Writes Bryan Stewart: “The recent Mattel toy recall provides an excellent contrast in private sector vs govt sector, and their attitudes towards consumers.

“As many as 18.5 million Mattel toys are potentially affected. The logistics involved must be mind boggling, to try and track down all affected toys. Yet, the process is remarkably easy and efficient. Not knowing if my 2 1/2 year olds’ toy truck was affected, I decided to find out. Mattel has organized their entire website for this, seemingly overnight. Plug in a little code from the bottom of your toy, and the site takes you through the steps to find out if it should be recalled. It is wonderfully organized, each type of toy having its own weblink. Turns out that my son’s toy is affected. I provided my information, and a return receipt is on its way to me. The whole process took me about five minutes, and was hassle-free. We see the CEO on the website reassuring customers, and trying to salvage their business. The (voluntary) recall is being conducted with the safety and satisfaction of the customer as the highest priority. Can anyone seriously imagine the govt trying to process 18.5 million requests out-of-the-blue virtually overnight? Chaos would reign.

“Of course this story was the lead on the nightly news, too. I caught ABC’s version with Charles Gibson last night and what a disgusting display it was, further proof that our entire culture has become governo-centric (if that is even a word). What to do if you think a toy you own could be affected? According to ABC, go to the govt’s website for a list. Why not go to Mattel’s directly? They did not raise this point. My experience was wonderful. And my favorite was the little line that ‘the govt allows companies to monitor lead content themselves’ (!) as if the govt owns the property and is merely leasing the rights to Mattel. It is easy to see how, to the politically naive, statism creeps in unnoticed with the full help of the MSM.

“The whole charade continued this morning on the news, and the focus turned of course to China. The threatening language of federal bureaucrats was just too much. Finding it unbearable to watch, I switched it off, but the take home message was essentially that the Chinese cannot be trusted, and the ultimate costs of cheap goods from China may be your child’s lives. More not-so-subtle, empty-headed flag-waving. God help us all.”