We hold ourselves to be a nation of laws, but are we? Apparently, it's perfectly okay these days for a government official to off-the-cuff decide which laws will and which laws won't enforced.Here are a couple of examples where the law apparently means nothing.
- Under Georgia and federal law, the influenza vaccine is held to be a "dangerous drug" that requires a prescription by a licensed medical doctor. Despite this law, you can get a flu shot just by walking into most any chain pharmacy in the state, and have been able to for years.
Georgia's Gov. Sonny Perdue (a Freemason, by the way), when asked why this protective law isn't enforced, said that the State wasn't going to be "persnickety" about the law, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported last week.
"This administration will not call for sanctions against those acting in the best interests of Georgians and in a manner consistent with past practices," he said in a prepared statement. "It is my expectation that health care professionals will act in the best interests of public health and continue prior practices." - Former Congressman Bob Barr, who is running for President of the United States as a Libertarian, has filed a lawsuit in Texas demanding that both Senators Barack Obama and John McCain be removed from the Texas ballot because neither candidate met the official filing deadline.
"The seriousness of this issue is self-evident," the lawsuit states. "The hubris of the major parties has risen to such a level that they do not believe that the election laws of the State of Texas apply to them."
the State wasn't going to be "persnickety" about the law,
ReplyDeleteWell, if that is the law, then the law is an ass.
I propose that there is a vast difference between law and justice.
ReplyDeletePerhaps we as a nation do not so much believe in the rule of law, but rather a sense of justice.
I'm the first to agree. The law is often an ass.
ReplyDeleteBut that doesn't mean that officials should look the other way when a law is being broken, no matter how much "good" the think its breaking is doing for "the people."
— W.S.
Seems to me that I heard about a book of ridiculous laws. Should we then enforce those as well?
ReplyDeleteShould we enforce laws that prohibit cohabitation? Laws that prohibit interacial marriage? Laws against certain lewd acts? Prohibit the sale of certain paraphenalia designed to enhance physical pleasure - when sold to consenting adults?
I'm not asking these things to bait you, but to clarify your position and ascertain to what extent you believe in the rule of law.
Nor is this meant to be a reductio in absurdam the laws I have cited either were or are on the books. Should they be / have been enforced?
Good post and good debate.
TM
"former state prosecutor Bro. Michael Stebick and former police captain Bro. John Trowbridge, former New York State Supreme Court judge Bro. Ronald Tills pleaded guilty last week to violations of the federal Mann Act, for transporting a prostitute across state lines to provide sexual services to fellow members of the Masons-only Royal Order of Jesters"
ReplyDeleteyeah, sure...
our elected officials disregard rules
Thanks for plugging the struggle in Texas for what is right. It doesn't seem like there is a day that passes lately that I don't feel like starting another revolutionary war. How long can the majority of U.S. citizens stand idly by while our politicians neglect the law, the constitution, and continue to spend billions of dollars that they don't have to bail out unscrupulous business men?
ReplyDeleteIt is unfortunate that something that could be a bastion of change for the sad state of our country by putting the two major political parties (the Fascists and the Communists) in their place will simply be delayed until after the election when it can be swept under a rug.
Stay strong my Libertarian Brother, I have faith that we will succeed, I just don't know if our country will have to collapse before it happens.
Thanks for an excellent public service announcement.
Bob Barr for President in '08!
Part of the problem is we too often don't get rid of old laws, especially ones that are bad or wrong (for whatever reason).
ReplyDeleteI remember a class in Business Law (taught by a local lawyer) who stated that our lawmakers should probably spend as much time getting rid of old laws as making new ones.