Mike Bloomberg has always wanted to “reinterpret” the Constitution, to read out the Second Amendment and to give executives far more sweeping power than the law grants them. The founders probably didn’t envision mayors nagging moms to breastfeed.
Boston has given Bloomberg the excuse to say what he really thinks.
In the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday the country’s interpretation of the Constitution will “have to change” to allow for greater security to stave off future attacks.
“The people who are worried about privacy have a legitimate worry,” Mr. Bloomberg said during a press conference in Midtown. “But we live in a complex word where you’re going to have to have a level of security greater than you did back in the olden days, if you will. And our laws and our interpretation of the Constitution, I think, have to change.”
He isn’t just talking about adding more security cameras in public spaces.
“Clearly the Supreme Court has recognized that you have to have different interpretations of the Second Amendment and what it applies to and reasonable gun laws … Here we’re going to to have to live with reasonable levels of security,” he said, pointing to the use of magnetometers to catch weapons in city schools.
“It really says something bad about us that we have to do it. But our obligation first and foremost is to keep our kids safe in the schools; first and foremost, to keep you safe if you go to a sporting event; first and foremost is to keep you safe if you walk down the streets or go into our parks,” he said. “We cannot let the terrorists put us in a situation where we can’t do those things. And the ways to do that is to provide what we think is an appropriate level of protection.”
Why does it say something bad about us? It says something terrible about the terrorists and madmen who want to kill us, and it says something bad about opportunistic politicians who want to use attacks and tragedies to crack down on the innocent. But the broader “us”? We aren’t collectively guilty of the crimes committed by ideologies and individuals, Mr. Mayor.
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