You might think that, with the states hard-pressed as the country struggles to recover from a severe recession, our elected representatives would be grappling with weighty subjects for the public good. You would be wrong, as usual. Our legislatures abound with crackpots attempting to push through idiotic laws.
The hardy perennial, creationism, surfaced this year in Indiana and New Hampshire, where legislators introduced bills to require the public schools to give equal time to "creation science" in biology class. Should they succeed, I assume that they will next train their sights on non-biblical Copernican astronomy while they wait for the courts to overturn their unconstitutional statutes.
It is also in Indiana that Rep. Bob Morris of Fort Wayne has concluded that the Girl Scouts of America (I am not making this up, you know) promotes communism and lesbianism, subverting traditional American values. The Girl Scouts, he imagines, are working hand in glove with Planned Parenthood.
Again in Indiana (what is wrong there?), a state senator, the Hon. Veneta Beckewr of Evansville, has introduced a bill requiring the government to set standards for the performance of the national anthem and for schools and universities to record their performances for inspection.
Arizona Sen. Ron Gould is campaigning to give college students and professors the right to carry concealed handguns on campus. I always hesitate to advance any personal interest in these posts, but I do teach an editing class two mornings a week at Loyola University Maryland, and my disquiet would be intense if I knew that my students were packing heat.
Another Arizona lawmaker Sen. Lori Klein, has introduced a bill prohibiting teachers from using any language that violates the FCC's obscenity and profanity standards. Peter Sokolowski of Merriam-Webster wonders whether that would prohibit classroom use of the dictionary, which has bad words in it.
All this can only distract the people's representatives from their important work in establishing state songs, flowers, insects, and minerals, and passing the bills drafted by the lobbyists who contributed to their campaigns.