I’m Tired of Being Told What To Do

I was standing in line at a restaurant waiting to order a few days ago and, about half way through, there was a free standing sign that read “Wash Your Hands Before Eating”. If I had been carrying a Sharpie in my pocket, I would have scribbled “Kiss My Butt” across it. Increasingly, more and more people are telling me, and everyone else what to do. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve had about enough of it. If you’re not paying me and I’m not hurting someone else; then shut up and stay out of my business. A couple of weeks ago, during a severe thunderstorm, I was watching the local news. The reports were showing several areas of town where there was high water and street flooding. The news anchors said, no fewer than six times in a thirty minute broadcast, “If you don’t have to go anywhere, stay inside.” I understand that this is a good intentioned effort to promote public safety, however, by watching the news or looking out my window; I can see that it’s raining. But, I’ll ride a bicycle through Hurricane Katrina if that’s what I want to do. Stop making the assumption that I’m so stupid, I need you to look out for my well being. I think this trend of over-protectiveness by society is a trickle down effect from the “intellectual elite", particularly in government, who believe that they’re morally and mentally superior to most of the general population and should, therefore, make our decisions for us. Again, a lot of this is, most likely, done with the best of intentions but, knock it off before we get really pissed. First Lady Michelle Obama has adopted the issue of childhood obesity as her “pet cause” and is on a crusade to control the eating habits of American children. How noble, I’ve found that just worrying about my 3 kids is a pretty full time job but, obviously, the First Lady is such an incredible parent, she can handle the decision making for all of us. Look, if she wants to speak out or run media campaigns in support of healthy eating habits, that’s great. But, don’t try to force your beliefs on the rest of us and stop spending our money on it. In case your husband hasn’t told you, our bank account is overdrawn by about $ 14 trillion. There are already laws that restrict the types of food and drinks that can be sold in, not only public schools, but private as well. The new health care law includes mandatory nutritional labeling laws for vending machines. Hey, we know that almost everything that comes out of those machines is not good for us, all this law accomplishes is to force us to pay more money to get fat by raising the cost of doing business for the machine operators. In truth, raising the price is what it’s all about; penalizing private citizens for what a few busy bodies have decided is bad behavior. Why do you think the tax on cigarettes is so high? Why did the health care law add a tax on tanning salons? Obviously, we’re too stupid to know what’s bad for us or our kids, so they’ll have to look out for us; whether we like it or not. Just this week congress passed a $ 26 billion dollar “teacher bailout” that’s supposed to prevent states from having to layoff teachers. The catch is; if the states accept the money, they have to agree not to cut spending next year; though there’s no promise of additional federal money next year. They’re blackmailing us with our own money. Fortunately, I live in Texas and, since Obama is mad at us, we don’t qualify. The rest of you should tell him where he can stick it as well. The first place that we need to kick the feds out of is education. The idea that states and local communities can’t operate their own school systems without help from the feds is absurd. As a matter of fact, since the Department of Education was formed in 1980, the quality of public education has declined in every measurable category, despite the billions of extra dollars that have been spent. But, with these smug know-it-alls, intention is all that matters; results are beside the point. They can pat themselves on the back for taking care of the peasants, with no fear of the resulting consequences. If a few tanning salon owners or vending machine operators lose their businesses, even though the personal behavior of the citizens doesn’t change at all; oh well, they were just trying to do a good thing. The tenth amendment to the Constitution states: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.” I can’t find a section of the Constitution that delegates the powers of regulating what we eat, how we tan, or how we educate our kids to The United States. Abraham Lincoln once said “No man is good enough to govern another man without that other's consent.” In the Constitution we give state and federal governments our consent to govern us in a few specific areas, but they’ve been overstepping their authority for a long time and it’s time we put a halt to it. You’ve probably seen the “Don’t Tread On Me” flag with the rattlesnake on it. The word “Tread” means “to step, walk, or trample so as to press, crush, or injure something”. The rattlesnake represented the original thirteen colonies, who believed that their rights and liberties were being trampled on and injured. The snake’s rattle is to sound a warning before it strikes. I think Americans have been sounding a warning for a while; the strike needs to come at the ballot box in November. And by the way, I'll wash my hands when I get damn good and ready.