More Political Class Insanity - February Version

As I have said many times, I will never run out of materials for this blog since the political class constantly brings me new material of just insane stuff that they do and say. Never mind that we have lost the war on drugs, our public schools are failing, our deficit and national debt is skyrocketing, unemployment is very high, government agencies and organizations that are supposed to protect us (SEC, FDA, FTC, the Senate, the House Of Representatives, etc.) do not protect us, we have no national energy policy, etc.

Rather than work on these issues, the political class has brought us so many funny, expensive, and useless ideas over the past year or so. A Congresswoman and her staff waste resources writing legislation to regulate the sound volume of television commericals. Another Congressman and his staff waste resources writing legislation to eliminate erectile dysfunctional commercials from television broadcasts. Half of the money spent on bridge repairs from the stimulus program was used to fix bridges that were not broken. The list goes on and on.

Today I received my monthly issue of Reason magazine which is usually chock full of these types of politician behavior. So let's add to our list of funny, expensive, and useless ideas from politicians the world over:

• Police arrested a 14 year old boy at a California middle school after he threw a football at another boy's leg during a football game. The other boy was not hurt. The police report said that the boy who threw the ball seemed to be angry but did not specify why he was arrested. Forget the drug dealers and speeders, let's put police on middle school fields in case someone gets angry.
• In Britain, the Office of Standards in Education, Children's Services, and Skills wants to force parents to undergo a criminal background check for those parents "who wish to home school their children." Sounds like a good idea, who wants a criminal teaching your kids, even if it is you! Critics view it as a way to find out what home schoolers are learning and to control what they learn.
• Also in England, when a group of Lancashire kids threw rocks at a local home, the 71 year old homeowner came out and she poked one of the 17 year old boy rock thrower. The homeowner was arrested for assault.
• A legally elected, non-scandal plagued member of the Ashville, North Carolina city council is under pressure to resign or be removed from office. His sin? He is an atheist and the North Carolina state constitution requires that all elected officials must believe in the being of an almighty God.
• Technology restrictions used to make it illegal to use your cell phone during many parts of an airplane's flight for fear that its usage might interfere with the plane's electronics. However, newer phones no longer pose that problem. Thus, passengers should now be able to use their cell phones during all parts of the flight without endangering anyone. However, an Oregon Congressman and his staff are busy drafting legislation that would still prohibit the use of cell phones. According to the Congressman, "Cell phone users should not be able to disrupt the comfort of an entire airplane cabin especially when other passengers have not choice but to listen." What's next, Congressman, do you want us to sit boy-girl-boy-girl on the plane? Stop treating us like children. Many people sleep on the plane, many people listen to their iPods, many people listen to the movie, and others probably do not want to talk on the phone and let the whole plane know their personal business. So what's the problem?
• Late last year, the Texas state PTA distributed a message about a type of crystal meth that was circulating that looks like strawberry pop rocks and smells like strawberry. The message warned parents to be on the look out for this new type of drug that according to the PTA, was being handed out on the playgrounds of the state. Furthermore, according to the communication, children were ingesting the strawberry flavored drug and were being rushed to the hospital. This situation is so bad that the U.S. Senate got involved and wrote legislation called the "Saving Kids From Dangerous Drugs Act," which would double the penalties for creating and distributing illegal drugs that are flavored or marketed to kids. Whew, that was close. Thank goodness the U.S. Senate got out in front of this problem. In fact, they got so far out in front because the problem does not exist. According to the DEA, the reputable rumor tracking website Snopes.com, the drug policy organization Join Together, and an addiction expert, there is no such product or epidemic anywhere in the country. Everyone, from the Texas PTA and the U.S. Senate reacted to absolutely nothing. Fortunately, the Senate can now get back to that pesky sound volume of TV commercials issue.
• Taxi cab drivers in Alexandria, Virgina are required by law to take at least two calls from their dispatcher everyday. The original aim of this rule was to force taxi cab drivers to not hang around hotels and airports, looking to get the more lucrative fares and ignore other, less lucrative fares. Unfortunately, the rule has directly resulted in at least one cab company going bankrupt and another is on probation for not meeting the rule's requirements. Sounds like such a good idea when the unemployment rate is so high, let's shut down perfectly good companies and businesses for not following the stupid rule of some bureaucrat.

The following pieces of political insanity were from the February 26, 2010 issue of The Week magazine:

• The Transportation Security Administration (TSA), those folks at the airport who do security checks, have apologized because they forced a disabled boy to remove his leg braces to pass through a metal detector. This despite the fact that his son could barely walk. Never mind that the TSA and the rest of the government security apparatus did not stop the underwear bomber until his bomb misfired, despite knowing someone like him from Nigeria was coming into the country on that day and having been warned by the would-be bomber's father that his son was a possible terrorist. We at least have the disabled four year old American boy terrorist cell covered.
• The state of Virginia legislation voted to make it illegal to implant microchips in people without their permission. The Georgia Senate also passed the same type of ban. Again, unemployment is at an all time high and these folks are worried about forcible microchip implants. Maybe the current assault laws on the books would cover such activities, i.e. forcibly placing microchips inside a person without that person being aware of the implant. Is this a large problem in Virginia and Georgia? I was not aware of this plague on our citizens.

Funny but so sad. The country is in such bad shape and time, energy, and resources are wasted on non-existent drug threats, microchip implants, and the like. The opportunity to dump every incumbent running for re-election in November cannot come soon enough.

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