There is something that cliche-enamored journalists and cranky online commenters don't realize, though, and that's what Willington is actually saying. This thing, this sprawling, secretive, expensive and polluting training complex shouldn't be in ANYONE'S backyard.
- Nobody should have to send their children to school a mile from a weapons compound used by unnamed, armed foreign groups.
- Nobody should have to worry that their water supply is contaminated with lead.
- Nobody should have to see their property values plummet because of state overreach.
- Nobody should have to attend worship services amid the sounds of gunfire.
When people in the media throw out the phrase "NIMBY", they don't realize that this is a literal thing, that this massive training complex the State Police are pushing on Willington is literally in people's backyards. In their schoolyards. In their church yards.
The State Police need to come up with a solution that doesn't place their proposed paramilitary complex in any town's residential section. Surely our State Police can do better than this.
And that's what the people of Willington are saying. This isn't a case of "not in MY backyard, this is a case of "not in ANYBODY'S backyard".
But that doesn't create as cute an acronym.
