4
Anarchy in the USA
Per my item below, it seems that many in the Tea Party crowd are excited to see Colorado Springs descend into a Mad Max-style state of anarchy and chaos:
About time some taxpayers said enough is enough! Bloated salaries and benefits of public employees have to be stopped and REVERSED. Simply let them go and hire private contractors at less than half the price and everything will be fine again.
All uneconomic activity has to stop sometime. And NOW is the time to stop the ludicrous situation of overpaid public employees.
And:
The ratepayers of Colorado Springs are my new heroes.
Congratulations on taking a stand to send a firm message to the politicians. Reduce the services to just the essentials. Get rid of the union jobs and start with a zero-based budget using contractors. Arm the citizens and you will need a lot fewer cops.
And of course, the obligatory racist post:
It all depends on the population. The more “diversity” they have, the worse the prospects of maintaining peace and order. But a racially homogeneous and traditionally American population will probably fare quite well with less cops and will benefit economically from a smaller tax burden.
Last week I entered into my, “Man, WHAT-ever” stage in trying to reason with people. But if you really want to live in a country where you have to hoard guns and stay in a constant state of fear to guard your belongings from roving packs of bandits, hey, I can’t do nothin’ for ya, man, except to say, “Stay the hell outta my neighborhood.” I kind of like the fact that I don’t have to regularly kill people, but if you want to mow down any stranger who steps on your lawn, be my guest.
Felonious Monk said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:41
If I get wind of a single one of these assholes packing up and moving to Colorado Springs in order to experience their Glorious Paradise of Libertarian Freedom, I’ll account for it. But not one of them will. Because they. Are. Pussies. This cannot be stressed enough.
El Cid said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:42
The DMV will be so much better once you have 1/10th the staff, 1/10th the hours, and staff paid 1/10th as much.
Rusty Shackleford said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:42
Is “ratepayer” a code word, like “government schools”?
mcgarble said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:42
typical anti-anachro-capatilist thing to say
El Cid said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:42
I thought the libertards were all going to move to New Hampshire to xform it into Randlantis?
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:46
Congratulations on taking a stand to send a firm message to the politicians. Reduce the services to just the essentials. Get rid of the union jobs and start with a zero-based budget using contractors. Arm the citizens and you will need a lot fewer cops.
Yea! Buy them firehoses! And first aid kits! We won’t need hospitals! And let them dump their garbage in their backyards, and we won’t need public trash receptacles! And give them rat traps for the detritus-munchers!
Oh man…I can’t wait!
Substance McGravitas said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:47
I gotta pay myself to whack off now?
Pere Ubu said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:47
If I get wind of a single one of these assholes packing up and moving to Colorado Springs in order to experience their Glorious Paradise of Libertarian Freedom, I’ll account for it.
Makes two of us.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:48
Is “ratepayer” a code word, like “government schools”?
Rusty, I understand this all came about because voters rejected a proposal to tack on an additional $78 per ONE. HUNDRED. THOUSAND. in assessed value to the property taxes.
Now, I don’t know how many of you own property, but tax assessments are done at the bare minimum, and are far below the value a house and its land would get on the open market, so precious few folks would actually end up paying even another $78 and those that would, could afford it.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:49
I gotta pay myself to whack off now?
I pay myself $1 a pop.
Another Rachel Weisz movie and I can buy a Harley.
S. cerevisiae said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:50
Things you do not normally hear: “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s make our city more like Mogadishu!”
The Ute Indians said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:51
But a racially homogeneous and traditionally American population will probably fare quite well with less cops and will benefit economically from a smaller tax burden.
Preachin’ to the choir, homes
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:51
Things you do not normally hear: “I’ve got a great idea! Let’s make our city more like Mogadishu!”
*waterspit*
F! T! W!
cat_named_zoe said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:52
I can’t wait til they start blockading the surrounding interstates and holding gasoline trucks for ransom.
zombie rotten mcdonald said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:52
can’t you breathers wait for the zompocalypse? we’re not ready yet.
zombie rotten mcdonald said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:54
I can’t wait to see the work done by low bidders on fire services, trash removal, building inspection….
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:54
So who’s going to play The Humungous? Glenn Beck?
zeppo said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:55
“You kids get off my lawn!!”
BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!! BAM!!
gocart mozart said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:55
I think their budget shortfall is all the fault of Ted Haggert for being gay.
El Cid said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:55
Well, they always say they want the country more like it was under the Founding Fathers, i.e., 1790 or so.
Rusty Shackleford said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:56
An increase of $78 per $100K assessed value? And the source article says that’s TRIPLING property taxes? Damns. I’d move to Colorado Springs except I’d probably die in a fire while getting shot by my neighbor for driving a Subaru.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:57
I can almost see the movie in my mind’s eye…final scene…F22 takes off from the air force academy with a band of rag-tag teens and a short little dwarf dressed in a suit with a pocket watch…headed towards Tommorrymorry Land (aka Denver)…
cat_named_zoe said,
February 4, 2010 at 21:59
Provisional government headquarters will be in the local Outback Steakhouse.
