Political Minute
Sometimes I feel that if we put all our elected officials in a room together, the collective IQ of the room still wouldn't exceed that of a bowl of Cool Whip. But then I get reminded that yes, some of our leaders in my state and country actually pay attention and really do have detailed, intelligent discussions on all kinds of surrounding issues. And then they vote "wrong" anyway... :)

But I was very pleased to learn last night that the latest Utah anti-videogame bill, HB 353 (the "let's punish retailers who try and do the right thing" bill), was vetoed by Governor Huntsman. The linked site has his letter to Speaker Clark and President Waddoups explaining his rationale for the veto, which includes concerns about constitutionality and the "unintended consequences" of the bill.

On a totally unrelated front, I've become a fan of my district's congressional representative in Washington DC. As a freshman idealist in the minority party, his days may be numbered. But Rep. Chaffetz is tech-savvy, has leg-wrestled and played Rock Band (badly) with Stephen Colbert, and has "cot side chats" posted on You Tube weekly where he talks about what he's doing in Congress, how he's voting on certain issues, and why. Oh - and the cot: He is one of several members of Congress who live frugally and sleep in their office during the week rather than renting an apartment in town.

Chaffetz recently sent me an email detailing his opposition to a bill which was extremely straightforward and blunt. I liked that - and not just because I am unhappy with the bill. :) (It's totally non-game related: HR 1068, the so-called "Let Wall Street Pay For Wall Street's Bailout" act - which was really more of a "Let Wall Street's CUSTOMERS - and their customers' customers - pay for Wall Street's Bailout" Act).

Anyway - I'm thrilled the stupid bill got vetoed. But like popular-but-vapid first person shooters, I expect there to be a sequel coming out next year.

Labels: Politics

- posted by The Rampant Coyote @ 6:52 AM (Permalink)