Boston's a Ghost Town: Is That a Smart Move?

Newser ^ | 04/19/2013 | By John Johnson

[Responsibility2nd]

As the manhunt for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev continues, one of the questions getting tossed around is whether the powers-that-be overreacted by shutting down the city of Boston. (Business Insider rounds up some of the remarkable photos being tweeted of the "ghost town.") Some samples:

• Nate Silver of the New York Times, via tweet: "Can't wait til they catch the bastard, but it's valid to inquire about the tangible and intangible costs of shutting a whole city down."
• Allahpundit, Hot Air: "You don’t want people milling about in a park when there’s a guy with a suicide vest, guns, and ammo on the loose. But then, murder suspects are on the loose all the time in big cities and nothing shuts down for them, even though in theory they’re just as likely to go out in a blaze of nutty glory among a crowd. If you’re an aspiring terrorist, knowing that you can shut down a city for a day must be encouraging."
• Andrew Sullivan, the Dish: "I take Allahpundit’s point. If we discover this is a function of two twenty-something loser religious fanatics, what kind of precedent are we setting?"
• First line in Bloomberg report: "An American hub of finance and technology was immobilized Friday by a terrorist manhunt that idled or distracted more than 1.5 million workers."
• Quartz reports that "shut-it-down" has evolved into the go-to response for cities in any kind of emergency. It quotes a security analyst calling today's decision smart: "The priority is to get everyone off the streets," he says. "You have a person who has shown the ability to use explosives and has firearms. That puts the public at risk, and we have learned that we have a responsibility to prevent further injury to the public."

[relictele]

Don’t think they aren’t delighted and amazed at the result of their order. They’re filing this little gem away for future use. It really is a politician’s wet dream to command under the guise of caring.

Of course, this is the state that just elected Liz Warren. Nobody deserves a bombing but they aren’t helping themselves with this curtain-twitching act.

And just how slippery is this younger brother? With all the communications tech nobody has reported him? This ‘door-to-door’ stuff is woefully unconvincing, especially after the so-called perimeter was set up. Going door-to-door in the whole of Boston could take some time.

[discostu]

When it was a car chase with shooting and possibly bombs being chucked out windows the shut down wasn’t shut a bad idea. Now that it’s a house to house search in a well defined area it’s kind of silly.

[relictele]

Is this really the country that beat the Nazi’s and the Japanese in WWII?

We could do it again, but not on days when it snows, rains or the teachers have an in-session.

[griswold3]

Eggsactly!
What if he doesn’t turn up for a month or so? What’s plan “B”?

[Mears]

The whole city and surrounding towns,and I’m in one of them.

Ridiculous.

.

[Uncle Chip]

This is the town that voted for 40 years of Ted Kennedy who made it possible for immigrants from Chechnya to come here en masse — and now their Chechnyans have come home to roost.

[freeangel]

‘Just a test for martial law.

[nascarnation]

He was a good boy, turning his life around.
Some gun toting redneck likely disrespected him.

[Vince Ferrer]

If only thete were ways for citizens to protect themselves.

[discostu]

Don’t miss the value of a government ordered vacation day. If Tucson police declared nobody should be on the roads today I’d head straight to my DVD library.

[Califreak]

Considering the blunders of law enforcement during the Chris Dorner manhunt, it wouldn’t surprise me if most people were staying home voluntarily.

Almost 10K on the hunt can kill an awful lot of innocent people by mistake.

[Califreak]

Thank you. I couldn’t put it into the right words.

[Mears]

I remember when Albert DeSalvo,the alleged Boston Strangler escaped.

Nothing was closed or locked down.

It was business as usual.

.

[Uncle Chip]

I can’t wait for the media to now refer to these two as home-grown terrorists. It’s coming — get ready for it.

[cgbg]

The shut-down is a confession that they have no idea where the perp is—or a diversion while they rendition him outside the thirty mile limit.

[EBH]

I heard an official saying this could roll into the weekend!!!

That said...if you are a prepper you’ll be just fine.

[C. Edmund Wright]

Another reason the libs want us all living in cities....much easier to enforce this kind of stuff....

[Psalm 73]

“It reeks of impotence...the typical liberal response to terror and crime.”

On the other hand - if 10K LEOs cannot corral one 19-year old terrorist - how the hell do they suppose to corral 80 million American gun owners.

[Responsibility2nd]

Going door-to-door in the whole of Boston could take some time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And if he - as reported - has fled to Connecticut or some other state?

I hope they catch him (dead or dead) soon. Today. Now.