Downtown Colorado Springs Hotel Casino said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:00
Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to the Biff Tannen Museum! Dedicated to Hill Valley’s #1 Citizen. And America’s greatest living folk hero. The one and only Biff Tannen. Of course we’ve all heard the legend, but who is the man? Inside you will learn how Biff Tannen became one of the richest and most powerful men in America. Learn the amazing history of the Tannen family, starting with his great-grandfather, Buford ‘Mad Dog’ Tannen, fastest gun in the West. See Biff’s humble beginnings and how a trip to the race track on his 21st Birthday made him a millionaire overnight. Share in the excitement of a fabulous winning streak that earned him the nickname “The Luckiest Man on Earth.” Learn how Biff parlayed that lucky winning streak into the vast empire called Biffco. Discover how, in 1979, Biff successfully lobbied to legalize gambling and turned Hill Valley’s dilapidated courthouse into a beautiful casino-hotel!
Pere Ubu said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:00
Hell, wingnuts, if’n you want to move to Libertopia so bad just give me your address and I’ll come by the house and pack your fucking luggage for you.
zeppo said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:02
This is the same kind of thinking, on a smaller scale of course, that leads someone who lives in, oh… say Alabama, to think it would be a good idea for their state to secede because they don’t like the idea of having a black man as a president, while not considering the certainty that, once said secession occurred and all U.S. funds were cut off, Alabama would instantly become a landlocked third world country.
No thought processes involved. Just pure gut reaction, and I think it is mostly a reaction anything a Democrat believes is a good/bad idea. The only important thing is to score points and show that Democrats and liberals don’t know what they are talking about. Other examples: global warming and climate change, huge bonuses to Wall St. execs, offshore drilling, on and on.
mmy said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:02
Look, just do the math. Let’s say the Randroids’ claim that “city employees cost $89,000 each on average” is true — and by the way, the atrociously-researched Denver Post article does no independent fact check of that claim — even blaming them all is not going to help you too much.
The Randroid quoted in the Post article claims he spends an average of $24,000 on his employees (which is barely above the poverty line for a family of four). So let’s say you could fire city employees and hire contractors for that rate, thus saving $65,000 per person. The city’s shortfall is $38 million, meaning you ‘d have to fire 585 people to make up the gap. This is not IBM we’re talking about here; firing 585 municipal employees from a city that size is a monumental task.
My point? Even if you take these guys at face value, they are making claims which are impossible to support. Which is just the way to go when you want to drown government in a bathtub.
Substance McGravitas said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:03
Oh, National Post.
That Tea Party crowd is Canadian.
Pere Ubu said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:05
My point? Even if you take these guys at face value, they are making claims which are impossible to support.
There you go again, trying to judge these enterprising young men and women with your so-called “logic”.
They’ll fly on the wings of a dream! At least until the ammunition runs out and nobody’ll send more for fear of road pirates…
Felonious Monk said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:06
Seriously, though, I can’t describe how much I hate these people. We’re witnessing the collapse of a large municipal government right before our eyes, and these people are cheering. They’re whacking off in sheer fucking pleasure. I don’t know if they’re just too goddamn stupid to tell what will happen, or they know what’s going to happen and just love it. They love that it will teach people a lesson, about going back to the good old days. I’m too young to remember communism being a talking point, but wasn’t one of the righties’ arguments that the commies wanted to take away our personal pleasures and make us all live only on what was necessary? We have met the enemy…
tigrismus said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:08
Simply let them go and hire private contractors at less than half the price and everything will be fine again.
Let’s hope all the government installations in the area that pay a huge hunk o’ local salaries buy in to this idea.
El Cid said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:08
This is the classic I read somewhere on the intertubes how these are the people who would be god-damned happy to live out under an overpass in rag clothes huddled around a fire in a trash can and roasting caught pigeons for food as long as they knew the people in the next overpass down didn’t have any pigeons.
Rusty Shackleford said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:09
Alabama would instantly become a landlocked third world country.
Outside of Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile, pretty much already there. (Except for the landlocked part.)
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:09
The US Feds are now trying to raise their debt limit by $1.9 trillion. A few points short of the total GNP. Colorado Springs is a city Tea Party in the making.
This comment made me chuckle. It’s like the petri dish of teabagging.
Alabama would instantly become a landlocked third world country
Alabama has that little dangly bit that fronts the Gulf of Mexico… you know, that part that gets hit by hurricanes?
cat_named_zoe said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:09
Wild Wild West redux. Let’s see if the F-150-drivin’ cowboys of the 21st century are as tough as their great-grandpappies. They sure think they are.
El Cid said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:09
I’ll bet your $8 / hr fire and police force are the perfect and cultual product of China.
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:10
I hates Rusty’s quick, lightsome fingers, I does.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:10
We’re witnessing the collapse of a large municipal government right before our eyes, and these people are cheering.
Which is why, when they come down with a venereal disease, it’s going to be all that much sweeter.
I, for one, support Colorado City in this, and encourage this sort of behavior all over the fucking mountain states.
Looch said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:12
Sooo. Michelle Malkin lives in Colorado Springs, huh? And she is going to sing the praises of less gummint, right? Right?
I think a funny’s gonna happen. Maybe right after the first big-ass snowstorm that the city can’t afford to plow out from under.
tigrismus said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:12
firing 585 municipal employees from a city that size is a monumental task.
And 585 households making $65,000 or so less surely has to have some sort of effect.
Felonious Monk said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:12
Well, getting a venereal disease would imply that someone, at some point, wanted to have sex with them. I know how science-fictiony this whole story is, but let’s not go too far.
zeppo said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:13
BBBB, yeah, I realized that was a mistake once I posted it. I was thinking of third world ISLAND nations, like Haiti or Cuba, you know, and Alabama is sort of attached to the actual continent. Let’s just say I meant to say Kentucky. Yeah.
