The Surge Cures All

Friday, August 1st, 2008

If it worked over there, why not over here?

Answering a question about his approach to combatting crime, John McCain suggested that military strategies currently employed by US troops in Iraq could be applied to high crime neighborhoods here in the US. McCain called them tactics "somewhat like we use in the military…You go into neighborhoods, you clamp down, you provide a secure environment for the people that live there, and you make sure that the known criminals are kept under control."

Because that’s what America’s police departments have been lacking lately.  Not enough military-like force.  Just throw some tanks and Humvees at the inner cities.  That’ll calm ‘em down.

Think of all the other problems "surges" could solve.  I’m seeing the "Anti-Poverty Surge," the "Health Care Surge," and the "Anti-Obesity Surge."  And of course, all we really need to finally win the drug war is a "surge"—a three-month blast of troops, guns, and ammo ought to do.

Digg it |  reddit |  del.icio.us |  Fark

17 Responses to “The Surge Cures All”

  1. #1 |  Nobody | 

    Nothing like a little martial law to make everything better!

    Add karma Subtract karma  +6
  2. #2 |  me | 

    “War on X” was starting to sound too blase anyway!

    Add karma Subtract karma  +2
  3. #3 |  MacK | 

    “As part of his argument, McCain praised the crime-fighting efforts of former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani; Urban League president Marc Morial countered that while New York did experience a drop in crime under Giuliani, there were several major instances of police misconduct. To which McCain promised aggressive prosecution of civil rights violations and a Justice Department free from political cronyism.”

    So is he going to micromanage the individual municipalities?
    Maybe he will control the Grand Juries, judges, and juries to ensure that the aggressions shown to innocent citizens by rogue cops are not given 15 day suspended sentences, instead of the 5 to 10 years they would deserve.

    Makes me want to hurl my just eaten raw monkey nuts just thinking of such BS.

    Add karma Subtract karma  +2
  4. #4 |  Wavemancali | 

    A nice anti-Obama surge and he’ll have this thing wrapped up neatly I guess.

    Add karma Subtract karma  +0
  5. #5 |  Andrew | 

    And of course, all we really need to finally win the drug war is a “surge”—a three-month blast of troops, guns, and ammo ought to do.

    The sad thing is that not only would a decent percentage of Americans approve of this, they’d approve of it even if it came with the requisite number of collateral damage (as long as none of that collateral damage was a white female under 25 years old).

    Add karma Subtract karma  +4
  6. #6 |  Andrew | 

    Also, praising Giuliani here is what continues to worry me that if we get President McCain, we’re also getting Attorney General Giuliani, in which case I’d really be hoping for Ashcroft to come back.

    Add karma Subtract karma  +4
  7. #7 |  B | 

    Shit, Gonzales made me wish for Ashcroft to come back…

    Add karma Subtract karma  +6
  8. #8 |  Greg N. | 

    I was afraid an Obama presidency would make John Edwards Attorney General, a frightening prospect. But the Enquirer did us all a favor on that one, so I’m a bit more optimistic about voting for Obama. The way I figure it, we’ll probably get socialized medicine with either of them, and Social Security won’t change under either of them, but Obama doesn’t strike me as the type of guy who relishes the idea of military cops enforcing drug laws. And since McCain couldn’t be worse on the war, Obama wins.

    Add karma Subtract karma  +3
  9. #9 |  Christopher Monnier | 

    ‘Surge’ is the new ‘War on’…

    Add karma Subtract karma  +1
  10. #10 |  omar | 

    This is nothing but an exercise in branding marketing. The word “surge” is positive and “hot” today since it goes along with a perceived success that happened recently, so it makes sense to try to use it over and over in conjunction with your candidate. Of course if the policies are actually put in place, that repeated rhetoric will cause us all some pain.

    It’s the Giuliani method of campaigning.

    Add karma Subtract karma  +1
  11. #11 |  Open Threat | 

    “Surge on Terror.”
    “Surge on Drugs.”
    “Surge on Poverty.”

    It has a nice ring to it.

    SURGE!!!

    Add karma Subtract karma  +0
  12. #12 |  thehim | 

    It reminds me of a College Republican I argued with back in 2005 who said that all we needed to win in Iraq was a “few well-placed bombs.” There are some who will always think we’re a few well-placed bombs from fixing sociological problems. Sigh.

    Add karma Subtract karma  +0
  13. #13 |  Stephen | 

    The most powerful weapon/bomb/WMD that could ever be unleashed against “crime” would be treating pot and a several of the other “drugs” on about the same level as alcohol is now. (maybe even a little less harsh)

    You get double benefits.

    1. Potheads don’t “count” anymore in the stats for the police.

    2. You yank the financial rug out from under the REALLY bad guys that actually go around killing people. (yeah, I know.. they will just find some other reason to do it.. but then they will be moving in on some other nasty person/organization’s territory and it will be like putting nasty bug’s in a jar and only one can survive)

    Add karma Subtract karma  +2
  14. #14 |  John M. | 

    The fact is, The Surge is working, my friend.

    Why do you hate America?

    Add karma Subtract karma  +0
  15. #15 |  Lloyd | 

    Which US city is going to be the first to get the Fallujah treatment?

    Add karma Subtract karma  +0
  16. #16 |  dad29 | 

    The City of Milwaukee’s new top cop has instituted a ’surge’ program in a targeted area which was/is home to a local gang.

    But this ’surge’ consists largely of beat cops–who WALK the beat, make it a point to converse with the residents, etc.

    Not all ’surges’ are SpecialOps/Abrams-led.

    Add karma Subtract karma  +0
  17. #17 |  Balloon Juice | 

    [...] Radley Balko, [...]

    Add karma Subtract karma  +0

Leave a Reply