiting in October, I was greeted by hours-long security lines at two sets of metal detectors—one gauntlet to board a ferry to Liberty Island, another feeding into two EntryScan bomb/narcotics sniffing machines near the actual statue. A scrolling marquee along the bottom of a TV monitor illuminated the motto of the New York City Security State:"""Wow, when you read it by its self, it seems like it was ripped out of some futuristic evil post America novel. But you left out the part where your photo is taken and checked against a database. Maybe you didn't notice the camera, or maybe they stopped since the face recognition stuff has been a bust.
It's been like that for years now. Originally they had the security in a tent on the pier. They had a cameraIt was probably scareing people away. Scared me away. There is no way I would go to the Statue of Liberty now. They might as well put it in a glass case and ship it to the Smithsonian. Another fine relic of how great we once were.
Geotpf | January 17, 2008, 6:45pm | #
Jillette is a well known libertarian (as everybody here should know). He's a fellow at the Cato Institute, for crying out loud. It would news if he endorsed anybody EXCEPT Ron Paul.VM | January 17, 2008, 6:50pm | #
you think so Geotpf? I actually think it's strange he's endorsing (what with RP's distinctly NON libertarian views, and that RP isn't a pro choice guy, a creationist). Or do you think it's the "closest to" type of choice?RudyG | January 17, 2008, 7:00pm | #
Liberty is about authority!I like vu jàdé, that strange feeling that none of this has ever happened before.
Geotpf | January 17, 2008, 7:17pm | #
VM-Paul's a libertarian. Now, he's clearly a "right libertarian", and Jillette is clearly a "left libertarian" (or whatever that silly term for such that was invented in the past week is (cosmo-something), although Jillette is probably more a pure libertarian than that term implies), but they are still both libertarians.Malto Dextrin | January 17, 2008, 7:40pm | #
And there behind the glass,Is a single blade of grass.
Be careful as you pass!
Move along, move along.
economist | January 17, 2008, 7:52pm | #
"Why? Are you an android masquerading as a human?" I think that what Ayn Randian is saying is that we shouldn't allow our emotions to control us, as they are lower than reason. Nonetheless, I think that in this case reason would require one to be moved to tears.Paul | January 17, 2008, 8:14pm | #
VM-Paul's a libertarian. Now, he's clearly a "right libertarian", and Jillette is clearly a "left libertarian"Hey now, [Ron] Paul is a 'right libertarian'. This shortened 'Paul' is wreaking havoc with my blogposts...
Malto Dextrin | January 17, 2008, 8:14pm | #
I don't think emotions are 'lower' than reason, but they are different.You need reason to figure out the world and the people in it, and it's the only tool we have when we need to come to agreement with each other. Emotions (e.g. love, awe, wonder, curiosity) can provide the motivation for wanting to live. Or die, if your value system is really screwed up.
this certainly is a compelling example of why profiling ought not to be out of bounds.
Your Good Buddy Johnny Clarke | January 18, 2008, 12:11am | #
To save the statue we had to destroy what it stands for.Next, they'll ship her to Guantanamo as an illegal combatant. She signaled the 9/11 hijackers with her torch.
technomist | January 18, 2008, 7:09am | #
As a symbol, Liberty has always irritated me: it gets used by unthinking people who behave like the only place on earth where there were any freedoms is in the USA and that because they have this symbol, and dress her up in a flag, they don't have to do too much to understand the real difficult meanings the symbol stands for. Why not send it back to France?I understand the Dobbs/ Buchanan '08 transition team is working on a proposal to replace the torch hand with one with its middle finger proudly displayed for all the world to admire.
MKiely | January 18, 2008, 9:38am | #
Jillette is a well known libertarian (as everybody here should know). He's a fellow at the Cato Institute, for crying out loud. It would news if he endorsed anybody EXCEPT Ron Paul.This is news because many outside libertarian circles know Jillette for his celebrity, but don't know he's a libertarian. His endorsement of Paul may cause some of those people to look at Paul and libertarianism in a different light.
...those that are driven to decisions more by emotion than reason, that is.
LarryA | January 18, 2008, 9:54am | #
the motto of the New York City Security State: “See something, say something.”“Say what you think. See Guantanamo for free!”
If these men want to visit the emblem of what they bled for on some godforsaken battlefield, the hats, belts, jackets, canes, and insignia pins all need to be removed and examined…again.
Reminds me of the time Joe Foss was busted at an airport for possession of his Medal of Honor.
an oxidized copper Paris Hilton with the good sense to wear long skirts in public.
Which they let you look under.
Remo Williams didn't have to deal with any of this shit. But it wouldn't have stopped him anyway.
VM | January 18, 2008, 11:00am | #
That was a great movie.Just for that, WEIBSKOBOLD shall accompany you to Penn and Teller's Vegas show.
JC Denton | January 18, 2008, 12:40pm | #
UNATCO is just keeping us safe from the NSF.TrickyVic | January 18, 2008, 1:52pm | #
"""UNATCO is just keeping us safe from the NSF."""I'll take the 9mm rounds for 175
Billy Beck | January 21, 2008, 1:35pm | #
"I'm made of metalMy circuits gleam
I am perpetual
I keep the country clean"
(Judas Priest -- "Electric Eye", 1982)