I also used to live in Alabama, so I did remember about Mobile. Moved there FROM the Colorado Spgs area (see below) to rural Alabama when I was in high school. Quite a culture shock, let me tell you.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:15
Colorado Springs Resident: “Hello, 911?”
911 operator: “Yes yes yes, my name is Apu and I’ll be your service representative today. What seems to be the troubles Mrs Morphee?”
Co.SpringsRes: “That’s ‘Murphy,’ and my husband is having a heart attack?”
911: “I’m sorry to hear that, Mrs Morphee. Can you tell me if he is still breathing?”
CSR: “I need an ambulance!”
911: “But Mrs Morphee, we’ll need to have an ambulance come over from nearby Pueblo. In the meantime, I need to establish the nature of the emergency. Has your husband taken any drugs today?”
CSR: “Well, he is on heart medication…”
911: “I’m sorry, Mrs Morphee, but that voids any action from Pueblo, since this is not a medical emergency but according to the manual, a social concern. I can put you in touch with the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington DC. Please hold.”
CSR: “But….!” *click*
tigrismus said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:15
Well, getting a venereal disease would imply that someone, at some point, wanted to have sex with them. I know how science-fictiony this whole story is, but let’s not go too far.
They’ll get it from the no-longer-cleaned park toilets.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:16
Well, getting a venereal disease would imply that someone, at some point, wanted to have sex with them.
I was metaphorically pointing out how they were fucking themselves in the ass.
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:16
One of the towns in Westchester County, NY privatized its fire department, with predictable results:
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/13/nyregion/experiment-in-private-fire-protection-fails-for-a-westchester-village.html?pagewanted=1
Besides the fact that none of the neighboring municipalities had a reciprocity agreement with the private company, they were paying “reserve” employees $5.50 per hour at the turn of the century.
Felonious Monk said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:16
http://www.wunderground.com/US/CO/Colorado_Springs.html
Snow predicted for today, Sunday, and Monday…
I do wonder if one huge snowstorm and the unplowed, unsalted streets would be enough to do these folks in. I mean, that got the mayor of Chicago fired back in the 70′s, and I’d like to think that us Grabowskis are tougher than a bunch of pasty old fundies and Michelle Malkin.
zombie rotten mcdonald said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:18
So 600 citizens will have their incomes cut by 2/3?
which will, of course, further depress revenues, as well as making it impossible for Mr. Galt Brilliant Businessman to sell any of his product becasue all his customers will be scrambling to even afford food….
Of course, that will be Obama’s fault for over-regulation.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:20
One of the towns in Westchester County, NY privatized its fire department, with predictable results
I remember that: Rye Brook.
I always wondered how you went about justifying fighting fires for profit. Isn’t that a bit of, um, an incentive to arson? I would imagine the residents of the town were anteing up some tips to the fire fighters.
justme said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:27
Not to mention that
A) It’s a fucking resort, and busboys come cheap compared to, say, city managers or even qualified IT staff, and
B) It’s a fucking resort, and by his own statement using “seasonal” workers, meaning he’s not open the whole year. So that 24K is only per season, not for a full year.
Dipshits. I don’t know who’s worse, the disingenuous fuckweasels who make up these false equivalences, or the moronic repeat-sheep that take it and run with it at face value without so much as rubbing two brain cells together.
Alan in SF said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:28
As heavily armed as Americans are, we could abolish the Defense Department too and just let private citizens roam the world shooting any Muslims they see.
justme said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:30
Heaven forfend! And policing for profit would never, ever turn into a protection racket because the Free Market and SHUT UP THAT’S WHY!
gocart mozart said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:30
The Italian word for truck is camion. A truck driver is a camionista. Snow plows are put on trucks to clear snow. Therefore, snow removal is Camionism. Wake up people!
zombie rotten mcdonald said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:31
Dustbin of History, meet Colorado Springs….
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:32
As heavily armed as Americans are, we could abolish the Defense Department too and just let private citizens roam the world shooting any Muslims they see.
Are you kidding? We could make it a reality TV show and turn a profit!
“Amazing Racists”
mmy said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:32
@justme: Not disagreeing. I was just saying, “even if you don’t want to argue their bullshit, their proposed solution to the problem is absurd.”
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:33
I always wondered how you went about justifying fighting fires for profit. Isn’t that a bit of, um, an incentive to arson?
So, you’re telling me that the narrator of that MC 900 Foot Jesus song was motivated by profit?
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:34
And policing for profit would never, ever turn into a protection racket because the Free Market and SHUT UP THAT’S WHY!
“An in udder news here in Colorado Springs, Police Chief Vinnie da Nose Gigante said dat de bank robbery at Wells Fargo has nuttin’ ta do wif da fact dat Wells Fartgo refused to pay deir respects to da Gigante fambly…”
BFR said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:34
I do wonder if one huge snowstorm and the unplowed, unsalted streets would be enough to do these folks in. I mean, that got the mayor of Chicago fired back in the 70’s, and I’d like to think that us Grabowskis are tougher than a bunch of pasty old fundies and Michelle Malkin.
No. I think you’re forgetting the “Bear Patrol” episode of the Simpsons. They’ll scream for the snow plows to be re-activated while screaming about how much it costs to operate.
Mayor Quimby: “Are these morons getting dumber or just louder?”
gocart mozart said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:35
“Are these morons getting dumber or just louder?”
