Monday, September 28, 2009

Defending Our Liberty--NYPD and FBI

Mr. Zazi's case, as described in the NYTimes, reveals how our governmental structure protects our liberty.

I've mentioned Understanding America (at least I thought I had, though search does not find it--anyway it's a collection of essays on various topics emulating Tocqueville)--I think it's James Q Wilson who writes in the essay on the legal system, while Britain has essentially one police department, we have many thousands.  In the op-ed I link to, Mr. Sheehan describes the tensions and infighting between the FBI and the NYPD, which since 9/11 has developed its anti-terrorism units and deployed even overseas.  My point is, although my lead sentence is a bit sarcastic, basically the US relies not on efficient and effective government, but on our decentralized ineffective governments to protect liberties.  As a bureaucrat, I mourn that preference; as a failed historian, I understand it.

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