Tyranny Distracts Me

So today on Morning Joe, the assembled regimists were hailing the appropriately named Ray LaHood, secretary of transportation. LaHood announced a new tv propaganda campaign against “distracted driving,” and his totalitarian scheme to install devices in cars that will disable cell phones so drivers, especially young ones, won’t text or talk, and to outlaw these practices in any event. Fulfilling his annointed role, Joe Scarborough opined that “I’m a small-government conservative [right], but even I don’t want my 17-year-old daughter being killed by a distracted driver.” Only left-liberal Bill Press said a discouraging word, asking LaHood if a conversation with the guy in the seat next to him wasn’t also distracting. OMG. They all erupted in horror. But why not outlaw eating, arguing, inserting a CD, thinking about the TSA, or changing the radio? Because texting or talking on the phone is a soft spot in freedom, and the state always tries to expand when there is a soft spot. Oh, and it targets the young, which old chickenhawks like. A question that was not asked: would this edict apply to government officials and agents? Of course not. Why be an overlord if you cannot distinguish yourself from the cattle?

UPDATE from Lynn Reed:

I heard LaHood on an NPR program in the last couple of weeks talking about this. During the show a caller asked him specifically about the police using phone/radio/computers. He replied that they are specially trained to do so in a safe manner. The caller then asked, if he took similar training would LaHood be OK with him doing the same as the police. Of course the answer was a resounding, almost explosive, “NO!!! I would not.”

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6:44 pm on November 16, 2010