Yes.
N__B said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:37
OT, but related to the post pic: I ate lunch at Fanelli’s today after a meeting nearby. See the brownish-red sign on the left…it says “Fanelli Cafe.” My burger and beer were uninterrupted by rage zombies or Will Smith, although several of the tourists had glazed eyes.
histrogeek said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:38
“I do wonder if one huge snowstorm and the unplowed, unsalted streets would be enough to do these folks in. I mean, that got the mayor of Chicago fired back in the 70’s, and I’d like to think that us Grabowskis are tougher than a bunch of pasty old fundies and Michelle Malkin.”
In fairness Bilandic was in part ditched for being a clueless asshole. Not only did Streets and San do a piss-poor job then, but Bilandic got on TV to say everything was hunkey-dorey. (There are plenty who think he was deliberately misinformed on that.)
Besides we are tougher than the CS weinies. We don’t dick over city workers to avoid paying an extra $78 a year in property taxes.
gocart mozart said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:40
We had private for profit fire departments in the 19th century. If you weren’t current on your bill, they would let your house burn down. This is why we no longer have private for profit fire departments.
zeppo said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:40
“Camionism”… That’s classic.
FMguru said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:42
I’m sure that guy’s luxury hotel complex will do gangbuster business once the town its sited near turns into a mile-high version of East St. Louis. Who wouldn’t want to pay a premium to vacation amidst dark, crumbling, trash-strewn streets and packs of feral dogs? Where your car can be broken into and emptied out in broad daylight because the police had to shut down their property crimes division? It’s why Flint and Hoboken have such booming tourism sectors, isn’t it?
Amazing. The provision of basic civic services is the literal foundation of civilization, and these people are throwing it away while cheering.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:45
Special Today in the Cosmic Cafe:
Heaping Big Plate of Schadenfreude.
Sockpuppet #47 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:46
Wait.. this is all because they objected to an increase of 78 dollars per hundred thou, which amounted to tripling the rate? what the hell?
My house is £1260, per year, on a valuation of 88k, which is less than half current market value. This is pretty average for the UK and western europe in general.
So in Colorado Springs, I’d pay 100 bucks a year, and get nothing in return but one street light every half mile?
commie atheist said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:46
We interrupt this thread for a breaking update from “The Unberable Breitbartness of Andrew: The Twittering,” now in its 96th hour:
Tina Brown… Retracto is walking down the hillside… @dailybeast
Chris said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:48
“And policing for profit would never, ever turn into a protection racket because the Free Market and SHUT UP THAT’S WHY!”
Fucking God, I miss the Mafia. Same logic, but more honesty, more class, and probably a better service for much cheaper, too. “One day Mrs’a Murphy, and that day may never come, I’ll call on’a you to do a service for me. But, until that’a day, accept this police protection as a gift on’a my daughter’s wedding day.” Yeah, I could live with it. I mean, if it’s that or Blackwater, I’ll take the Mafia with open arms.
Nightsky said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:50
Looch: I think a funny’s gonna happen. Maybe right after the first big-ass snowstorm that the city can’t afford to plow out from under.
That would work for you or me, yes, but libertarians see the world differently. For them, it would serve to demonstrate that even with the huge property taxes they pay, the city still can’t afford to plow the streets and is therefore incompetent and taxes must therefore be reduced even further.
As far as I can tell, libertarians seem to harbor this belief that, in Libertopia, civil life will be exactly the same– except that they, personally, will be better off. Maybe magical unicorns drive the snowplows in Libertopia.
mikey said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:52
Isn’t that a bit of, um, an incentive to arson?
And yet nobody ever thinks twice about that annual check they write to their anti virus software vendor….
mikey
Felonious Monk said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:54
He’s still using that fucking alpaca joke? At what point does a metaphor turn into an imaginary friend?
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:55
I have a Mac, mikey.
Mikey? MIKEY?
histrogeek said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:55
“Fucking God, I miss the Mafia. Same logic, but more honesty, more class, and probably a better service for much cheaper, too.”
Fee collection was a bit more haphazard though much stricter enforcement of tax evaders. Have come from a Mafia town (in New Jersey, shocking I know), they are good at keeping their own neighborhoods safe, barring a turf war. Local police I’m guessing. They don’t want to see their sainted mother’s best friend’s cousin get mugged.
zeppo said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:56
These people would be really overjoyed if all liberals were in the left side of a boat out in the middle of the ocean and all the conservatives were in the right side of the boat, and the left side of the boat sprung a big leak.
Chris said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:57
“As far as I can tell, libertarians seem to harbor this belief that, in Libertopia, civil life will be exactly the same– except that they, personally, will be better off. Maybe magical unicorns drive the snowplows in Libertopia.”
Indeedy. The ability of the right to turn their own fuckups into validations for their own beliefs and starting over is amazing. Not about to end either, and when it does the fallout ain’t going to be pretty.
Sockpuppet #47 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:58
Incentive to arson? Oh yes.. Think how many empty, foreclosed properties there are just begging to be torched.
Until one day they turn up a bit too late to their own fire, or the kids they hire to start the fires torch the fire station, and the whole town goes up.
And after everybody else is dead and everything is in ashes, one libertarian will stumble through the rubble with a smile on his face, knowing that the town is now perfect.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 22:59
Fee collection was a bit more haphazard though much stricter enforcement of tax evaders. Have come from a Mafia town (in New Jersey, shocking I know), they are good at keeping their own neighborhoods safe, barring a turf war.
