Arizona's Mudflap Flap

I rarely get more depressed than when reality catches up to the slippery-slope argument I sometimes make on this blog.

"If it's OK to outlaw X, are we also going to have a law banning Y?", I've been known to ask, with the understanding that while banning X is pretty dumb, banning Y is so fantastically harebrained as to constitute an insult to hares. And then, yes indeedy, some legislature somewhere in the U.S. takes up the important task of banning Y.

Two years ago, I wrote a little tongue-in-cheek riff on the objectionableness of mudflap art. And sure enough, late last week, 

[o]n a 31-19 vote the [Arizona] House of Representatives rejected a proposal to make it a crime to have images on mud flaps which are either obscene or hateful. 

One lawmaker who supported the initiative, Rep. Theresa Ulmer of Yuma, clarified:

"I personally am tired of explaining to my 11-year-old son why they (women) are depicted on mudflaps, but not all women are 36Ds. He's very confused by that."

Apparently, Ms. Ulmer thinks nothing of publicly embarrassing her prepubescent son by painting him as a bazongas-obsessed little sex fiend when it helps her make a cheap political point. Thanks, mom!

I'm tempted to ask whether Ulmer would also like to ban "obscene" bumper stickers (she's a Democrat, so she's probably fine with this one and thinks these should be a crime), but it might be best to not give idiotic moralists any ideas.

More examples of reality overtaking parody here.

Comments

[Lisa Lorette]

Maybe call Representative Ulmer directly. She apparently has an office and also email: http://www.azleg.state.az.us/MembersPage.asp?Member_ID=57&Legislature=48

[garrett]

The accelerating for it all came about when Rep. Ableser saw a vehicle featuring mudflaps that used a disparaging term for black children on them.
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Garrett

http://www.treatmentcenters.org/arizona