New York Times Editorial
Have We Gone Far Enough?
Published July 2, 2010
When we look at the news and see things as they are, with organizations like this so-called "Messiah" cropping up creating mass hysteria and panic, I'm personally left to wonder, "America, have we done enough?"
Now I'm not talking about our national defense budget or the liberties allowed to the Department of Homeland Security to defend out nation; I'm talking about the Linderman Act. Since the Linderman Act was passed in 2007 the United States has been on the forefront of a global threat involving SLC-expressive individuals with potentially deadly and uncontrollable abilities. But where are we now, nearly four years gone from our innocence as a nation? What strides have we made to ensure that we are safer?
Since the passing of the Linderman Act, reported incidents of violence by SLC-expressive persons has been dramatic and increasing every year. Violent attacks on government officials, terrorist plots that threaten some of our greatest cities, and now even attacks within our nation's capitol.
How many PARIAHs or Phoenixes or Messiahs is this country going to need to face until we realize that we do not have an effective means of both controlling and containing the threat that dangerous representatives of this creed represent.
FRONTLINE has been a bloated over-funded government nightmare, billions of dollars thrown to a promised super-soldier project that would have a powered security force defending every state in America by 2011. Where are we now? New York, Massachusetts, Virginia and California are still all we have to offer, and the United States Armed Forces cries that they do not have enough Registered officers to enlist.
New York City, nearly four years after the explosion in midtown, still looks like a third-world country. Buildings are in disastrous disrepair, Staten Island is still only 10% reclaimed by the government and infrastructure collapse, homelessness and drug use is rampant.
Just this winter nearly the entire northeastern seaboard of the United States was put into a deep freeze by alleged eco-terrorism perpetrated by the "Evolved."
How long is it going to take for America to wake up and realize that we are a nation at war with itself, at war with the dangerous Evolved extremists and at war with our own people's hearts and minds. How many more years of increasing violence and ecological, social and financial threats will we need to face before responsibility is taken for this situation and a solution is found?
The fault lies in the Petrelli Administration's soft backbone and their inability to perform under pressure, their desire to straddle the middle and try to appeal to both the Left and the Right. Eventually the hard decisions about the Evolved have to be made, and if this administration isn't willing to ask the important question and take responsibility, I fear.
I fear for how long it is going to take for someone to ask, "Have we done enough?"
I fear how few of us may be left by the time someone does.
Adam Stapleton
New York Times Editorialist