First Amendment Rules

A few days late on this but Wired had an article about a Louisiana law that was struck down by a federal judge citing violations of the First Amendment. In a prior post, I covered the story of Illinois being spanked by a judge and ordered to pay back legal fees for a similar law. Let's hope this sends a message to politicians scrambling for this year's platform fodder: Violence in video games is protected by the Constitution, move on.

What worried me most about the article was this quote from LA Governor Kathleen Blanco:

"I'm calling on all parents to diligently monitor the video games that their children are allowed to play. If the courts can not protect our children, then we need to do it by rejecting the merchant of violence." [emphasis mine]

Dear Ms. Governor Kathleen Blanco: you're a retard. The courts ARE protecting our children. They are reinforcing one of the most sacred laws in our land and by doing so, protecting the very freedoms which define our country. In other words, the courts are protecting our children from YOU!

Don't you dare blame the courts. If you want to lay blame for violent behavior, blame the incompetence of the state in taking care of our children. Violent behavior doesn't occur because of a video game, violent behavior is a product of socio-economic factors, most of which can and should be dealt with by the state. Why don't you, Kathleen Blanco (maybe she'll Google herself), spend more time on addressing education, employment, housing, poverty and health care instead of wasting your time on frivolous litigiousness. The true merchants of violence are politicians like yourself who ignore the real issues in an election year.

By the way, if you don't agree with me, the terrorists win.