Stop! Don't Eat that Hot Dog!

Please, tell us it's a joke. According to an editorial in the Washington Times, the government has a new safe-sandwich project underway. Hot dogs!

A handful of children die from choking on hot dogs every year, so the government is about to regulate a new safer shape to prevent choking. Of course grapes are at least as big a culprit so maybe they will regulate grape vines. And since some children drown in the ocean, perhaps the government can pass a safe-wave law as well. Heck, while we're at it, why not a law against eating grapes and hot dogs altogether and make it illegal for any non-swimmer to be on the beach. We can create a new Department of Safety and bring all the safety rules under its purview. They can regulate the size of Mom's apple slices at home and ban peanuts and peanut butter. After all, some kids have allergies and you never know when a visiting child might raid the pantry and get into the killer peanut butter. No doubt the new department will have visiting home-safety agents to make sure that at-risk families comply with all safety laws and regulations. 

It's mid-morning and, no doubt, you have probably broken six or eight laws that you don't even know about. A tyrannical government makes as many laws as possible and then selectively prosecutes. Everybody is guilty of something, after all, so it's just a question of scheduling the trial. Welcome to Kafka-land where bureaucrats rule and the people wonder what they did to deserve the latest government restriction on their choices.