Stupid Is As Stupid Does

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Sometimes you have to wonder if one of the requirements for running for political office is a lack of functional brain cells. I'm sure you've seen lists of ridiculous old laws on the books (such as one in Baltimore that prohibits bringing your pet lion to a movie theater) and laughed along. This time, though, it's not funny....it's a matter of life and death. In Philadelphia, the city of brotherly murders (280 last year), ahem, brotherly love, a councilwoman fought for -- successfully -- a bill that would require the removal of bulletproof glass in stores that are (sadly) traditionally "high target for robbery" outlets, such as quick marts. In fact, the bill was nicknamed the "Stop and Go" bill. That Plexiglas might be the only thing that allows that minimum wage worker to go home and see his/her family after a robbery. And this legislator wants it gone. Stupid is as stupid does, as Forrest Gump said. It's my guess she's never had the "privilege" of looking at a gun in the hands of someone who wants money, unsure if that person just wants the money or is high and is seeing things or just wants to pull the trigger. Here's what she said: "No more normalization of receiving food or drink through a prison-like solitary confinement window. What message does it send our children? What are we conditioning them for?" What message does it send? How about reality as a message? How about "there are mean people in this world"? Yes, it's awful that youngsters have to hand their dollar through a slot to buy their candy bar. It's also awful that we have to teach six-year-olds about sexual predators. But that is the world in which we live, and until things change for the better, it needs to be accepted -- however unhappily -- as a fact of life. I don't think of anything when I see bulletproof glass in a quick mart....except I stand a better chance of seeing that person alive in the store instead of on the news as a murder victim. But I guess the lawmaker who sponsored this bill doesn't think about things that way. Here's the story from a Philadelphia TV station: