Little Brother Is watching you!

You see that photo? That's the front yard of Julie Bass, resident of Oak Park, MI. She might end up in jail, and you're looking at the evidence right there: yes, those are VEGETABLES growing in her front yard. The nerve of some people!

I've heard of towns not wanting nuclear waste sites or prisons or halfway houses in their backyards, but making veggies in the front yard verboten? Are you kidding me? Town officials want her to rip out the garden and replace it with something "suitable" such as grass, which is of course a never-ending chore to maintain, not to mention the terrible waste of water required to keep a lawn green.

There's no down-side to growing your own, whether in the North 40 or curbside. Food gardens can be every bit as beautiful as any other kind of landscaping, but they transcend plants chosen only for their pretty faces. They provide healthy, nontoxic food for the family, they make the best possible use of natural resources such as water and sunshine, and they are living classrooms for neighborhood kids who think that all food comes shrink-wrapped from the grocery store. I'm sure Julie's garden provides a great spot to sit down and share some friendly conversation . . . especially since her plight and her plot have gone viral after Big Brother--or considering the size of Oak Park, Little Brother--tried to shut her down.

Meanwhile, in another small town on the opposite side of the country, a woman is arrested for speaking lawfully at a city council meeting in Quartzsite, Arizona. Watch the video on youtube, and you'll hear the mayor in the background, insisting that the woman be allowed to speak her mind under her First Amendment protections.

Still, the council members--afraid of what the woman is about to say--demand that she be shut up by two police officers standing guard. Before putting their hands on her to arrest her, a policewoman covers the microphone with her hand. It's clear: the woman's words are more dangerous than the woman herself.

C'mon, Small Town America, wise up! You can't get away with stuff like this in the era of youtube, Facebook, and Twitter, which makes us all neighbors in one gigantic small town. We're watching you like you're watching the tomatoes lazily ripening in the Michigan sun. We perk up and pay closer attention as soon as a cop's hand closes over a microphone.

The writer Robert Heinlein got it right when he observed that "the human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire." I'm standing up for freedom, the First Amendment . . . and broccoli for all.

These ham-handed measures always fail. In Quartzsite, the Police Chief is finally under investigation for accusations of felonious actions. In Oak Park, "neighbors" from across the country and beyond are coming to Julie Bass's aid. People are planting Victory gardens to show their solidarity. Yes, in their front yards. This is the stuff urban heroes are made of. The Oak Park administrators will be eating crow while Julie enjoys the far more nutritious and satisfying fruits of her labor.

It's time for small towns like these to grow up and behave themselves.