For all the Left’s insistence that Donald Trump has deigns on converting the U.S. into an autocracy, it is they themselves who, when given the chance, enjoy playing Big Brother.
No less a petty tyrant that New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio slipped into the role of absolute monarch over the weekend, posting a video to Twitter that urges residents to tattle on those who violate social distancing guidelines. A transcript follows:
How do you report places that aren’t enforcing social distancing? It’s simple: just snap a photo and text it to 311-692. #AskMyMayor pic.twitter.com/WQdCcVf1Rl
— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 18, 2020
Will this presidential election be the most important in American history?
When you see a crowd, when you see a line that’s not distanced, when you see a supermarket that’s too crowded — anything —you can report it right away so we can get there to fix the problem.
And now, it’s as simple as taking a photo. All you’ve got to do is take the photo and put the location with it, and bang, send a photo like this and we will make sure that enforcement comes right away.
Text the photo to 311-692 and action will ensue.
What “action” de Blasio had in mind is left up to the imagination of the viewer. Would he dispatch the police to arrest the offender as happened to a Colorado father who displayed the deadly judgment of playing catch with his daughter in a deserted park:
Or as happened to a Philadelphia man who was dragged bodily off a city bus because he was not wearing a mask:
De Blasio’s video wasn’t up long before it began to be mocked, and not only by conservatives. The Daily Beast’s Molly Jong-Fast tweeted:
I don’t want to say this is the dumbest idea anyone’s ever cooked up but this is the dumbest idea anyone’s ever cooked up. https://t.co/zL7X5ZorSV
— Molly Jong-Fast? (@MollyJongFast) April 18, 2020
Another commenter introduced the new coinage corona shaming, while others reminded hizzoner that he had violated his own rule by visiting his Brooklyn gym while others sheltered in place.