REASON Express May 30, 2000 Vol. 3 No. 22   The Well-Armed Anti-Gun Activist More Greenmail for Farmers Michigan Teacher Suspended for Cookout Quick Hits     - - Whole Lotta Rosie - - Poor Rosie O'Donnell, her politics keep getting in the way of her lifestyle. For most folks it is the other way around: Politics keeps jumping the fence and messing with their lives. To recap, first it was her TV rants against guns versus her pitch-person job with K-Mart, one of the nation's biggest gun sellers. Now, it is Rosie's position as chief emcee and cheerleader for the Million Mom March smacking into her desire to have a bodyguard who packs heat. Many have called O'Donnell a rank hypocrite, but that is too easy. She can surely see the disconnect between her public positions and her private choices. She just thinks she has very good reasons for her choices, particularly the need for firearm protection. O'Donnell clearly perceives a threat, one that, ultimately, can only be met with a gun. She can still square that position with taking guns out of the hands of millions of Americans by believing that they do not face real threats. Yet this still gets us to the odious heart of gun control, that a polyglot of self-appointed experts--talk show hosts, cabinet secretaries, trial lawyers, big city mayors, medical researchers--is in a better position to judge the threats to average Americans than each and every one of those average Americans. And O'Donnell's explanation about her need for an armed guard shows this disdain for the rabble goes even deeper. She said all she ever wanted was for all gun owners to be as licensed and trained as her bodyguard. Welcome aboard Rosie, you've just endorsed, in principle, concealed-carry laws, the very thing Handgun Control Inc. crucified George W. Bush for enacting. Except your idea is concealed-carry for the right kind of people, like bodyguards to famous people. Now that is a cultural war with live ammo. And there is still more, shall we say, irony. In TV ads which have aired in heavy rotation in the nation's capital, Handgun Control blasts Bush for signing a law that allows guns to be carried into schools and churches. The circumstantial evidence suggests Rosie intended for her armed bodyguard to accompany her son to school in the fall. So using a gun to defend vulnerable populations seems to be something that is fine for the elite, but not for the little people. Anyone remember when the suggestion that an armed teacher or two at Columbine might've made a difference was hushed away as lunatic? Finally, the O'Donnell camp holds that of course she'd prefer to have nothing to do with guns, that a gun-crazed society is forcing this awkward choice. But that too is a predicament shared by plenty of gun owners who feel they have no choice but to arm themselves. http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/Advocate/release/05-25-2000/article1.html Read the "Million Mom Myths," a Reason Online Breaking Issue at http://www.reason.com/bi/guns.html - - Freedom to Fudge - - If previous farm bailout packages killed the 1996 Freedom to Farm Act, this year's $15.3 billion bailout drives a stake through those reforms. Under that 1996 formula, which attempted to scale back federal payments to farmers, about $5.5 billion in subsidies would flow to participating farmers this year. But that piddling amount just won't do in an election year. So Congress overwhelmingly passed the third "emergency" farm aid package in four years. Included in the package was the usual Grade A pork. House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) made sure his home state got an ethanol research project, and mohair growers, written out of automatic subsidies two years ago, managed to sneak back on Uncle Sam's gravy train. But perhaps best of all is the $340 million going to tobacco farmers, part of an attempt to shore up the re-election prospects of freshman Rep. Robin Hayes (R-N.C.). Maybe the cash will come with a Surgeon General's warning that pork is dangerous to the nation's health. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A9140-2000May25.html http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A1422-2000May24.html - - Sausage Factory - - For a concrete case of hyperventilating lawyering getting in the way of education, look no further than Flint, Michigan. There a teacher was suspended for inviting students to his home to have a cookout. Whittier Middle School teacher Lamar Davis received a two-week paid suspension and a written reprimand for his personnel file after asking eight students to come over for Polish sausages. School administrators said any invitations made during school time must be approved by the school district in advance. "Whatever he does on his own time is between himself and those parents who wish to be a part of any event he's personally sponsoring," Superintendent James Ray explained. So clearly the crux of the issue is generating a paper trail which shows the school district has nothing to do with whatever it is Davis has planned, no doubt in case some horrid sausage-related mishap occurs. http://fl.mlive.com/news/index.ssf?/news/stories/20000523fdavis23.frm QUICK HITS - - Quote of the Week - - "You don't treat users as prisoners. ... The way the bootleggers got shut down was by ending Prohibition," RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser on the habit of content owners using bruising legal tactics against outlets like Napster in their campaign to wipe out copyright violations. http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-1940085.html   - - Liberty, Fraternity, and E-Snooping - - Leave it to the French to come up with something called "The Liberty of Communication Act" which requires anyone with a Web page in France to register with the government. http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2577162,00.html   - - UCITA, UCITA, Let's Call the Whole Thing Off - - State legislatures take up the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act amid grave disagreements over its effects. http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/0,1643,500208928-500292442-501577534-0,00.html   - - Atari Sweep - - Washington, DC, believes that a recent buy-back of guns was so effective that it is exploring expanding the idea. To knives, clubs, and pointed sticks? No, to toy guns and "violent" video games. http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/ed-house-2000525151532.htm   REASON NEWS PLEASE JOIN US for "Advancing Liberty in Policy, Politics and Culture--An Inside Look at the Reason Foundation." We'll show you the strategy behind our work and our powerful set of programs that is advancing liberty in public policy, political debate, and cultural options. Speakers include Bob Poole, Nick Gillespie, Donald Heath, and Lynn Scarlett. TO REGISTER, or for more information, please visit us at http://rppi.org/liberty or contact Amber Trudgeon, Events Coordinator, at ambert@reason.org. June 8, 2000 Loews New York Hotel 569 Lexington Avenue, New York, NY 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. Luncheon with John Stossel, "Pandering to Fear: The Media's Crisis Mentality" June 20, 2000 DoubleTree Hotel Costa Mesa 3050 Bristol Street, Costa Mesa, CA 11:00 a.m.- 2:00 p.m. Luncheon with John Stossel, "Pandering to Fear: The Media's Crisis Mentality" Adrian Moore, Director off RPPI's Privatization Center, will be part of a panel discussing legal issues in privatizing infrastructure at the Forbes Infrastructure 2000 conference on 7 June, the Fairmont Hotel, San Francisco. For more information on the conference, call 800-274-0122 or visit www.bpinews.com/infraconf.html   Reason Public Policy Institute is seeking applicants for a policy analyst position in its Privatization and Government Reform Center. It is an opportunity to do peer-reviewed research and nuts-and-bolts policy analysis building on over 20 years of RPPI policy work in privatization and government reform. 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