Arizona: Our role model

When I heard about the racial profiling bill passed by the Arizona legislature and signed into law by their accidental governor, I remarked to my husband that it was a good thing that the Texas legislature was not in session, else they would be tripping over themselves to follow suit.

Well, that didn't take long, did it? It seems that the execrable state representative Debbie Riddle of Tomball, TX is all set to introduce such a bill just as soon as the legislature meets again next year. In fact, there are said to be five or six states around the country that are considering similar laws.

So what is it with state legislatures anyway? Why are they so bad? Very many of them, including states like Arizona, Nevada, South Carolina, and Oklahoma, as well as New York, seem totally incompetent to manage their state's finances. Had it not been for the Federal government coming to their rescue with stimulus money in the past year, many of them would be even more broke than they are. What am I saying? ALL of them would be more broke than they are. But the Feds should not hold their breath waiting for a "thank you."

Meantime, passing draconian social laws that invade people's privacy and their very bodies is the favorite indoor sport of state legislatures, especially when those people are a different color or sex than they are. Just take a look at Oklahoma's new abortion law which further limits rights which the Supreme Court has said that women have. This law may make it to the Supreme Court and considering its present makeup, I would not bet that it would vote to uphold established law in this regard. Unfortunately, it's not only state legislatures that have lost all regard for the Constitution and for precedent.

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