Group videotapes strip club patrons

Perhaps the case in New York (Manhattan, to be specific) is exceptional. There were several bars whose business was seriously curtailed by post facto legislative fiat. And, to the best of my knowledge, they were not involved in either drugs, prostitution, or any other illegal activity.

It was simply decided that they could not operate within so many yards of a church or school, or that they could not devote more than x% of floor space to "adult" activities. So, one rather harmless bar, Billy's, went out of business; it is now a bagel shop. The others just re-designed their interiors and continue with business as usual. BUT THEY ARE STILL THERE! So what was accomplished, aside from asserting the state's power to impose hardship on legitimate businesses through retroactive re-zoning?

Given the race towards totalitarianism, it is not any more a question of whether such actions can be taken against other businesses or institutions that fall afoul of the ruling junta. It is just a question of when. The precedent was already established when smoking was effectively outlawed in NYC restaurants. The state picks the easiest fights first, in order to minimise opposition. Divide et impera. How many "cultural conservatives" are going to rally to the defense of a "titty bar"? By the time we wait for our particular ox to be gored, the executioner will have honed his skill finely by practicing on people whom we disdained to support, and who will now see no reason to support us. "First, they came for the smokers, and I was silent, because I was not a smoker . . ."

Bear in mind, that the affected bars in Manhattan were in business districts. They were not "intruders" who were intent on destroying the morals of a pre-existing community. By any stretch of the imagination, they should have been given a pass under a "grandfather" clause. When Giuliani's intentions were made known, the other local businesses actually submitted documents to the effect that the bars in question were NOT detracting from the local quality of life.

Well, I agree with you on the totalitarian aspect in a strictly pure application of the way you intend it, and correctly fear it. On a practical level, however, having known people in the restaurant, bar, trucking, scaffolding, building maintenance, heating and airconditioning, facade repair, etc.businesses, I have to tell you: It is all controlled business, and the control aint being done by the government, if you catch my drift.(A friend's father owns one of the largest trucking company's in NJ-- sai: nothing gets done without palms getting greased. And he should know, having spent a year and a half in a fed pen for just exactly what he did know). V's wife.

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