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Justice Brandeis coined the phrase “laboratories of democracy” to describe how the outcome of a stupid policy in one state can be a lesson to the rest, rather than an injury to the entire nation. The current lethal experiments in the New York legislative “laboratory” make the Wuhan bioweapons virology lab seem like a paragon of public safety and good intentions.
A weirdly compulsory, conscienceless stupidity seems to possess the entire elected leadership. For example, the Speaker of the New York Assembly Carl Heastie, is very likely to have an above-average IQ. He holds a BS in mathematics and an MBA in finance. And yet, he delivers mind-numbingly stupid statements like this:
I just don’t believe raising penalties is ever a deterrent on crime. If you just keep dealing with the penalties, what happens after people get arrested? You’re still worrying about what happens after something has already happened. -Source New York Post 4/2/24
Amazing.
Presumably, the newly arrived illegal invaders will continue to drain public resources until the brain-dead, but fiscally sound, legislative decision is made to make them full citizens and thus ineligible for continuing the absurdly lavish free ride they now enjoy. This will also provide a surge of stupidity-affirming voters, add to the chaos, crime, and ongoing assault on public resources--and more killings, including more dead cops.
Consider the tough coming future choices: After seizing Trump Tower and other high-end properties to be used for emergency illegal immigrant housing, how can the state recoup costs by selling property that no one will want to buy since squatters cannot be removed legally or politically? Will the governor need to be given emergency powers to seize persons and businesses with above-average incomes or net worth over $250,000 to prevent them from moving to Texas or Florida? Can the New York congressional delegation pull off a major financial coup with an annual multi-billion-dollar federal bailout to prevent collapse?
In the brilliant 2,000-Year-Old Man skits by Mel Brooks and Carl Reiner, the 2000-year-old man is asked about his favorite job. He said that it was being a doctor back in his caveman days. You find a guy laying on the floor, stick your finger in his nose and if he does not sit up and say, "Hey, get your finger out of my nose," you declare him dead and collect a fee either way. With an unambiguous diagnosis looming, will New York sit up and object at some point?
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Discussion (18)
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If I live in NY and list my house for $200,000 can the state tell me its only worth $100,000 and bring civil suit against me for $1,000,000 for fraud? That's what the Trump case sounds like to me.
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Just questioning the wisdom of the AG and an idiot judge is probably a felony.
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How much gooder and harder does it need to get before a majority of New York voters decide to change course?
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Stupid people are much harder to convince of anything, and smart people seem to leave NY if they can.
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Degrees from Harvard? That might explain it.
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