Let's see now: under the regime of Georgi W. Bush, the United States grew rapidly into a more repressive society, what with the enactment of the unconstitutional so-called Patriot Act, the use of torture against its enemies and an incredible amount of undercover spying on its ordinary citizens, among other things.
The size of the government enlarged enormously as did the budget and the national deficit.
During this period of time, conservatives were inexplicably silent. Georgi's initiatives defied many of the "principles" upon which conservatives stand and about which they prattle on endlessly.
In Arizona, the conservative "principle" of less government interference in people's lives bit the dust a couple of years ago when the state installed speed cameras on state highways which take a picture of vehicles speeding 11 miles over the limit. Tickets are then sent to the homes of the offenders, said tickets demanding the payment of $181.50.
It's Big Brother time in the dusty, desert state, home of the reluctant warrior and Senate dissembler, Johnny McCain.
Some people don't much like these cameras. Perhaps they are the real conservatives. They've put silly string on them, covered them with post-it notes, and one guy took one down with a pick ax. One judge decided the cameras were unconstitutional and threw out 7,000 of the tickets.
Now the cameras came into existence at the behest and with the approval of the Arizona legislature, noted for its large group of ultra-conservative wingnuts. These are the same folks who praise God and conservative "principles," one of which is the unwarranted interference of government in the lives of ordinary citizens.
Is it hypocrisy? Yes. It this hypocrisy new? No. The conservatives in this country (which includes most of the Repugnican leadership in the states as well as in Washington) are noted for saying one thing and doing another. Their "principles" are abandoned whenever they get in the way of their tenure or financial well-being. Big government, for example, is just fine so long as they are in power and their corporate masters are being well-fed, the prime example in recent years being their revered dead leader, Ronnie Reagan, the B-grade movie actor, under which the government grew by leaps and bounds.
Thus, in Arizona, the ugly hand of Big Brother as represented by "conservatives" translates into speed cameras.
Now it seems enough folks are growing increasingly unhappy with this unconstitutional invasion of privacy. And so, unsurprisingly, "conservatives" in the Arizona legislature may again find the "principles" and do away with them.
Isn't this an amazing country in which we live?
By the way, Arizona is not the only state to have fun with speed cameras. Read more here.
Some of the material in this post came from Auto Blog.
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