Viewpoint: Tea Party's Rand Paul Correct, Laser-Pointer Law Absurd - TIME - Michael Grunwald, Feb. 4, 2001:
"How extreme is freshman Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the libertarian darling of the Tea Party? On Thursday, Feb. 3, he was the only Senator to oppose a proposed amendment making it a federal crime to aim a laser pointer at an airplane ... but Paul was actually right to vote no. As the old saying goes: You don't have to make a federal case of it....
"It takes only about five seconds of thought to see that Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's amendment to impose federal penalties — up to a five-year prison sentence — for attempted plane zapping would be completely useless....
"The 96 Senators who voted for this silliness would say they're just trying to send a message to the public about a dangerous activity.... But that's not really the message they're trying to send.... The Senators are lawmakers, so they feel as if they need to make laws to show concern; they're covering their backsides in case a laser-pointing idiot ever does bring down a plane."
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2046475,00.html
"How extreme is freshman Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, the libertarian darling of the Tea Party? On Thursday, Feb. 3, he was the only Senator to oppose a proposed amendment making it a federal crime to aim a laser pointer at an airplane ... but Paul was actually right to vote no. As the old saying goes: You don't have to make a federal case of it....
"It takes only about five seconds of thought to see that Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse's amendment to impose federal penalties — up to a five-year prison sentence — for attempted plane zapping would be completely useless....
"The 96 Senators who voted for this silliness would say they're just trying to send a message to the public about a dangerous activity.... But that's not really the message they're trying to send.... The Senators are lawmakers, so they feel as if they need to make laws to show concern; they're covering their backsides in case a laser-pointing idiot ever does bring down a plane."
http://www.time.com/time/politics/article/0,8599,2046475,00.html
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