Let's Just Get It Over with And Criminalize Stupidity

It is now, and always has been, a fact that the law, like our military, is always "fighting" the last crime. Sometimes the law gets smart and makes laws that cover an entire host of other crimes, somehow related to the broader law. An example of this is when the government couldn't keep up with all of the new drugs so they developed the "class" system and arrested people based upon which class the "offending drug" occupied. Also, Driving While Drinking was changed to Driving Under the Influence which covered drugs as well as booze.

Too often there is no specific law against certain behavior. Who would think that we would need a law against getting drunk, going to the police station and mooning the cops as they come and go? But our justice system created a few laws covering such disturbing of the  peace, indecent exposure and a few more, I am sure of that. They even wisely created some very broad laws covering mob activity (the RICO Act is the best example). Also, you can't set up shop outside of a church and perform your own Gallagher act (disturbing the peace) and you would certainly get arrested should you decide to dress up like a chicken and stand in front of KFC shouting "They killed my brother!"

When the government started passing statutes against smoking, I knew that we, as a society, had crossed the Rubicon. There is no turning back now, the government had set the precedent for becoming a nanny state. The changes aren't coming too quickly or terribly noticeably (outside of New York City), we would never allow that...but a government that takes over your personal life does it slowly, and "for our own good".

It certainly IS against the law to drink and drive. Now many states are making it illegal to chat on the phone and drive, something I never do because I hate cell phones and I refuse to own one. It irritates my kids who  want to get in touch with me and it annoyed a nutty guy I dated (briefly) because he saw my refusal to carry a cell phone as evidence that I had something to hide. That's how much it bugged him that he didn't have access to that potential treasure trove of personal information. That, of course, has nothing to do with the fact that I refuse to have a cell phone. It's mainly because I resist change.

Also, I hate talking on the phone anyway, why would I want to carry one around with me? It'd be different if I were a cop, a doctor or Prince Charles, but I'm not. If I don't know how to operate the simplest of  cell phones, I certainly can't text so you would never catch me so much as attempting to text and walk. I would, more likely, be talking to the nearest stranger polite enough to help an old lady text a message. Even if I knew how to text and walk, I wouldn't do it. What could be so important? This is a video that shows what would happen to me should I try to do something so stupid, it's the kind of luck I have:






Now, perhaps some of you are guilty of texting while walking. I can forgive you for the past. But, if you should  fall off of a cliff texting while walking after viewing this video, I told you so. The cops want to call it walking while distracted. That's not broad enough. With what would you charge a skinhead walking up and down the sidewalk in front of the White House while reading 'Catcher in the Rye'?

I think it's time to simply outlaw stupidity.