Do You Want Libertarians?

Because this is how you get Libertarians.

Florida state Senate Minority Leader Lauren Book has filed a bill with a host of animal-welfare rules. Such as banning people from allowing their dogs to put their heads out of the windows of moving vehicles.

Given that Florida is currently run by Republicans, this bill has more or less no chance of being passed. Which makes is highly likely that it's what termed a "messaging bill." What I'm less clear on is the message. Because it seems to be that Democrats are every bit as in love with controlling, intrusive government as they're stereotyped as being.

It's possible that there's more to this bill than meets the eye, or that someone could find a way to attach an amendment to this that would make it embarrassing for Republicans to vote against it. But on the surface, it seems to be little more than a means to more closely align Florida Democrats with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. And I don't see any real use in that.

This is, of course, a side effect of the increasing polarization of American politics. As one party or the other finds itself effectively shut out of the legislating process in some or another jurisdiction, their attention turns to virtue signalling. I'm pretty sure that Republicans here in Washington state do the same thing. It just hasn't happened to make enough of a splash for me to pay any attention to them yet.

I presume there are people in the Democratic activist community in Florida who support this sort of thing. They'll come out to help Senator Book win her next primary election contest, and this has the potential to leave Florida general election voters with a bad choice, who panders to the loudest voices among them, and a worse choice, who will simply ignore them in favor of the opposing partisans. The remarkable thing about this is that there is a sizable segment of the population for whom this is their preferred mode of governance. The government the public deserves, indeed.