Blame it on the Tshirt

What is it with our government's war on tshirts? Don't get me wrong, I don't like these "Don't Snitch" shirts particularly but it's pretty sad that the Boston police are blaming their failure to prosecute cases on witnesses being intimidated by them. The shirt is just an form of free expression and the fear of retribution will be present with or without the fashion statement.

Boston has had 66 homicides so far this year, matching a 10-year high, and police haven't identified a suspect in 70 percent of them. Police say many witnesses fear retaliation, and Menino said the "Stop Snitching" shirts are part of the problem.

In response the mayor of Boston threatened to send city employees into the shop of local vendor and seize the offending shirts. Unfortunately, the owner of the store caved and will be voluntarily discontinuing sales of the item which he has offered since 1999, selling about 300 or so a month.

One guesses this will have no effect on the Boston PD's inability to solve homicides and what a reflection on the sorry state of our society that people will trade off free expression for the illusion of safety without a murmur of protest outside of the ACLU.