One of the things I realize as I age is that it really doesn't matter too much who is in political office.

They all suck.

The truth is I'm not really going to listen to them or obey then, anyway. I'm just going to carry on doing things the way I have since Day One. 

I suppose I may have to be a little more discreet but the truth is I have no plans of making any major changes in lifestyle simply to accomodate some jerk in Washington DC.

For example, if they outlaw fireworks I'll still celebrate Independence Day the same way I have since I was a kid. I'll blow something up and make a racket that shakes window panes. 

If they put a chip in me I'll just hack it out with a Buck knife and put it in a necklace and carry it with me wherever I go unless I am doing something illegal.

Then I'll leave it in my bed. "Gee! It couldna been Piccolo that robbed the bank! He was in bed all day! The lazy bum!"

"Huh? Piccolo was at the Kit Kat club all night. The computer says so! I guess we can rule him out as being the guy that poured Joy into Senator Whatshisname's fountain." 

Yeah, Piccolo WAS at the Kit Kat club on the night in question. In fact he was there twice. The first time was to tape his chip to the bottom of the third stool and again at last call to pick it up again. 

In short, Washington DC does a pretty good job of creating criminals whe you think about it. They even created a pretty good sized criminal empire that flourishes to this day when they enacted prohibition.

Moonshining, bootlegging, rum running and speakeasies were created by a team effort of the ruling class and the ruled. The ruling class enacted the law and the ruled decided to ingore it.

Recently in Connecticut the state legislature decided to require registration of so-called assault rifles. They expected that each and every single owner would walk straight down to the nearest friendly, local neighborhood police station and register these deadly weapons.

Over 90% of the owners didn't bother. It left the governor standing there sputtering like a fool and making all sorts of dire and meaningless threats. It sounds like a little kid threatening to hold his breath until he turns blue.

In addition to that a number of police agencies made it clear that they would get right on the job of bringing these scofflaws to justice. They said they'd get right on it after they finished with things like parking tickets and unpaid jaywalking fines. Meaning tht the police didn't want to bother with enforcing this.

Truth is the police don't bother enforcing a lot of laws that are on the books. If they did, we'd ALL be in jail.

A lot of this goes back to the point I made about our legislators going into that line of work because they like telling people what to do. Of course, most people don't like being told what to do. In fact most people don't need to be told what to do, although some need to be.

Still, an awful lot of criminals are actually created out of otherwise honest, law abiding citizens.

Several years ago the feds bullied the states into enacting a nationwide speed limit of 55 mph. The truckers rightfully saw this as Big Brother sticking his hand in their pocket and keeping them from being able to feed their families. Being paid by the mile, they were being robbed by the speed limit.

The result was that a lot of the people got into the act by purchasing CB radios and helping the truckers avoid the various speed traps. While I suppose the truckers started it, an awful lot of average joes got into the act, too.

For a while it seemed like almost everyone that could cough up $49.95 had a CB in their vehicles and even sweet little old ladies got on the air.

A lot of truckers will tell you they'd sometimes hear grandma's voice on channel 19 announce, "Smokey's at the 126 mile marker handin' our coupons and collectin' green stamps." or "You can keep the hammer down clear to the state line. It's clean and green!"

In short, the 55 mph speed limit was basically ignored by most everyone except a couple of do-gooders. What was interesting is that during this period truckers that were hapy with the 65 mph speed limit

There were even a couple of successful movies made over this.

Yup, June Cleaver was right in the middle of this one showing Wally and the Beav the ropes. "Boys, look at that speed trap," she'd say while reaching for the microphone. "We'll just let those poor truckers know so they don't get into trouble...Breaker one nine. You have a smokey sitting at the 271 mile marker."

"Gee, Mom," says the Beav. "Miss Landers says that's against the law to do that."

Ward turns to the Beav. "Don't tell Miss Landers, Beaver, but there is a time and a place for everything. Those poor truckers have payments to make and mouths to feed and we're just helping them out. You'll understand when you get a bit older."

The Beav did figure it out when he grew a bit older. He moved to Connecticut several years back and didn't waste his time registering his Mini 14 rifle when the state told him to. He knew the drill. TIme for another honest joe to join the ranks of the criminal element.

Truth is, we're all criminals when you think about it. Virtually every single one of us has broken one law or another. I think the only difference between me and someone else is that I'm simply not afraid to admit it.

While I am not a murderer or a thief, I am a lawbreaker just like almost everyone else. I think that what has pretty much kept me out of trouble is that I for the most part live responsibly. 

That, of course, is subject to change. All it would take is a stroke of the pen.



To find out why the blog is pink just cut and paste this: http://piccoloshash.blogspot.com/2009/12/my-feminine-side-blog-stays-pink.html NO ANIMALS WERE HARMED IN THE WRITING OF TODAY'S ESSAY