Do you know how hard it is to actually, you know, swim wearing a life vest?
This weekend at RightOnline, I kept having to use this line, reported by NH State Rep. Steve Vaillancourt (R-Manchester), from Kris Roberts (D-Keene):
"Government has to protect ourselves from our own stupidity"
I guess that our Founding Fathers were just absolutely cuckoo in Rep. Roberts eyes – imagine: letting people the freedom to succeed and reaping the consequences of bad decisions by letting them decide for themselves. When I said that this was from a state legislator from the "Live Free or Die" State, their eyes bugged out at first, and then, slowly, shook their heads back and forth. This is the true guiding principle of Progressivism (mostly Democrats, but also some Republicans) – we mere citizens are incapable of fending or deciding for ourselves. We are just not capable of making proper decisions or acting on our own, and thus, our freedoms must be curtailed so as to protect us.
Thus, this story from Colorado fits the bill:
People who hope to beat the summer heat by swimming, floating or boating on rivers in King County must wear a life vest or face an $86 fine.
A divided County Council on Monday passed a personal flotation device ordinance by a five to four vote. Opponents said it was an intrusive move by "big government."
"This Council sometimes thinks it’s everybody’s mom," said Councilwoman Kathy Lambert, who voted "no."
Supporters said the new rule will save lives.
The law appears to be the first of its kind in the state. Staff with the Municipal Research and Services Center of Washington said Kitsap and Clark counties had rules about people wearing life vests while on sail boards, water scooters and other water craft, but it didn’t appear any other county required swimmers to wear the devices.
…Authorities say there were 17 drowning deaths on major county rivers between 2005 and 2009.
…It applies to people intertubing, rafting, using a surfboard, canoe or kayak. Swimmers or people wading more than 5 feet from shore or in water more than 4 feet deep would also have to wear life vests…
…"I think it’s the beginning of the era of life jackets in King County," he said.
Councilwoman Julia Patterson, a "yes" vote, said the same arguments Dunn made against the life vest ordinance were also made against laws requiring child safety seats in automobiles and banning smoking in public places.
"We are improving the health for everyone because of these laws that we pass," she said.
Yes folks, Democrats think that the rest of us are mere children who cannot take care of ourselves. The idea that government was supposed to protect our Rights seems to be beyond them. While no one wants to see anyone drown, think of that statistic: with probably millions of swimmers annually, 17 died. For that small number, these folks are willing to inconvenience everyone else by imposing yet another "one size fits all" rule.
Will it make things safer? Who knows? But it may well act as a disincentive for people to go swimming too! It may be "the beginning of the era of life jackets" but it may also be the end of swimming as well as wearing a life vest DOES make swimming real hard – so why even bother?
A free people that is not allowed to make decisions such as this are no longer free.
