Dishing on federalism
by Tom Sullivan
The T-party's creative interpretations of the constitution and federalism leave us with some amusing, if paranoid, legislative efforts. (I originally mistyped feralism, which also kinda works in this case.) Eric Stern gave some examples from Montana yesterday at Salon. Here are a few:
1) Prepare for National Ammunition shortage (SB 122). When Obama comes to get our guns and bullets, Montana will be ready. This bill cites the “serious risk” that America might run out of ammunition and exempts Montana’s ammo manufacturers from paying any taxes at all, as an incentive to produce more bullets so we can survive the Obama gun rapture. Its author, Matt Rosendale, was an unsuccessful congressional candidate in 2014 whose campaign ads featured him shooting drones out of the air with a rifle.
2) Establish Armed Militias in Every Town (SB 130). Even if we have enough bullets, Montana could still be in grave danger from the federal government. This bill would protect citizens by creating local paramilitary groups across the state, known as “home guards,” and would allow sheriffs to mobilize these troops for whatever reason they so choose, without the governor’s consent. This concept is supported enthusiastically by militia groups whose members enjoy stockpiling firearms but sometimes go to prison.
3) Require that nipples and areolae be fully concealed; prohibit “simulated genitalia” (HB 365). Our state already has a general law against indecent exposure but Montana’s social conservatives feel it isn’t enough. The new proposal lists body parts. Specifically, it would prohibit “exposing the anus, areola or nipple with anything less than a fully opaque covering.” Better yet, it would forbid the wearing of “any costume or covering that gives the appearance of, or simulates, the genitals, nipple or areola.” So much for my Halloween idea.
Somewhere I have a photo I shot a couple of years back of this sign outside the Radio Shack in the Bitterroot Valley town of Hamilton, Montana:
The tinfoil hats are free to every visitor.
Also striking, Eric Stern is Deputy Secretary of State in Montana. People in the legislature may have lost their minds, but a few in the capitol, at least, haven't lost their sense of humor.