Troglodytes in Rhode Island

February 20, 2004 12:14 PM

Rhode Island's nut case governor decided to repeal the Bill of Rights. Fortunately, he got knocked upside the head first. (Obnoxious registration required.)
posted by k.43 (16 comments total)

This legislation? Full text is available here. (Guessing the link just got munged on posting?)

Yeah, what was said above... Pawtucket Times link needs no reg, the projo might unless going through Google news.
posted by whatzit at 12:18 PM on February 20, 2004

Google news cloud if you don't want to have to register for anything.

On preview - what y'all said.
posted by ao4047 at 12:19 PM on February 20, 2004

What the hell does Al Qaida have to do with "anarchy"? Are there still top hat-wearing Capitalist robber barons in Rhode Island hiding out in fear of pals of Leon Czolgosz?
posted by meehawl at 12:30 PM on February 20, 2004

But...it always seemed like such a nice little state.
posted by JoanArkham at 1:06 PM on February 20, 2004

So that's the clicking I hear when I call home.
posted by yerfatma at 1:26 PM on February 20, 2004

Yeah, this was brought to my attention yesterday and its insane. An anarchist blogger friend could face ten years in prison just for writing what he writes now.

How this fool got elected is anyone's guess.

My guess is that Rhode Island got tired of everyone else making waves for stupid legislation and this was the best they could come up with to get some headlines.
posted by fenriq at 1:31 PM on February 20, 2004

All of the authors of the Declaration Of Independence would be jailed under this legislation. Ditto Gandhi, Martin Luther King, most war protesters, etc.

I would like to formally propose the idea that elected officials who advocate jailing these sorts of people be deported.
posted by y6y6y6 at 1:38 PM on February 20, 2004

this was the best they could come up with to get some headlines.

Yes, Lord knows we natives all labor under a collective inadequacy complex and our (very teeny, tiny) hive-mind makes decisions as one.
posted by yerfatma at 2:11 PM on February 20, 2004

Holy.Fucking.Christ.On.A.Stick.

This goes beyond Onion-level satire. If only it were satire that is.

Oh, and what everyone else said.
posted by Fezboy! at 3:01 PM on February 20, 2004

I'm intrigued by the gov's statement that a lot of this is already law. My recollection from Zinn is that most of this same language is already in Federal code, from the WW1 and 2 era's (and the anti-union/commie movements prior to WW2). I think a number of states have similar statutes that no one ever bothered to remove from the books. We've always lived in a totalitarian state, its just been poorly enforced. When the Patriot act was passed, my first thought was that a lot of it was pretty redundant.
posted by MetalDog at 3:28 PM on February 20, 2004

It's my understanding that this was the big idea that Ashcroft had with the Patriot Act. You modify existing law. A reading of the legislation itself might seem innocuous to an untrained eye, until you realize that language of existing law that might even be archaic but still on the books (there's a lot of those) is being changed. That change gives the old bad laws new life. It's nefarious.
posted by Slagman at 11:27 PM on February 20, 2004

Fezboy!, we live in the satire age: life as a satire of itself.
posted by Blue Stone at 1:56 AM on February 21, 2004

I'm glad I left Rhode Island when I did. It was easy to handle Buddy and all the Mafia guys...but these flakes are just too much to deal with.
posted by Beansidhe at 5:06 AM on February 21, 2004

Bluestone: I know. But it still shocks me sometimes.
/me ruefully shakes head
posted by Fezboy! at 12:11 PM on February 21, 2004

What amazes me is that the governor openly states he did not read it.

"Yeah, I fully support what this document states, although I don't know exactly what it states, as I was told I couldn't look at it lest a horrible pox come upon my family."
posted by Darke at 1:03 PM on February 21, 2004

What amazes me is that the governor openly states he did not read it.

I thought that was hilarious, especially since cops and prosecutors are in love with saying that ignorance of the law is no excuse. HILARIOUS.
posted by lia at 8:32 AM on February 23, 2004