Just a minor rant...
Here's whats going on in The Golden State..or is it the Artichoke state?...Home of the Whopper??...I can't remember,..it's been 157 years since 6th grade civics.
In any case,the governor of the great and precariously balanced on the edge of insanity state of Cal.I.For.Ni.A,has gone on a "see how many things we can forbid in one week" rampage.
Recently signed into cast in bronze law,beginning July 1st of 2008;
- 16 and 17 year old drivers will not be allowed to use any electronic devices while operating a motor vehicle..Cell phones,laptops,pagers,vibrators and what have you...Verboten.
- Only the use of "hands free" devices will be allowed by drivers 18 and over,and,
- Nobody!!...will be allowed to smoke in a car with children as passengers.
I agree with it because it promotes not only safer driving habits,but common sense,give a mad fuck about the people around you,type behavior.
I don't have any intention of "violating" any of these mandates,because I live,in community,with my fellow sapiens.
Here's the thing I can't get past..And if I've said it once,I've shouted it at the top of my lungs in a drunken stupor a thousand times...
..In a free society,it should be nearly impossible to pass new law..
Why,oh friggin why,do the powers that be continue to focus so intently on all the things we can't do?
Look around,..find something that offends the sensibilities of someone,.someplace,..and pass some kind of legislation against it.
Against.It...
Can't do it...No way..Not on my watch.
No laughing out loud in public...Really depressed people might take some kind of exception to your jocularity,..and really depressed people vote.
"So,..What the hell do you want Sling?.."
I want,I want,I want!..That someone reaches into that giant stainless steel vault in Washington D.C,where we have squirreled away the Constitution,to dust it off and say,"Hey!..Check this out!..Turns out we have all been given certain inalienable rights!..Go figure!".
Our forefathers never once debated over the necessity to ensure the blessings of "The Bill of Wrongs" to ourselves and our posterity...
Edit:
See how easy it was to single out a demographic? (16-17 year olds)..
A group,formerly afforded all the rights and priveledges of a driver's liscence?
I'm wondering what the penalty will be when our 17 year old daughters anxiuosly dial 9-1-1 while being pursued by..well,..that's just my paranoia talking.
End of minor rant.
Make chex payable to §£ïñg 5:51 PM
23 Bootleggers
23 Comments:
I wish I knew how to get those inalienable rights back, because I agree with everything you said.:)
As our police chief said as they unloaded another ton of statutes into the department where I am a volunteer, "When they pass enough laws, we will all be criminals."
In a perfect world, the government would be in charge of education, healthcare, the basic principles of the ten commandments (save for that whole adultery thing - ain't gots no business in the bedroom) and military protection in AN EMERGENCY and that is it. And what would I call this imaginary land? Well, Holland.
but the bill of rights came along before god hit mankind with the cell phone plague.
i'm for anything that combats the wrath of god.
(Applauds politely, just enough to show the requisite enthusiasm and approval but not so loud as to disturb those who are startled by sudden, clapping noises, so as not to violate Ordinance 52).
do you think our forefathers invisioned cell phones,second hand smoke,automobiles, etc.when they came up with the rights bill?...hmmm...
serena joy-I think the way to get them back,is to let our children know as often as possible,that they were lost.
As long as they keep getting chiped away,youngsters have no way of knowing how different it really should be.
jan-EXACTLY!..
Hat-Those Dutch are a clever people!
Maybe trying to live below sea-level has caused them to focus on larger problems than who might be spitting on the sidewalk..
rube-Man..Drivers with cell phones stuck to their heads are my worst nightmare when I'm riding my bike.
Still,I'm always concerned about the government intruding on our personal space..I think there's a bigger picture to consider.
lorraine-(Nods in thankful recognition..You never know when they might be listening).
Yellowdog G.-..or terrorism,or this country's dependence on foreign oil,or lobbyists and special interest groups.
If they had,I fear they would have shucked the whole idea,and headed for the nearest pub.
"Bill of Wrongs", ha! I agree with all those laws too, as a mom of a driving teenager. [pulls hair out, distractedly] But it is disturbing, this whole banning culture. And what YDG said -- how the heck were the forefathers supposed to see this stuff?
more cowbell- I have a real tendency to romanticize the founding fathers.I know this.
