"We want to be operated like puppets and provided for like pets."

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Radley Balko links a well-done Crispin Sartwell column on our fear of freedom:

But many events give me pause as I stand to mutter my Bushy cliches about the universal love of liberty. Here's one: Tens of thousands of people gather to mourn the death of their beloved dictator. One might think it difficult to regard the regime of Slobodan Milosevic—featuring war, ethnic cleansing, rape camps and other hijinks—with affectionate nostalgia. And yet, after his richly deserved croak, people were sobbing on the streets of Belgrade. [….]

We want the government to guarantee our health, deflect hurricanes, educate our children and license us to drive; we want to be told what to eat, what to smoke and whom to marry. We are justly proud of the fact that no enduring society has ever incarcerated more of its people. Noting that the policeman has a pistol, a club, a stun gun, a can of pepper spray and a database that includes us, we feel happy and secure.

Our submission is absolute: We want to be operated like puppets and provided for like pets.

The terrorists hate our freedom. But we should be comfortable with that. We hate our freedom, too.

Radley also kindly quotes something I wrote in the same vein last year.