Wednesday, February 02, 2011

Driving Mr. Crazy


From the CBS affiliate in Atlanta:
ATLANTA -- A state lawmaker from Marietta is sponsoring a bill that seeks to do away with Georgia driver's licenses.

Good! Let's keep those terrible, terrible Georgia drivers off the roads! And public transportation is better for the environment. What a green idea!
State Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-Marietta, has filed House Bill 7, calling it the "Right to Travel Act."

In his bill, Franklin states, "Free people have a common law and constitutional right to travel on the roads and highways that are provided by their government for that purpose. Licensing of drivers cannot be required of free people, because taking on the restrictions of a license requires the surrender of an inalienable right."

Oh. That's where he's going with this.
Franklin told CBS Atlanta News that driver's licenses are a throw back to oppressive times. “Agents of the state demanding your papers," he said. "We’re getting that way here.”

Yes! Getting that way! Why, I remember the day Obama first demanded we have driver's licenses ... in New Jersey in 1913.
CBS Atlanta's Rebekka Schramm asked Franklin, “How are we going to keep up with who’s who and who’s on the roads and who’s not supposed to be on the roads?”

“That’s a great question," Franklin said. "And I would have to answer that with a question, ‘Why do you need to know who’s who?’”

And I would like to answer that with a question: Who helps you feed yourself and put on clothes in the morning?
“What about 12-14-year-olds who want to drive? What would stop them?" Schramm asked.

“Well, what’s stopping them now anyway?” Franklin answered. ...

Make sure to give them some schnapps first before hitting the road. Helps them focus.
Franklin is also behind House Bill 11, which would repeal the authority of the governor to issue mandatory vaccination orders. “I’m a firm believer that no person should be subjected to an invasive medical procedure without their consent,” he said.

“Have you ever had critics say, ‘Look, some of these bills are a waste of paper?’” Schramm asked.

“I can’t speak for what other people think," Franklin said. "I just know I took an oath to uphold the Constitution, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

It's true. You can't inoculate for stupid.


UPDATE: I don't know what to make of the numerous comments supporting his position on that CBS story. On the level or satire? Has this been an issue percolating under the surface that I've missed?

h/t: A commenter at Sadly, No!


2 comments:

JohnnyB said...

I guess the upside is that the Constitution doesn't require marriage licenses so anybody can marry anybody. I'm sure that is also Franklin's intent.
And now I can make my mother hapy and become a doctor! No license needed.
And so on.

fermicat said...

That's my state, y'all.The R's took over everything and see how much better it is getting? /sarcasm

Not sure how this guy's proposal squares with Georgia's proposed "show your papers" law, but I suppose you could drive licenseless and still carry around your immigration stuff.

The good news is they might finally let us buy beer on Sundays. At least they're doing something sort of worthwhile.