The Republican Party Committing Suicide

In light of the 2008 primary season, there is much discussion about the present and future of the Republican party amongst conservative circles.  This post is not about the presidential primary, McCain, Romney, or Huckabee.

Rather, it is about two Republican lawmakers who are providing yet another example that if the GOP should perish, it was through self-inflicted wounds (from Junkfood Science):

It has actually happened. Lawmakers have proposed legislation that forbids restaurants and food establishments from serving food to anyone who is obese (as defined by the State). Under this bill, food establishments are to be monitored for compliance under the State Department of Health and violators will have their business permits revoked.

House Bill 282 was introduced in the 2008 Mississippi legislative session on Friday by Representative W.T. Mayhall, Jr., a retired pharmaceutical salesman with DuPont-Merk. Its co-authors are Bobby Shows, a businessman, and John Read, a pharmacist.

I thought for sure that this was yet another example of overreach by those government-loving liberals, and clicked on the “honorable” gentlemen’s names.

Imagine my shock and horror to discover that W.T. Mayhall, Jr. and John Read are Republicans.  And apparently, they weren’t joking when they introduced the bill:

I called lead author, Rep. Mayhall, and asked if this was serious legislation or tongue-in-cheek to make a point. He kindly took a moment to answer my question while the legislature was in session. He said that while, regrettably, he doesn’t believe his bill will pass, this is serious. He wrote it, he said, because of the “urgency of the obesity crisis and need for government action.” He hopes it will “call attention to the serious problem of obesity and what it is costing the Medicare system.” So, yes, this is for real and these elected officials actually believe this stuff.Oh yes, apparently this is for real, and these elected Republicans actually believe this stuff.Urgency of the obesity crisis and need for government action?  Ronald Reagan and Barry Goldwater are rolling over in their graves.  Apparently, “limited government” is a concept entirely foreign to these Republican lawmakers.

If these two aren’t voted out at the very next opportunity in the Republican primaries in Mississippi, I am prepared to announce the death of the Republican Party as we know it.

-TS