A few days ago I was thinking that I would like to post something uplifting on Big Government. After all, there is plenty going on right now which is wrong or ludicrous, but perhaps that makes it especially important to focus on what we have to be grateful for in America. Sadly, the best way I can think of to do that is to tell you a few stories about what is wrong and ludicrous in my country, Britain- home of the Magna Carta and the Mother of Parliaments. So here are some stories of common, everyday British madness which I hope will make you feel more optimistic about the USA.
1) From Surrey Today:
A former soldier who handed a discarded shotgun in to police faces at least five years imprisonment for “doing his duty”.
Paul Clarke, 27, was found guilty of possessing a firearm at Guildford Crown Court on Tuesday – after finding the gun and handing it personally to police officers on March 20 this year.
The jury took 20 minutes to make its conviction, and Mr Clarke now faces a minimum of five year’s imprisonment for handing in the weapon.
In a statement read out in court, Mr Clarke said: “I didn’t think for one moment I would be arrested.
“I thought it was my duty to hand it in and get it off the streets.”
The court heard how Mr Clarke was on the balcony of his home in Nailsworth Crescent, Merstham, when he spotted a black bin liner at the bottom of his garden.
In his statement, he said: “I took it indoors and inside found a shorn-off shotgun and two cartridges.
“I didn’t know what to do, so the next morning I rang the Chief Superintendent, Adrian Harper, and asked if I could pop in and see him.
“At the police station, I took the gun out of the bag and placed it on the table so it was pointing towards the wall.”
Mr Clarke was then arrested immediately for possession of a firearm at Reigate police station, and taken to the cells.
Reader, try to fathom what kind of country punishes a man for doing his civic duty, what kind of idiots sit on a jury that takes twenty minutes to sentence him, what kinds of imbeciles framed this law.
Do you feel better about America yet?
2) From the Daily Telegraph, a heart warming tale from Watford where only council-vetted “play rangers” may monitor youngsters in two adventure areas while parents must watch from outside a perimeter fence:
The rules have been imposed at Harwoods and Harebreaks adventure recreation grounds.
Activities on the half acre sites include a skateboard half-pipe, a zip line, rope swings, den building, arts and crafts, plus a wide range of indoor and outdoor sports activities.
Play rangers currently patrol both parks – which are specifically for children aged five to 15 – and are fully qualified and have been cleared by the Criminal Records Bureau.
Parents already have to ‘register’ their child on arrival at the free playgrounds so staff have their contact details in the event of an accident.
But now only those who have been CRB vetted by the council can enter the sites, which are surrounded by six foot high steel and wooden fences.
Mother-of-five Marcella Bergin, 35, has been visiting with her three eldest children, Christy, 15, Seamus, 12, and Chloe, 11, for many years without any problems.
She said: “It’s like they are branding all parents potential paedophiles which is disgraceful – 99 per cent of people are great parents and certainly not child abusers.
“The whole thing is just a joke and I will certainly not be adhering to the new rules which frankly are crazy.”
And thus parents must seek their elected masters’ permission to play with their own children in a park. Reader, try to imagine the cultural climate that makes it possible for officials to pass such a law; each day in Britain brings fresh tales of petty officialdom run amok. What is most sinister here is the state’s assumption that it is authorized to invade so deeply into family life; that parents have to seek a license from the government to play with their own children.
How did it happen? Who permitted it? The line between private and public in the UK has been growing increasingly blurred for a long time. No doubt you know we have more CCTV cameras than China, and that soon every phone call, text message, email and website visit made by private citizens is to be stored for a year and will be available for monitoring by government bodies. We are not to be trusted. We must be watched. In the eyes of government, we are hapless children, and the emphasis in British law has changed from that which is not forbidden is permitted, to that which is not permitted is forbidden.
Do you feel better about America yet?
3) And finally, and on a higher level: this week the European Union will elect its first president- well, sort of. Naturally the electorates of the 27 state bloc will not be voting. They don’t even know who the candidates are. Not to worry, our leaders will decide that for us, behind closed doors. Apparently some Belgian is the front runner, although he refuses even to confirm that he is running. And there’s also a guy from Luxemburg who might win, although Luxemburg isn’t a real country, of course.
There’s a good reason why we haven’t been invited to vote – we might make the wrong decision. After all, France and Holland rejected the European Constitution in their referenda, so it had to be renamed the Lisbon Treaty and made law without consulting voters. Then the Irish rejected even this treaty in a referendum, and so they were forced to vote again until they gave the right result. This would be like a president losing an election and then holding another one and another one until he got the right result (i.e. his re-election). In Russia or Venezuela such tactics would be treated as outrageous, a sick parody of democracy. In Europe, they are par for the course. And nobody does anything. In the UK people grumble, and ridicule the system- but then they go to sleep. The next day they wake up and another bizarre law has been passed, another power given away.
Do you feel better about America yet?
The Tea Parties and Town Hall Meetings this past summer blew my mind. I had no time for the absurd Stalin/Hitler/Dachau rhetoric (I lived in Russia for ten years and can tell you a few things about communism and totalitarianism), but that was just the fringe talking. At root, here were citizens who were angry and enraged, yelling at their leaders, challenging them to justify their actions. They were aggressively defending their rights, their traditions, and their liberties.
Now America has its own share of idiot laws and lawmakers, of course. Perhaps in a few states you also have barking mad regulations like the ones described above. And you do have Nancy Pelosi. But the persistence in this country of so rebellious a spirit, and such a firm conviction that government must serve the people and not vice versa is an excellent thing.
Do you feel better about America yet?
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