Holy crap this is ridiculous. Two officers from the Montgomery County (Md.) Homeland Security Department walked into a public library there last week.
Then they made their announcement: The viewing of Internet pornography was forbidden.
The men looked stern and wore baseball caps emblazoned with the words "Homeland Security." The bizarre scene unfolded Feb. 9, leaving some residents confused and forcing county officials to explain how employees assigned to protect county buildings against terrorists came to see it as their job to police the viewing of pornography.
After the two men made their announcement, one of them challenged an Internet user's choice of viewing material and asked him to step outside, according to a witness. A librarian intervened, and the two men went into the library's work area to discuss the matter. A police officer arrived. In the end, no one had to step outside except the uniformed men.
Extreme props to WashPost Metro writer Cameron Barr for several wry digs at the abonimable stupidity of the cops and the wasteful bureaucracy they purport to serve.
[Cross-posted at To the People.]
In a library??? Hmmm, anyone ever read Farenheit 451??? PS read that Henry Rollins was flying back from an Aussie gig and someone reported him to the TSA coz he was reading an English translation on a book about Jihad...guess he'll be takin' da bus nextime, huh? Regards.
Posted by: GreginOz | Friday, February 17, 2006 at 11:59 PM
So, just like Saudi Arabia, the US has a "morals police". And from the same outfit which is supposed to protect us from religous fanatics..
Posted by: George | Friday, March 03, 2006 at 06:06 PM