WOLVES, BEARS, POPCORN, SODAS & COUNTY RIGHTS

by JIM BEERS

A news report on TV caught my eye recently.

Two New York announcers were going on about how “Hizzoner” Mayor Bloomberg was regulating the size of popcorn and sodas that could be sold or purchased in New York City. The first announcer asked how could something like this happen in America? The second announcer wondered if it was legal for a city to regulate the size of legal food servings?

The answer to the first question, that went unanswered of course, was that once New Yorkers acquiesced to mandated caloric information on all menus and then acquiesced on the removal of drink machines in schools; objecting to this latest Mayoral dietetic iron fist becomes like male Americans suddenly taking umbrage at women continuing to receive preferences in Universities after they long ago became majorities in those Universities.

Regarding the second question however, I was struck by something that should be of great interest to all rural Americans being harmed, stressed and threatened (think about using that word in this context) by wolves, grizzly bears, coyotes, black bears, and cougars.

The announcers introduced two “experts” (OOOHHH!) to explain why “Hizzoner” was a groundbreaking political leader who would be revered forever by slimmed-down future generations.

First was a an absolute caricature of an earnest and wise young woman, fresh from some gym, who told us that this was just the beginning of government doing “for us” what we were too dumb and lazy to do for ourselves. This apparently unmarried (and childless?) woman told us about how we would all (kids too) benefit and how a Council of “Experts” (shades of federal “environmental expert” bureaucracies) had been formed and would be issuing more edicts as time went by.

Second, and here is where rural Americans should pay attention, they introduced a silver-haired New York lawyer to explain if this was “legal”. He explained that “All they (sic, City – OR COUNTY??) need is A RATIONAL BASIS BASED ON THE COMMON GOOD OR GENERAL WELFARE.” He opined that this was all perfectly legal.
If this is so, what about:

- If a City Mayor can infringe on or dictate all American’s right to buy legal products or sell legal products in “his” bailiwick using “a rational basis based on the COMMON GOOD”….

- If other Mayors (Chicago and Washington, DC come to mind) can not only “infringe” on but even deny the 2nd Amendment rights of all American citizens that enter into ”their” bailiwick using “a rational basis based on the GENERAL WELFARE”….
Why is it considered impossible or revolutionary or silly to attribute the authority inherent in American Counties (a level of government above that attributed to cities) to regulate the presence, distribution, or even the existence of harmful and dangerous predators in “their” County “USING A RATIONAL BASIS BASED ON THE COMMON GOOD OR GENERAL WELFARE”?
Inquiring minds would like to know. Besides, if a New York lawyer says it is so, who could doubt it?

Jim Beers
16 June 2012

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This article and other articles written by Jim Beers since January 2009 can
be found at http://jimbeers7.blogster.com (Jim Beers Uncommon Sense)

Articles by Jim Beers written from March 2006 to January 2009 can be found
at http://jimbeers.blogster.com (Jim Beers Common Sense)

Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and Washington DC. He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. He has worked for the Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security Supervisor in Washington, DC. He testified three times before Congress; twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60 Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to expanding Federal Invasive Species authority. He resides in Eagan, Minnesota with his wife of many decades.

Jim Beers is available to speak or for consulting at jimbeers7@comcast.net