What is it about state attorneys general? In an entertaining piece over at Reason Nick Gillespie discusses their latest foray into the absurd:

“In a stunning, courageous admission that they no longer have any serious work left to do, attorneys general in two dozen states recently sent a letter to the Motion Picture Association of America asking that Hollywood minimize smoking in movies so youngsters won’t be gulled into lighting up. Taking a page from movie gangsters, who tend to threaten vaguely rather than make explicit demands, the attorneys general didn’t insist on a specific remedy. Rather, according to a spokesman for one of the signatories, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer, they were merely expressing “concern for the health of our kids.”

The whole article is well worth reading, but it’s interesting to see that Lockyer’s spokesman, one Tom Dresslar (a man who has apparently no problem about working for a rape fan), concedes, “We’re not saying any law has been broken.” Despite that, these repulsive busybodies have decided to try their hands at a little intimidation, and, as usual on these occasions of bureaucratic overreach, they cite, sigh, ‘the kids,’ a justification more emetic than any cigarette could ever be.

In his piece Nick Gillespie points out some other lessons ‘the kids’ could learn from the movies including that “Car chases can solve problems,” and “Mutation is a viable path to self-improvement”, but if the attorneys general are really concerned about this issue, I have a modest proposal.