The folks over at the libertarian political rag Reason are fond of running little lists of government mistakes and overreaches, in the hope that they can illustrate their truths by example, and maybe elect some more small-government folks. Or something like that. Anyway, here are two absurd government overreaches promulgated mostly by the right.
In Britain, anyone under sixteen is now forbidden to do much of anything involving contact with others. Kissing, fondling, probably even close dancing, are technically against a new law, which is deliberately going to go unenforced. Great. Also they’ve finally gotten around to outlawing necrophilia, which I imagine was not specifically named in the past– you’d presumably be charged with some other corpse-treatment crime. OK, so it’s a silly law, but I imagine it’ll get sorted out.
More importantly, in the US, the FDA has written religious law into state policy by refusing to allow emergency contraceptives (a.k.a. “the morning-after pill,” sold under the brand name “Plan B”) to be sold over the counter, despite its medical board recommending exactly that.
What does this mean? It means that a council of doctors has determined that the drug is safe and useful, and that it should be available to people who want it, but that the FDA has bowed to political pressure from the religious right and will refuse it. Smaller government indeed.
Hullabaloo links to a Salon article in which Joe Conason interviews Joseph Wilson (who exposed the “Yellow Cake” lie and whose wife was subsequently outed as a CIA agent, endangering her life and whatever missions she may have been on)… the gist of the article is that Wilson grew up Republican in a Republican family, and this administration is not the Republican party he grew up with.
Conason: What’s the difference in the GOP from when you were growing up?
Wilson: If you’re fiscally responsible, this is not your party. If you believe in a moderate foreign policy characterized by alliances, free trade and the ability to operate in an international environment, this is not your party. If you believe in limited federal government, this is not your party. If you believe that the government should stay out of your bedroom, this is very definitely not your party. In fact, I would argue that unless you believe in the American imperium, imposed on the world by force, or unless you believe in the literal interpretation of the Book of Revelations, this is not your party.
I imagine Reason will be backing LaRouche this year?
Secretly Ironic 