Humph! The Hells Angels will do that for free! I mean, unless you call sacrficing your daughter’s virginity a tax…
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:00
Y’know, I’m beginning to form the impression that “libertarian” is just another word for “sociopath”.
Anthony said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:00
What do we do when they flee their hellholes to get into our neighborhoods. We can’t let them in. Dare I say “Fuck you, I got mine”
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:01
My burger and beer were uninterrupted by rage zombies or Will Smith, although several of the tourists had glazed eyes.
Lunch- UR doin’ it RONG!!
It’s why Flint and Hoboken have such booming tourism sectors, isn’t it?
Uh, when’s the last time you were Hoboken?
Pere Ubu said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:01
Tina Brown… Retracto is walking down the hillside… @dailybeast
Okay, now it’s just fucking sad.
Boebsy the Dumbfuck Wingnut Eatin’ Lynx eats Retracto, game, set, match.
Chris said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:02
“They don’t want to see their sainted mother’s best friend’s cousin get mugged.”
Right. Whereas Blackwater and company (and that’s exactly who would swoop in and take it all if some police duties got privatized) are in it for the paycheck and nothing else. I don’t like the Mafia and ideally wouldn’t want either of them around, but if it’s a choice between these two, I’d rather go with the armed men who grew up in the neighborhood and for whom protecting it is more than just a way to get rich.
histrogeek said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:02
And now the 2015 acceptance speech for the mayor of Colorado Springs:
“The future of our once-great nation is a post-apocalyptic Hobbesian nightmare where plague and violence threaten every man, woman, and child. Where buildings crumble, children are forced to beg in the streets, and ignorance destroys what remains of our community. Where criminal gangs prey upon the weak in our society.
“We in Colorado Springs have seen this future. And we embrace it! (cheers, applause) We will not waver from our vision. We will not be satisfied until everyone looks at The Road not as a horror show but as a documentary. (more cheers, followed by gunfire, followed by a brutal battle making Tianamen Square look like a school picnic)”
Pere Ubu said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:03
And after everybody else is dead and everything is in ashes, one libertarian will stumble through the rubble with a smile on his face, knowing that the town is now perfect.
“Finally! Finally time enough… to read.. Atlas Shrugged!”
and then his glasses break.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:03
Uh, when’s the last time you were Hoboken?
Who goes sightseeing in Hoboken? I mean, unless you’re really fucking hard up for Sinatra or to take a picture of the plaque on Fourteenth Street that commemorates where Elysian Fields *used* to be, there’s not a lot of there there.
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:04
And yes, I know about Maxwells…
Turbine Yukon Palin said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:05
I’d be more inclined to cheer this . . . experiment on, if I thought the mad scientsits would learn anything from it, and if it didn’t actually impact people who didn’t vote down the tax hike. I can only hope they move away quickly.
brigadiergerard said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:08
http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/feb2010/aggr-f01.shtml
1. World capitalism enters the second decade of the 21st century in the midst of a deepening economic and geopolitical crisis. In January 2009, in the aftermath of the financial meltdown that had begun in September 2008, the Socialist Equality Party explained that the economic crisis signaled a turning point in the protracted decline in the global position of American capitalism. The SEP warned that economic restabilization on a capitalist basis could “be achieved only through … a catastrophic lowering of the living standards of the working class….” We insisted that there could be no “socially neutral” resolution to the crisis, and that “the improvisational responses of the American ruling class to the economic upheaval will solve nothing.” On the eve of the inauguration of Barack Obama, the SEP predicted that he would seek a “solution to the crisis that does not touch the foundations of capitalism and the interests of the financial elite.”
zeppo said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:08
Hey, a Twilight Zone reference…
I am now having visions of Charles Bronson and Elizabeth Montgomery walking around a destroyed and deserted city, bashing each other over the heads when they get an open shot.
g said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:08
Let’s say the Randroids’ claim that “city employees cost $89,000 each on average” is true…..
The Randroid quoted in the Post article claims he spends an average of $24,000 on his employees (which is barely above the poverty line for a family of four).
Well, how interesting. I’m somewhat familiar with the cost of public employees, and their job descriptions. Yeah, they probably get better benefits than the Randoid.
But what about the actual jobs they do? How comparable is the Randoid’s staff to city staff? Gee, does the Randroid employ law enforcement personnel, trained EMT’s, fire fighters? Does the Randoid employ a whole office full of attorneys (every city has a City Attorney’s office)? How about forensics technicians? How about comptrollers and CFOs and Risk Management officers?
None of those folks work for $24K, and if they did you sure wouldnt’ want them.
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:10
there’s not a lot of there there.
It’s a different “not of lot of there” than Flint, however.
justme said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:11
Certainly. Don’t get me wrong, I was just piling on and noting that it’s bs to begin with.
I lived in New Orleans for some of the early 90s. It was not uncommon to hear laments like that. For somewhat different reasons, economic generally, but still, given a shittier choice or organized crime…
Also, “Nice country you got there. Pity if something should, y’know, happen to it.”
Aaaaaaand I’m right back to “Libertarians are those who believe that roads build themselves.”
tigrismus said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:12
Broadmoor luxury resort chief executive Steve Bartolin wrote an open letter asking why the city spends $89,000 per employee, when his enterprise has a similar number of workers and spends only $24,000 on each.
