January 27, 2015 1:15 PM

Bearse: Searching for William Wallace

From the Right: Quorum Report’s conservative columnist Eric Bearse argues that one of the greatest personal freedoms is the freedom to contradict yourself

I have yet to hear anyone campaign on an anti-freedom platform. But at the same time, I’m not sure there are very many William Wallaces in The Legislature. The concept of personal freedom is a sticky wicket.

I have written ad nauseum about the nanny state caliphate established by the left. They want to force you to take your groceries home in salmonella sacks. They want to take your gas-guzzling cars away by jamming up downtown traffic at 5:00 p.m. Yes, I believe traffic is a state-sponsored conspiracy as evidenced by the reduction in car lanes and the proliferation of compact parking spots in the People’s Republic of Travis County. They now have a city ordinance in Austin that prohibits people from holding their cell phone while driving because distracted driving statutes alone have not stopped accidents caused by those who text while driving. And we all know, if we pass another law to prohibit certain behavior, people will obey it. LOL!

But this stuff doesn’t always fall nice and neat along ideological lines. A lot of Republicans are in on the texting while driving bans. People in both parties want to rid the poor of the consequences of taking out a payday loan because no one should be forced to read the small print.

If the left wants to protect people from themselves, I suppose the right isn’t doing much better. We believe you should keep more of what you make so you can spend your money as you see fit, unless it is on blackjack, or liquor after 2:00 a.m.

The complete column from Eric Bearse is in today’s R&D Department.

By Eric Bearse