I'm sure they had their share of foibles.
I'll tell ya straight up,that I'm as proud of young Ms.Bohemian as I can be.
Out there,putting her beliefs on the line..HOT DAMN!!..THAT'S what I'm talkin' about right there. :)
i personally think most lawmakers should be ritualistically shot... i promise i wouldn't use my cell phone (or vibrator) while conducting the masacre... well... okaya!!! okaya!!! that MAY be a little tooooooooooooooooooo harsh, i agree... i'll reserve the right to use the vibrator!
amy- ...and I'll defend to the death your right to use it!..I mean,..you know..in the purely hyperbolic sense..
Nice to see ya around these parts kid! :)
the dumbest law on the books has always been and shall remain "suicide is illegal".
seriously, some shit doesn't need to be governed, like common sense for example! if you don't have any, the law needn't get involved. it's in everyone's best interest to let mother nature sort out that unfortunate circumstance... you know what i'm talking about
monica- What exactly should the penalty be for suicide bombers?...lol..
Ahhh....Natural Selection...Dont'cha just love Darwin!
Just a personal opinion, but I really think guns are more dangerous than cell phones and cigarettes.
And now I must run and hide before Gina gets here.
Jeeeesuz. I can't believe I forgot to come back and comment after you made me think so so SO hard. And still, I'm undecided because, like so many others, I don't see how our ferociously in-fighting and concerned with other things forefathers could have foreseen et cetera et cetera, but mostly the cetera part. They knew there were a lot of lazy ass people who couldn't be bothered to uphold their end of the vigilance bargain, but lazy ass and STUPID people who drive BIG OLD cars while they're reciting the details of what that dawg did to them?
We a self described very clever generation. Maybe we could invent something less than a law but still a penalty for stupid. I think I could get behind that.
JP- Legislation doesn't kill people...Legislators kill people.
(steps away from jp in case Gina shows up)..
r2k- Thanks for the invite R2..I'll go have a look.
booda baby- It really is hard...The ambivalence I mean.
..Galagher once said that everyone should be issued rubber stickum dart guns,and when someone does something stupid while driving,you could shoot one so that it sticks to their car.After so many darts,the cops could pull them over,and give them a ticket for being an asshole...and I can't believe I just quoted Galagher.
actually ... that rubber dart idea is sounding pretty good.
I so totally think that not only 16 or 17 yr old people should be subjected to that. EVERYONE should be. Crazy world we live in... we don't need to make it any more crazier...
Hum, California seeme to have missed a few laws....let's see...how about limiting the freeways between the hours of 5am and 9pm to people age 60 and above...That way I would be safe and so would everyone else. Really....if laws are going to be passed don't you think the good ole gov should be able to SAY California correctly?
Our government has become our foster parent. When we fail to take personal responsibility, and live our lives by the decree of common sense, big brother has decided that it is best to outlaw stupidity, to reinforce correctness that isn't going to be corrected no matter how many inane bills pass into law. Instead of progressive change, we get irritating "new rules" that most people promptly ignore. Makes all the sense in the world, no?
Personal responsibility- is it so bloody hard? Perhaps so... BE polite around others, be responsible. Is it that difficult??
I agree totally...I found a pair of books when I was away on holiday with the girls... both by John Twelve Hawks... " The Traveller" and "The Dark River"...what you are talking about is in these books...but they have their own twist also as does all good SCI FI
Okay, Gina is here now. JP, watch yourself! :) Actually, I agree with pretty much everything Sling said. I think teenage drivers ARE idiots, but do we need the government to make laws to protect them/us from their stupidity? I'm sick of the government thinking I'm too stupid to think for myself, too incapable of taking care of myself that they have to pass laws to protect me from myself or other idiots. I agree...why isn't it more difficult to pass new laws? And every new law just adds one more layer of bureaucracy and more expense as we try to enforce it. It's ridiculous! As for JP - as he has rightly assumed, I don't agree about guns being more dangerous than cigarettes, or cell phones for that matter. All are only dangerous in the hands of idiots, right? An idiot who smokes like a frakkin' chimney around his kids is more dangerous to that child than a gun locked responsibly away. :) And personally, I happen to like cell phones, just not always cell phone users. :)
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