He’s averaging a few managers and a buttload of maids and thinks the city can match that? And Jesus, no knock on Randian luxury hotel managers but it’s not exactly what Ayn Rand was thinking about when she talked about the productive Atlases.
justme said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:12
GAHHH!!!!
FYWPWARGW!!!
justme said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:13
Is this thing on?
fywp
Citizen_X said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:17
Woo hoo! Somalia-on-the-Front-Range!
And regarding what Felonious Monk and Pere Ubu said: these guys commenting aren’t just Libertarian pussies, they’re Canadian Libertarian pussies. They don’t even have enough faith in their ideals to abandon the horror of Soviet Canuckistan single-payer Stalinist healthcare!
actor212 said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:24
It’s a different “not of lot of there” than Flint, however.
Point taken.
zeppo said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:24
On the plus side, when the high speed passenger rail corridor between Pueblo and Ft. Collins becomes a reality, they won’t have to design and build a stop in the Spgs. Can just bypass that one. Denver to Pueblo in 45 minutes. Just draw the shades as you fly by Pikes Peak. Nothing to see here.
stryx said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:27
I think two things are being overlooked here-
first, JESUS POWER!!11!! will keep the streets clean and the people healthy, and praying is a whole lot cheaper than paying
second, these crazy radicals have the keys to the fukcing nuclear weapons. For some reason the residents don’t seem to be all that worried about thing that might happen in ‘the future’
stogoe said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:37
I think the Sadlynauts have some sort of fetish for packs of feral dogs.
Kathleen in Oakland said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:41
I thought it was bears and pumas
stryx said,
February 4, 2010 at 23:51
Did you ever see the movie Suburbia?
Not SubUrbia, Suburbia.
Not all dogs are as good as Will Smith’s.
InsaneInTheCheneyBrain said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:00
You ever notice that key word “essential”?
I’d be willing to bet the services this guy judges “essential” are those from which he directly benefits.
zombie rotten mcdonald said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:01
think the Sadlynauts have some sort of fetish for packs of feral dogs.
except for Bimler, he prefers feral babies.
guitarist manqué said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:03
I was in Hoboken just last week, and for an excellent reason:
http://www.pigroast.com/
These are the best smoker/cookers available. Yes, it’s Hoboken, GA, so what?
John D. said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:05
“What do we do when they flee their hellholes to get into our neighborhoods. We can’t let them in. Dare I say “Fuck you, I got mine”
You know, when it comes to suicide, I’m Pro-Choice. If this really is what these cretins want, then I say let them have it.
And no backsies once their little Libertarian dreamstate turns to shit.
Snarla said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:08
As heavily armed as Americans are, we could abolish the Defense Department too and just let private citizens roam the world shooting any Muslims they see.
This would be terrible. If every man who could pass for Muslim were killed off, who would be left that’s cute enough to date?
mysticdog said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:14
“Thats a nice military base youse have here. I’d hate to see something happen to it.”
Also, the libertards have no idea what services they directly benefit from. Much less indirectly. Willful ignorance is a cornerstone of libertarianism.
Hell, Galt’s Gulch only worked because of magic pony technology. Even Rand’s own disbelief couldn’t be suspended well enough to make her society work without impossible technology.
FMguru said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:16
I’m excited. They’re turning their pretty little mountain town into Mogadishu as a deliberate choice, and they’re going to have to live in it. This is like those post-inauguration pledges to “Go Galt”, only real, and encompassing the population of a small city.
I’m not very hopeful that they’ll ever put cause and effect together, though. I’m sure they’ll find ways to blame the fact that there’s open sewage pooling in the streets and abandoned houses turned meth labs burning to the ground every night on illegal immigrants or goldbricking union workers or homosexuals getting married or something.
LD said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:17
Oh, it’s just that if you say “rabid bitches” the Malkins and the Coulters get all wound up, and you know how hard it is to get them to shut down enough to tell them you weren’t talking about them.
Felonious Monk said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:36
Well Guru, obviously they won’t put two and two together, but I am at least hopeful that the normal people might look at Colorado Springs going straight to hell and think “Hmm…maybe these anti-government Tea Party folks really don’t know what they’re talking about.” Americans like talking shit about the government, but it doesn’t translate into action very often.
Chris said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:44
“This would be terrible. If every man who could pass for Muslim were killed off, who would be left that’s cute enough to date?”
I was thinking the same thing on the other side. Few people have as consistently beautiful women as the Middle Eastern ones.
Mark D said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:47
Two things that struck me as … interesting from the comments you posted:
1. The right’s grasp of economics and how our economic system works is about at the same level of my five-year-old’s grasp of particle physics and string theory.
2. This line:
Proves these people don’t know fuck all about private contractors. Trust me — it ain’t gonna be anywhere near half price. And if it is half price, head over to Walter Reed Medical Center and see how well privatizing their maintenance worked out for them.
Fucking idiots. The whole lot of ‘em.
Whale Chowder said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:50
…the residents don’t seem to be all that worried about thing that might happen in ‘the future’
That’s because The Rapture, silly.
If every man who could pass for Muslim were killed off, who would be left that’s cute enough to date?
Hey! I take pasty-white umbrage at that.
On a more serious note, while I know it’s fun to forecast dark apocalyptic events in CS’ future, we’re talking about a 10% cut in city funding. Is it stupid? Sure. Will it be like something out of The Road? Maybe not so much.
