Aaron Adams’s Blowhard Blog

Ohio Governor Ted Strickland, Democrat, has declared that there will be no beer or wine sales during this year’s Ohio State Fair because it’s a “family” friendly event, and apparently by definition, alcohol is “family” un-friendly.

1. I have grown sick of the word “family” being used as a replacement for “children”, and the attempt to cast me as a second-class “anti-family” or “anti-children” citizen because I do not reproduce. Since when is the “family” some kind of moral absolute against which the worth, rights, and considerations of others is measured?
2. What kind of stick-up-the-ass society do we live in when a responsible adult enjoying a cold beer on a hot summer day is considered an open expression of hostility toward “families”?
3. Assuming reasonable adults still live in Ohio, why aren’t they mad as hell about increasing government contempt for their ability to conduct their own lives?
4. I would like those of you who routinely complain about the “Christian right” and their zeal for pressing their moral beliefs onto others to remember that such behavior is neither exclusive to Christians, nor the right.

First of all, I completely disagree with the premise, and hence, title, of the show. Memorization of facts does not make you smart. Your ability to effectively apply what you know in a given situation makes you smart. In that sense, I am certainly far smarter than any fifth grader.

Secondly, anyone who would subject themselves to this humiliating premise on television for the gawking and mockery of others is, by default, dumber than a fifth grader. The fact that I am not, and never will be, on that show proves I’m smarter than a fifth grader.

Enough of these ponderous, tiresome, drawn-out game shows with their stalling-as-suspense drudgery. It’s time for the 24-hour House channel.

I’m stunned and happy to admit that I was wrong. An e-mail from my friend Ted Endres:

N.J. governor pays seat belt ticket

Gov. Jon S. Corzine has voluntarily paid a $46 fine for violating state law by not wearing a seat belt during the trip in which a car crash left him critically injured, his spokesman said Tuesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070501/ap_on_re_us/corzine_crash

From the Yahoo article:

Corzine met with State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes, Attorney General Stuart Rabner and two state police investigators Tuesday at the governor’s mansion in Princeton to discuss the accident, spokesman Anthony Coley said.

As the meeting ended, Corzine asked Fuentes for a ticket, Coley said. Fuentes wrote one, and Corzine wrote a check for $46, Coley said.

Governor Corzine has paid the fine and will cover his own medical costs related to the accident. The only thing I would have liked to have happened differently is for the Superintendent to actively give Corzine the ticket rather than have him ask for it.

I’m happy the Governor has voluntarily held himself accountable. I’m not happy that he saw himself as above the law to begin with, or that the law even exists.

From New Jersey Gov. Corzine Leaves Hospital After Being Seriously Injured in Car Crash:

CAMDEN, N.J. — An emotional Gov. Jon S. Corzine was discharged from a hospital Monday and begged forgiveness for not wearing a seat belt during a crash 18 days earlier in which he sustained critical injuries.

“I understand that I set a very poor example for a lot of young people, a lot of people in general,” a teary-eyed Corzine said.

“I certainly hope the state will forgive me. And I’ll work very hard to set the right kind of example,” Corzine said from his wheelchair outside the hospital.

“I’m sorry officer. Please forgive me for not wearing my seat belt! I know I’m setting a poor example for my kids in the back seat and other people on the highway. I’ll do better in the future, I promise!”

Would that get you or I out of a ticket? Hell no. There would be consequences for us, and there should be consequences for him.

A page from a book called Auf der Wacht from 1941, chapter 6, page 174: