STAY CRAZY, COW HAMPSHIRE

[rmd]

Apparently, some legislators in NH are bored, or at least craving the yoke of monarchic rule.

Ladies, gentlemen, and assorted LJ readers, I present New Hampshire bill HB1580:

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twelve

AN ACT requiring a reference to the Magna Carta on certain legislation.

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

1 New Section; Magna Carta References. Amend RSA 14 by inserting after section 39-a the following new section:

14:39-b Magna Carta Reference. All members of the general court proposing bills and resolutions addressing individual rights or liberties shall include a direct quote from the Magna Carta which sets forth the article from which the individual right or liberty is derived.

2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect November 1, 2012.

Does it have to be quoted in Latin?

Comments

[ceo]

Have these people actually read the Magna Carta? Here, read it, and tell me which articles might be useful as a basis for legislation. Very nearly all of it, incidentally, has been superseded or repealed by subsequent English law.

The significance of the Magna Carta is not its content, but the principle it established, that nobody, including the king, is above the law. A principle that our President (and his predecessor) and certain members of Congress would do well to remember.

[frobzwiththingz.livejournal.com]

It would be nice if edict number 45 could actually be enforced.

9, 10, 11, [s/Jews/Banks/g] are still relevant.

The *sshats who decided Kelo vs. City of New London might like to read edict 31.

Edict 54 is downright offensive.

Much of the rest is in this day irrelevant.

This is actually a meta-joke

[drwex]

There was (and probably still is) a bill circulating in the US House that requires legislation to reference the US Constitution on rights and so forth. I forget the details of the House bill but this is clearly a satirical poke at that idiocy.

Re: This is actually a meta-joke

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Are you sure? They're also trying to outlaw teaching that gravity is real.

Re: This is actually a meta-joke

[drwex]

See http://thedailyreview.com/opinion/they-ve-got-to-be-kidding-right-1.1253985

Relevant passage: "Soon after the 2010 election, some U.S. House Republicans proposed that all new legislation include a direct reference to the U.S. Constitution"

Re: This is actually a meta-joke

[drwex]

And the joke is apparently growing: http://www.concordmonitor.com/blogentry/302461/how-the-world-sees-new-hampshire

I love the idea of requiring a reference back to Hammurabi. My guess is that most legislators wouldn't know who he was if his mummified remains fell on them.

Re: This is actually a meta-joke

[rmd.livejournal.com]

Um... Where's the joke? I see some snarky commentary about it from people online, but nothing to indicate anything beyond serious intent from the actual folks sponsoring the bill.

Yeah, tea-party congressfolks are trying to get things to quote the constitution. Those are the same folks who spent a bunch of time reading it out loud at the beginning of the session, like some shibboleth.

Looking around a little, one of the sponsors has made a point, in a post linked from the front page of his website (link title "war is peace" (http://www.bobkingsbury.org/concord/2010/07/31/war-is-peace/)), of explaining that there have been no "US" wars since 1950, that it's all because of the UN. One of them is a birther (http://www.concordmonitor.com/article/295958/lawmakers-actions-shamed-the-state). The third, I couldn't find much about, but the first two don't seem like they're particularly prone to metajokes.

[browngirl.livejournal.com]

That was fascinating, thank you!

[sparkymonster.livejournal.com]

One of them said he needed to "bone up" on the Magna Carta after being asked questions about it and revealing he knew NOTHING

[thespian.livejournal.com]

It would probably amuse Jed Bartlett...

[bikergeek.livejournal.com]

I thought one of the benefits of a legislature that served part-time, and whose members earned a pittance, was that they had precious little time to waste on frivolity. :-/

[achinhibitor.livejournal.com]

Sadly, in practice it meant that they were all hustling for financial benefits dolled out by the Crown...