I caught this snipped in the August 2007 issue of Reader's Digest:

NAY
New Hampshire Governor John Lynch
For not taking an early stand in favor of a proposed seat belt law requiring adults to buckle up. That's taking the state motto, Live Free or Die, to literally for the public good.

Yes, how terrible that someone actually wants to take freedom literally. I guess "Live Free or Die" is just supposed to be a cute slogan with no real meaning. I wonder if whoever wrote this thinks we take freedom of speech too literally as well...

I think it's great that someone has the courage to stand up to these nanny-state seat belt laws in the name of freedom. The government goes too far when it tries to protect us from ourselves. Most people (including myself) wear seat belts anyway - the few that don't certainly know the risks and consequences, yet choose to do so anyway. It's their decision to make.

The only intelligent argument I've heard in favor of these seat belt laws (other than knee-jerk emotionally-driven slogans like "it's for the public good" and "it will save lives") is that when someone gets injured in a crash the rest of us have to pay their medical bills, therefore their decision to not wear a seat belt affects the rest of us indirectly. That argument is actually a great illustration of the dangers of socialism! When we all pay for and take care of each other, we have a right to tell everyone else how to live. After all, if they mess up, we have to pay for their mistakes. Therefore, we must regulate their lives and decision-making. Now apply this to health care. With a socialized health care system, how long do you suppose it would take for certain foods to be banned? After all, if one individual eats cheeseburgers and donuts and ends up needing quadruple bypass surgery, we would all pay for it. So perhaps we should just ban cheeseburgers and donuts, or at least limit their consumption. Maybe we need a government-approved dietary plan that everyone must comply with. Don't think for a minute this won't happen. If we are comfortable with mandating seat belt use, there's no logical reason not to apply that to food as well under a socialized health care system. It's just a matter of time.