FMguru said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:51
The “half price” is awesome. I sure want my firefighters and EMTs and animal control workers and city planners and police helicopter pilots and 911 operators and elementary school teachers to be drawn from the same labor pool that day-laborers and sign-spinners come from. What could possibly go wrong with that?
tigrismus said,
February 5, 2010 at 0:54
Few people have as consistently beautiful women as the Middle Eastern ones.
There’s a place on the spectrum of beauty for everyone; beauty in every color, shape and size, something for every taste, a world filled with beautiful people. Except conservatives: FOO.
beejeez said,
February 5, 2010 at 1:14
Let’s cut to the chase. What’s the over/under on how long it takes Colorado Springsians to come back to city hall on their knees?
Mentis Fugit said,
February 5, 2010 at 1:27
Mark D said,
For half price, you get one third of the service, but it’s PRIVATE!!!!tahi!
zombie rotten mcdonald said,
February 5, 2010 at 1:34
we’re talking about a 10% cut in city funding
but on top of how much prior cutting? I would guess quite a bit, if they are considering these kinds of elimination of services.
And the ‘broken windows’ theory of urban environments has some truth; once the lighting goes, and trash accumulates, it accelerates, attracting more crime and deterioration and inspiring people to say “meh” and move out, further accelerating the decline….
And if you think once these services are cut, they will magically be restored, well, you’re a much more cheery optimist than I am.
The Tragically Flip said,
February 5, 2010 at 1:34
I’m beginning to see an America that in the medium future looks like 15th century Italy, as a collection of loosely affiliated city-states in a never end series of chaotic wars fought by mercenaries.
How long before Colorado Springs invades Denver?
Chris said,
February 5, 2010 at 1:53
“There’s a place on the spectrum of beauty for everyone; beauty in every color, shape and size, something for every taste, a world filled with beautiful people. Except conservatives: FOO.”
No, no, no. One must be objective; there are plenty of beautiful conservatives too. Which is why you should never go for looks alone.
Substance McGravitas said,
February 5, 2010 at 1:58
True! There’s money as well.
Lesley said,
February 5, 2010 at 3:02
People who bitch about overpaid public servants are the FIRST TO COMPLAIN
Lesley said,
February 5, 2010 at 3:08
People who bitch about overpaid public servants are the FIRST TO COMPLAIN when government services are reduced or eliminated. Contract everything out? It’s usually never cheaper. Though the accountanting process makes it look that way (one column becomes two (public vs private) but the money is all public.) And private companies keep more of the funding as profit and reduce the service to a fraction of its former quality.
I am so sick of these ignorant motherfuckers who have no apparent awareness of corporate welfare (gov’t funds R&D, and subsidizes wages of workers who might otherwise be laid off).
Spengler Dampniche said,
February 5, 2010 at 3:43
This is why, despite otherwise
peckerlessimpeccable liberal credentials, I own a couple of those shooty things with bullets in em. These assholes really think the Wild West is better than what we have now.Smut Clyde said,
February 5, 2010 at 4:22
the unplowed, unsalted streets
Salt? Ploughs? Colorado Springs Delenda Est!
Smut Clyde said,
February 5, 2010 at 4:23
FYWP.
the unplowed, unsalted streets
Salt? Ploughs?
Colorado Springs Delenda Est!
Xecky Gilchrist said,
February 5, 2010 at 4:37
There’s a place on the spectrum of beauty for everyone; beauty in every color, shape and size, something for every taste, a world filled with beautiful people.
I agree – I have yet to encounter a race or class of people, apart from the set of all people who are not hawt, that is completely without babes. Including conservatives.
The part that eluded me for far too long is that there’s a big difference between “beautiful” and “attractive.”
Spengler Dampniche said,
February 5, 2010 at 5:13
Somebody upstream mentioned the effort to turn New Hampshire into Galt’s Gulch — that’s an interesting story. I’m from New Hampshire. It’s basically a triangle, right? The top third has about 50,000 people in it: outlaw bikers, my grandfather’s old drunken hunting buddies, and assorted North Woods types. The rest of the population, maybe 850,000 people, live in the southern 2/3ds of the state, and are relatively liberal.
All those libertards that came to New Hampshire (not a huge number actually moved) discovered there are two lifestyles there. You can go it alone, which means during the winter you eat a lot of venison on Wonder Bread seasoned with ketchup, and you spend a great deal of time trying to make a living in a place that doesn’t need you on the few days when you can get out of the house; or you can become part of one of the small, vivacious New England communities with its volunteer fire department, volunteer trail-clearing, volunteer town suppers, volunteer snow plowing, and volunteer every damn thing, and get through the winters that way.
So most of em moved back where they came from in the Midwest with its gigantic gummint-sponsored highways. Others… they recovered, volunteered, and are now members of the human race.
Brandi said,
February 5, 2010 at 5:19
I always wondered how you went about justifying fighting fires for profit.
Worked beautifully for Marcus Crassus, it did.
creature said,
February 5, 2010 at 6:46
I live in Boulder, so I get the watch the Springs wackos sort this one out! Should be barrels of fun to watch, close-up-like. Like I learned here- stay on the boat, trust the shorter, etc. The whole state is running tight, the whole country, the planet is running tight on funds (pretty much) so this could be the start of the tipping point. Or not. Dammit
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 5, 2010 at 7:18
Well Guru, obviously they won’t put two and two together
And these are the people whose philosophy is based on the juvenile premise that A=A.
I’m beginning to see an America that in the medium future looks like 15th century Italy, as a collection of loosely affiliated city-states in a never end series of chaotic wars fought by mercenaries.
