DEVIL'S ADVOCATE

Today is one of those days that I woke up in a really weird mood. Lack of sleep, little bit of pain in the shoulder following my surgery in late February..... you know..... typical morning in a typical househould in America.

As is my habit, I turned on the radio on the way to work. I like to keep up with local news and national news, much to the chagrin of my lovely bride of eighteen years. (Sorry hon.)

The topic du jour was about an energy drink that has received a lot of attention lately called Cocaine. From what I gathered from the radio show, this drink has been banned in Texas, and the Texas Courts (who ever or where ever that is) has fined the owner of this small company $825,000 USD.

What???

Turns out that many people don't like the name of the drink. So they raised sixteen kinds of hell about it, and had it banned in Texas. Few things get me twisted six ways from Sunday such as this.

I will readily admit that I do not know the details of this case. But from what I have heard from the various reports is that people just simply don't like the name.

This doesn't really sit well with me.

What really bothers me is that most of the uprising has come from people on the "right", meaning Conservative thinking people. These are the same people that scream foul about political correctness. The same ones that get weirded out when someone uses the term 'racist', or 'affirmative action'.

While the topic of the day was an evil energy drink (evil only because of it's NAME), the word of the day was desensitize.

de-sen-si-tize : 1. to make (a sensitized or hypersensitive individual) insensitive or nonreactive to a sensitizing agent. 2. to make emotionally insensitive or callous - specifically to extinguish an emotional response (as of fear, anxiety, or guilt) to stimuli that formerly induced it.

So apparently our children (it's always about the children) are hypersensitive, or they are scared of the smallest things. And as a result, we need our big brother (Uncle Sam) to step in and make things right.

Either our children are too stupid to tell the difference between an energy drink and an illicit, illegal drug, or our parents are too weak to instill proper thinking skills in their children, or our parents are too scared to tell their children, "NO".

What in the hell has happened to us? Do we really need someone else, some elected official, some beauracratic entity, to make decisions for us? Must we call on them any time we feel offended or scared to come in and flex their muscles and run all of the big corporate bullies crying back home to mommy with their tails tucked?

Personally, I could give a rip either way concerning this drink. I have no idea what it tastes like, or if it even works. I am a Rock Star drinker, to be honest, and I just started drinking that drink about three weeks ago. I guess it works. I do like the taste. My problem lies with fear and ignorance.

Many years ago, a company developed a soft drink called Coca-Cola. It actually contained Cocaine. It was quite addictive, and it was peddled as a medicinal drink. It sold well (wonder why?). But, eventually, the company was told they could no longer use cocaine as part of the recipe. The drink was still wildly popular, and people continued to buy it. The people made the decision to continue buying the product, even though they knew it no longer contained cocaine.

So now, we have a drink on the market called Cocaine. I guess we are too stupid to realize that it is simply a drink, and nothing more. Unless the maker has figured out a way to introduce actual cocaine into the recipe without the FDA noticing, I think we are doing our self a disservice by allowing the government to step in and tell this owner "no". Let the people decide. Get the government out.

Many people will disagree with me. I understand that. So the vocal majority (or minority) will cause change based on legislation. Do we really need more legislation? What will happen when the legislation is in opposition to your standpoint? It doesn't matter if you are conservative, liberal, independent... someone is making decisions on your behalf. Decisions that you are perfectly capable of making on your own. That's right... all by your lonesome. And you don't need to be afraid of making the wrong decision. That's what is so incredible about being a Texan. We are a very hearty people. We bounce back. Remember the Alamo? Of course you do. Santa Anna handed our asses to us at the Alamo, and we showed him what we were made of at San Jacinto. We didn't give up.

Wake up y'all! We can make decisions for ourselves. We do not need legislation to tell us if something is offensive. We can do that all on our own.

Last time I checked, pornography was a huge, multi-billion dollar a year industry. Ask any conservative person what they think of pornography, and they will more than likely tell you that it has no place in our society and culture. And yet, there it is. Who is funding this? Who makes up the foundation of a multi-billion dollar industry? The majority of Americans will claim to be of the Christian faith, and yet the pornographic industry thrives.

With all of this outrage (false or not), why doesn't the government step in and make some new laws? What's the deal with the double standard?

Come on, people. What happened to our independent spirit? It's time to lead our children by example. Don't hide behind the skirt of the nanny state. Step out and make a stand by our actions. If you don't like a product, don't buy it. Leave the government out of it. The adverse is true, too. If you like a product, let others know about it.

If we don't wake up and take control now, soon, very soon, someone will complain that they are offended by the way you raise your children. And soon, very soon, the government will knock on your door and tell you that they will decide what is best for your children. Or your parents. Or you.

Sleep tight, Texas. You can tuck your self in bed.

And stay independent.