The Politics of Responsibility

When an anti gambling ad is followed by a lottery ad, and the constant advertisement of seat belt enforcement is pushed.. and pushed… and pushed even more, I have had it, and quite frankly don’t really care if this post is met with gasps of disbelief.

I don’t CARE if it’s the law. Just keep Pushing it down my throat. It makes me sick, and also makes me want to push back. This LAW is wrong. I have already examined this in a prior post. My current issue is with the advertising dollars spent by a fiscally immature state government. Advertising putting IN-YOUR-FACE a law that has no business being law, but for the blackmail of the federal government, and insurance lobbies interfering with personal responsibility issues.

Then there are the drunk driving laws. (No, I have not ever faced, or expect to face DUI or OUIL, if any suspect my motives for writing this) Advertising dollars spent making sure you know that State or local government can determine if you are a danger to yourself or others, even without any aggressive motoring activity. You could be pulled over for a suspected seatbelt violation, and the smell of a beer you had for lunch gets you inconvenienced with other intrusive tests? What if the officer conducting such a test doesn’t know the proper procedures (such as the specified wait time to get an accurate blood reading) and you get a false positive?

Let me be clear, if you drink, and you cause damage, injure someone etc., you OWE someone. In fact if you AREN’T DRUNK, you are still responsible for that which you have done. However, it is my contention that the system can be abusive to people who otherwise would not have a problem other than all too easily meet the incredibly ridiculously low blood alcohol levels currently mandated.

THEN there is the conflict of interest which occurs in the punitive stage of a drunk driving arrest/prosecution. How many judges, friends of judges, prosecutors have financial ties with rehabilitation services? I am suspect of some in Northern Michigan. What happens when in the sentencing phase, the defendant is offered “rehab meetings” in lieu of jail time? Get the drift?

Government is used all too often to enrich those who know how to work the political process, as well as play on peoples fears. Drunk driving laws, Seatbelt laws, Intention laws, soon to be enacted FAT laws, are all examples of government going where government ought not.

I expect comments unfriendly to my thesis. I welcome them and will approve without edit (except profanity)