A Parable for our Times

WIth all the flap from the left over "No WMD's", Varifrank brings the reality of this into our culture and makes the case very very clear: bq. Welcome Neighbor! At the end of your block sits a house. Its state of disrepair and unkempt nature drives down the property values of your neighborhood. What�s worse? The home is occupied by a nefarious gang of outlaws to terrorize you and your neighbors. You stay inside; you don�t dare leave your home unoccupied for any length of time, as it will assuredly be robbed. bq. While the police are at the house once a week to check into some form of problem, they seem unable to get at the issue or to actually change anything. While there are individual arrests, the gang itself continues to occupy the house as a whole. Individual players come and go but the terror remains. You and your neighbors go to the city council to complain, only to be told that there�s nothing that can be done. They take a vote and decide to start a �neighborhood watch program� and to implement a �drug free zone�. Funds are drawn from the coffers for city workers to erect the signs on light posts in the neighborhoods. bq. Within weeks, each of the signs has been vandalized. It's today's Must Read. Go there and read it. I'll be here when you to get back... Added to the Blogroll by the way