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While Alert staffers were inserting newspapers last week, discussion turned to the recent rash of government intrusions into hearth and home.
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Gov. Jim Doyle can't seem to keep his traveling receipts straight, get his staff to properly administer state programs (Wisconsin Shares leaps to mind), pull off the "money-saving" consolidation of state computer servers (an unfinished $90.9 million project thus far, seven times the estimated $12.8 million) or balance the budget without leaning on one-time monies begged off the feds, but he can sign a bill mandating that your children attend kindergarten.
Yes, kindergarten attendance was no doubt a major concern in the larger scheme of things. When my family and I had the full-time/part-time kindergarten discussion, my brother-in-law, a Nebraska native who is now a lawyer, was the only part-time attendee.
"I turned out all right," he shrugged.
Good point, we thought.
"Today, I am pleased to sign SB 119 so that every kid has every opportunity possible to achieve their potential," was how Doyle spun it. Clearly he was attempting to imply that only full-time kindergartners "achieve their potential."
Bollocks, as the English would say.
Advertising rep Julie LeMoine thinks parents should decide whether their children go to kindergarten. Mother of two boys (one in high school, one in college), LeMoine was also irritated by the recent ruling on the death of the 11-year-old Wausau girl whose parents prayed for her instead of taking her to a doctor. They were sentenced Oct. 6 to six months in prison and 10 years of probation for second-degree reckless homicide.
"I think they were wrong in not taking their child to the doctor, but they're not criminals," LeMoine commented.
Still, she doesn't know how she feels about the prosecution. Other parents (former and prospective included) might experience the same vague discomfort-what the heck is the government doing in our houses? Just for the sake of argument, imagine they had taken the child to a doctor, and she was somehow misdiagnosed or died through a different human error. Would we then charge the doctor?
It's also something of a bizarre paradox that those very same parents could have legally eliminated their daughter 11 years prior via abortion and saved themselves all the sleepless nights, dirty diapers, headaches and heartaches of parenting. Whatever flaws they have or mistakes they make, they still chose to become parents. That should count for something.
But back to the subject at hand.
Most of us will agree that this is no expertly run state. Doyle has been historically good at mandating what others should do or pay for (just ask any county official). It's a flaw of micro-managers to concern themselves with other people's business, especially when it's easier than cleaning up their own messes.
Dude, get your own house in order.
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©The Chetek Alert 2009
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