The title of this
article comes as no surprise to anyone as I have spouted out such topics in the
past. But stories this past week have just shown how government officials
just do not get. There is no reason why elected officials need to comment
on or try to fix every social problem out there. There comes a time when
society needs to fix itself, and there are just times when you have to live by
3D's motto, you just can't fix stupid. There were two stories this week,
one local and one national, which just had me scratching my head.
The first is the local
story of the Massachusetts legislature banning bake sales in local schools.
So basically what the government did was take a national problem of child
obesity and told parents that they were not doing a good enough job controlling
it and that they would take over. But the problem doesn't stop there.
In these tough economic times school budgets has been slashed to a point
where teachers are teaching in larger classrooms. At my umpire
association meeting last Monday we were told a local JV team could not comply
with the MIAA bat safety rule because the school and parents could not afford
the new bats. So the state decides to take the biggest source of school
fundraising and said no, figure it out.
I could totally
understand if statistics showed that school bake sales were leading to an
increase in allergic reactions during school hours, but that's not the case
hear. But the state has decided that children are just obese and that
parents are doing nothing about it. I'm sorry but it's not illegal to
have a fat kid, it's not ideal, and in some respects it's not right, but it's
not illegal. So, unless you plan to ban brownies from store shelves,
which in Massachusetts would not surprise me, this ban on bake sales doesn't
work. Just like every other unreasonable ban on things in Massachusetts,
all it does is divert the funds to other places rather than where it should go.
Luckily, some sort of common sense came about the next day and
Massachusetts House of Representatives is moving to repeal this latest ban in
the Nanny State. Hopefully, the Senate and the man who thinks I am a
racist, Governor Patrick do the right thing and repeal this.
The second story that
just had me saying "why?" was President Obama and Vice President
Biden supporting gay marriage this week. There was absolutely no reason
for it. I am one that supports the civil union of same sex citizens even
though it goes against my church's beliefs, I am a big boy, and I can deal with
them. The main reason I support same sex civil unions is that it has no
impact on my life whatsoever; it would not change my daily operations or the
people I talk to. It would definitely make the gay people I am acquainted
with very happy. I digress.
I shake my head at this
story because, it was made a story. The problem with the gay marriage is
the emphasis on the word marriage. Leave that up to the churches.
Call them civil unions and call it a day. But the President made it
a story this week, mainly because Vice President Biden put him on the spot in a
recent interview, forcing his hand. Where the President stands on this
topic is not my main concern in the upcoming election and it looks like the
President and the media is wagging the dog. One interesting point to note is
that President Obama was against gay marriage before he was against. That
is starting to be the mantra of this election. The government should
leave this issue alone and leave it to the states, just like health care.
The President saw an
opportunity to revive a disengaged voter base that carried him to election in
2008 and he took it, that's all. Nobody really thinks he will propose
legislation to define marriage nationally, do they? That issue gets all
the legislators running for the hills when it comes up so nothing will ever get
done. If you think I am wrong try this. Call up Congressman Jim
McGovern one of the most "progressive" reps out there and ask him to
sponsor a gay marriage bill or resign from office, see what he does.
I do want to state that
the people of North Carolina have spoken their mind, twice, and that needs to be
respected, whether you agree or not. They should not be ridiculed for
their decision. There was a process, it was followed and the outcome did
not come out favorable for some people. It's time to move on, but don't
think there will ever be a national law on this, it just won't happen.
Sorry!
3D
Coming Right Atcha
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