Cynical Nation

Wow. When I first read about Jon Corzine's accident, I didn't realize how seriously effed up he had been. Apparently he's breathing with a respirator now, and although his injuries do not seem life-threatening, he's in a world of hurt, and I wish him a speedy recovery.

It almost makes me feel guilty that this site is still the top-ranking Google hit for "Corzine sucks." He's not all bad, of course, but I earned my "Corzine sucks" bona fides very early in his administration, when Corzine violated his campaign promise almost the minute he'd taken his hand off the bible by launched such a sweeping taxation orgy that caused even the Democrats in the legislature to balk.

Other than that, he's done an okay job. But when he recovers, I'm going to take him to task about something else -- his seat belt. It's much less important in terms of policy than his "tax everything that isn't nailed down" frenzy, but it's a pet peeve of mine nonetheless.

See, Corzine wasn't wearing his seat belt at the time of his accident, even though state law requires him to. That's a minor infraction, of course, and he's already paid quite a price for it, so I don't think there's any benefit in charging him with a violation. In fact, I don't think mandatory seat belt laws should exist.

Special consideration must be given to minors, of course, but adults should be able to decide whether or not to wear a seat belt for themselves without being mandated by law. When you convince me that George W. Bush or Jon Corzine owns my body I'll believe otherwise, but until then it's nobody's damn business whether I wear a seat belt or not.

Yes, I'm familiar with the argument that without such laws the emergency rooms will fill up with indigent people who will cost society a lot of money, and I reject that argument out of hand. If we grant that the government has the right to coerce our private behavior because of a perceived vested financial interest, we can abandon any pretense of a free society.

Once we buy the validity of that argument, we have paved the way for banning tobacco, alcohol, trans fats, saturated fats, cholesterol, sodium, sedentary lifestyles, "risky" sex practices and any other "lifestyle" choice that might make you more statistically likely to become a financial drain on the state.

Anyway, I did not mean for this to become a diatribe against seat belt legislation. But if there's anything that pisses me off more than unjust legislation, it's politicians who support unjust legislation that they themselves refuse to abide by. I wear a seat belt every time I get in the car, yet I have no compulsion to force others to do the same. By contrast, there are those who don't bother to buckle up themselves, but who are perfectly happy to demand that the rest of us do. I'm sick of these elitist hypocrites who fancy themselves above the laws they create for the rest of us. That is a big turn-off for me, right up there with telemarketers and people who talk out loud in theaters.

Get better soon, Governor, so we can discuss it more.