How long before Colorado Springs invades Denver?
It won’t happen- the different megachurches in Colorado Springs will be too busy waging war on each other for this to happen.
Chris said,
February 5, 2010 at 7:28
“It won’t happen- the different megachurches in Colorado Springs will be too busy waging war on each other for this to happen.”
Ah, brilliant… Why go back to Renaissance Italy when you can go back to Crusade-era Palestine?
lobbey said,
February 5, 2010 at 9:08
This would be terrible. If every man who could pass for Muslim were killed off, who would be left that’s cute enough to date?
Snarla, I kind of look Moroccan/Algerian, what you doing Saturday night !
Big Bad Bald Bastard said,
February 5, 2010 at 9:12
This would be terrible. If every man who could pass for Muslim were killed off, who would be left that’s cute enough to date?
Considering that traditionally Muslim populations run the gamut from Bosniacs to Indonesians, to sub-Saharan Africans, killing off every man who could pass for Muslim would force you to date women.
lobbey said,
February 5, 2010 at 9:15
late to this party, yet again, but fuck ‘em, fuck ‘em all. Thing that strikes about the NP’s commenters (apart from their outright stupidity) is the whole anti-union meme. Did I miss a meeting, but when did that become mainstream on the right? I wonder how many of those assholes shitting on the union would benefit themselves from a union and how many realize that a union is, em, for their own great justice. Some folk are so thick, they shouldn’t be allowed out on their own.
soullite said,
February 5, 2010 at 14:36
American cities have been falling apart for decades and the President claims the right to have Americans killed on his say-so alone. Clearly, we’re a dust bowl away from Road Warrior.
vortexgods said,
February 5, 2010 at 15:40
Here’s a funny story out of Colorado Springs:
http://www.gazette.com/articles/police-93616-department-retaliation.html
Well, funny in a gallows humor sort of way…
vortexgods said,
February 5, 2010 at 15:55
lobbey: Limbaugh has been pushing anti-union rhetoric for years, and Fox news has ratcheted it up even worse. (This is how I get my parents, living on a Police Union Pension, talking anti-union rubbish.)
Esteev said,
February 5, 2010 at 16:07
The right’s grasp of economics and how our economic system works is about at the same level of my five-year-old’s grasp of particle physics and string theory.
But Mark, economics is hard.
Chris said,
February 5, 2010 at 16:14
“Did I miss a meeting, but when did that become mainstream on the right?”
Ronald Wilson Reagan.
actor212 said,
February 5, 2010 at 17:42
killing off every man who could pass for Muslim would force you to date women.
Interest.
Website?
Newsletter?
LittlePig said,
February 5, 2010 at 18:37
final scene…F22 takes off from the air force academy with a band of rag-tag teens and a short little dwarf dressed in a suit with a pocket watch…
What the hell does Flavor Flav have to do with this?
Snarla said,
February 5, 2010 at 18:56
lobbey, it looks like Saturday night I will be snowed in by the storm of the millenium.
Big Bald Bad Bastard, I was going by what a teabagger thinks a Muslim looks like, not reality. Assuming they’re not just looking for “full Muslim attire.”
actor212 said,
February 5, 2010 at 19:00
What the hell does Flavor Flav have to do with this?
The brother got serious flow.
OriGuy said,
February 6, 2010 at 0:19
So how long before the USOC picks up their training center and moves out of Mogadishu Springs? I looked on Google Streets and it’s smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood, with no fences around it.
not a gator said,
February 6, 2010 at 0:35
1) When, in the history of ever, has hiring contractors cost less than in-house (exception: temporary projects, b/c you don’t want those people on your payroll permanently*)?
See: Virginia, Commonwealth of, VDOT, Major Fuck-ups
2) There’s no crime in Southie or rural Maine. Trufax.
See: Cops
*-Planning, road crews, and parks are not temporary projects, unless you are making a “plan” to privatize all the “roads” and run a city-monopoly trolley instead, a fiscally sound and effing sweet option, if I say so myself.
purpleOnion said,
February 6, 2010 at 4:59
The right to assassinate by decree is a little bizarre in light of an American principle that “no man is above the law.” Imagine my amazement to discover that there are special men who can be trusted with the power of life or death over another person who is presumably not special. Psychology, sociology, and biology currently must support the special person idea and that there are, in fact, unique individuals, (unique to the degree that they do not behave like other humans, do not have the same instincts, and cannot be tempted to act selfishly,) who do not have to be accountable for acts that if done by any other person would be a crime. Christ, Gandhi, Mohamed, Buddha, Hare Krishna, Bob, the Illuminati, the author of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, H.S. Thompson, Andy Warhol, John Lennon, Kant, Richard Branigan, Charles Bukowski, Warren Buffet, George Soros and a host of others would be surprised at the startling revelation that some human beings are, without a doubt, special. Due to their special nature whatever they do can be done without consequence. Maybe this power will bring more people into politics so that we will have an eclectic choice of individuals to whom we should impart such power. Amazing.
Nathanael said,
February 8, 2010 at 0:38
“It’s why Flint and Hoboken have such booming tourism sectors, isn’t it?”
“Uh, when’s the last time you were Hoboken?”
Actually, I visited Hoboken in order to look at the classic railway station, Hoboken Terminal (still used as a railway station!).
Tourism derives largely from having pretty things: either wilderness or buildings, or stuff in buildings.