But in addition to that, we're now supposed to be all hot and bothered that using a drone like that instead of a helicopter will actually save police departments money...oh the horror!!!!
For one thing, helicopters are far more expensive than drones. "Manned helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft are expensive to acquire, staff, and maintain. A police helicopter costs from $500,000 to $3 million to acquire, and $200-$400 an hour to fly," according to the ACLU...Apparently for the ACLU and people like Greenwald, that presents a problem.
By comparison, the ACLU argues, "it’s easy to foresee a day when even a professional police drone could be acquired for less than a hundred dollars, including maintenance costs."
I love the work the ACLU has historically done as much as anyone. But it really busts my chops when they feed into one of the worst narratives out there about how liberals simply love any government spending regardless of its efficacy.
But I guess that's what happens when you mire yourself in an ideological quagmire about a particular weapon rather than keep your eye on the prize of ending a war.
Having read the crap from Greenwald, and the rest of it, my opinion is that they sound like they're one very small step from joining the survivalists holed up in some area, waiting for the black helicopters to descend.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to say but I'm out the door. One of your best observations. The only program that I'm willing to get behind is stopping the war. Stop the war, drones aren't an issue. We have to get out of the "war on terror" dynamic, because it's that which makes any tactic, any at all, legal.
ReplyDeleteAnother difference between helicopters and itty bitty drones: you can't shoot wolves from the latter.
ReplyDelete