The U.S. House of Representatives passed the health care bill that so many Republicans decried as big government interfering in private lives.
Reading about this victory on Sunday morning tickled my liberal sensibilities to no end. Since I had yet to write my column, I decided to base it somehow on the Democrats’ victory over Glenn Beck-style fear of government.
First, however, breakfast. I ate leftover chicken I had bought from the grocery store the day before. To buy the U.S. Department of Agriculture-approved food, I drove in my Motor Vehicle Department-registered vehicle to the grocery store that did not collapse on top of me because of the city of Phoenix building codes.
I paid for my groceries with my debit card, which took money from my account that was insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which prevented the banks from simply taking my money to cover their recent failures.
I then watched several pre-game NFL shows without having to buy several televisions because of the Advanced Television Systems Committee standards adopted by the Federal Communications Commission.
Yet St. Francis de Sales, patron saint of journalists and writers, had yet to bestow upon me an idea. I worried it might have something to do with me not being Catholic. The First Amendment affords me the right to affiliate myself with any or no religion.
I became hungry again after the Cardinals game, column still not finished. I decided not to go to Kyoto Bowl because of the seriousness of the health violations that were recorded during an inspection by Maricopa County on April 13.
Instead, I drove home on Interstate Highway 17, developed by the Arizona Department of Transportation to save some money on meals and return a DVD I borrowed.
Still stumped, I slacked off on the Internet, which was developed by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency of the Department of Defense.
I added the DVD of the documentary “Trouble the Water” to my Netflix queue, which will be delivered to my mailbox by the U.S. Postal Service.
I needed inspiration, so I headed to Digg, where a comment about government in daily life by the user “dikky” inspired this article.
The most “dugg” comment on the page was a frustrated cry for Glenn Beck to address the rumors that he raped and murdered a young girl in 1990.
The comment did not accuse Glenn Beck of rape and murder, but pointed out he has yet to deny the deed.
That type of satire is protected by the First Amendment and common law developed by the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in the case Falwell v. Flynt.
Finished with my article, I sent it in to my editor via the e-mail system provided by the publicly funded ASU.
I did all of this with the aid of many products from private companies created for profit, many of them registered with the U.S. Patent Office.
Boy the government is useless.
Preach about government responsibility to Chris at cogino@asu.edu.
