If Only There Were a Law…
The Journal Star is resuming its There Oughtta Be a Law” series this year. A couple of the ideas are good, most are not. Many show a fundamental misunderstanding of the difference between local, state, and federal government, and a frightening number suggest trampling all over the First Amendment.
Do you have any early favorites (for various definitions of “favorite") among the options? Mine is “Abolish the death penalty.” Short, sweet, and to the point; it doesn’t even come with an explanation like all the others do. A close second (for a much different reason) is: “Allow public policing of handicapped parking spots: Allow concerned residents to call in license numbers of vehicles illegally parked in handicapped slots and allow police to issue citations to the offenders based on this information. Too often, offenders have left by the time police get there.” Frankly, I think tire-slashing should be legal in such cases, but that’s just me.
In the end, I’m really not a fan of “There Oughtta Be a Law"-type series. If there’s one thing we don’t need, it’s more laws. I wish the Journal Star would run a ”There Oughtta NOT Be a Law” series. Until then, here’s my proposed law:
The number of laws in the State of Nebraska is fixed at the number on the books on January 1, 2007. Before any new laws may be passed, a previous law must be repealed.
Well, it would have to be a constitutional amendment, but you get the picture.
The Comments
JK December 18, 2006 at 11:42am
I really like the proposed citation for not taking down garage sale signs.
Sheesh!
Karin December 18, 2006 at 11:55am
My favorites:
**"No plea bargains for meth users”
No way. There’s a difference between a user, a dealer, and a producer. focus should be on getting users off one of the most addictive drugs out there.
** “Get rid of downtown bike lanes: I think the bike lanes downtown are dangerous. Not only do they make drivers nervous, but the bikers themselves think they don’t have to obey speeding laws, traffic lights or or any other laws that apply.”
I have not seen bikers speeding or ignoring lights. Even if they do, I doubt the bike lanes made it worse.
**"Exempt military retirees from taxes”
uh, no.
**"Outlaw smoking in cars with children: I strongly believe smoking in cars where children younger than 18 are present should be outlawed.”
As much as I am all for personal responsibility, I am actually for this. You have a choice to go to a bar, a child in a car does to have a choice. And having been a child in a car with multiple smoking adults, I can say it is a miserable experience.
**"Fingerprint discarded beer bottles: Most of the beer-bottle litter on city streets is from people drinking and driving. Have police dust the beer bottles littering the streets for fingerprints and start arresting people who have thrown them out.”
This person has been watching too much CSI.
**"Ban discrimination: There should be a law that people cannot discriminate against people they think are gay when they aren’t.”
But it’s ok to discriminate against people who really are gay? Lame.
beerorkid December 18, 2006 at 1:01pm
yeah what a hoot reading those. The ban discrimination one had me LOL’n.
Nice post.
Dave K December 18, 2006 at 3:14pm
Every time I start to get the feeling that maybe Lincolnites are a little less dumb than they actually are, the LJS publishes one of these things that are based on resident input, and that feeling quickly ceases. (I guess I have a daily reminder of the lack of Lincolnites’ intelligence in the LJS Letters, but I try to take those at face value).
So after getting past the sheer stupidity of some of the suggestions, I try to determine what is more ridiculous: the fact that people suggested these things, or that the LJS printed them. (Same goes for the letters, again).
I’m holding out hope that the idiocy displayed by people who submit materials to the LJS isn’t present in the rest of the population. ...and I’m not even talking about the comments on the website.
Swid December 18, 2006 at 3:53pm
Given the overall tone of those suggestions, I’d like to suggest a law requiring universal mandatory civic education. To make it easy to remember, as the “one weekend a month, two weeks a year” phrase that we remember so well from the (pre-Iraq) National Guard/Reserves commercials…