I’ve said it a million times.  If you love the way government runs the DMV, post office, SEC in dealing with Bernie Madoff, Fannie & Freddie Mac, education, the BP oil spill, TSA and Hurricane Katrina, you’re gonna love Obamacare.  We’ve already experienced government’s track record and we haven’t even scratched the surface of the health care reform bill.  In the meantime, there’s absolutely no shortage of stupid government ideas and actions which shouldn’t see the light of day but have.

Traffic and parking citations given out by the police in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts, have an image of a yoga position on the front of the envelope with instructions on the reverse on how to achieve it.  The point of all this is to calm down angry recipients of the tickets.  You tell me whether that would work for you.

The feds are at it again with cigarettes.  I’ve yet to meet a smoker who gave up smoking because of the warning labels which have been on the packs for decades.  The feds are now talking about putting gruesome images on the packs to get people to stop smoking.  Corpses, cancer patients and diseased lungs are among the images being considered.  I know only a few people who continue to smoke but I also see a huge number of high school kids smoking, decades after the connection was made between cancer and smoking.  Young people believe they’re invincible and warning labels aren’t going to stop them from smoking.  Unless they’ve been living on a different planet, they already know the link between cancer and smoking and they continue to smoke because of their “it’s not going to happen to me” attitude.

My nephew sent me a photo of a sign posted at the ferry terminal in Seattle which reads, “ASSAULTS ON WASHINGTON STATE EMPLOYEES WILL BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULL EXTENT OF THE LAW.”  He commented, “Why would the government feel the need to post a sign like this?  Will someone that’s thinking about assaulting a WA state employee see it and think, “Oh my God, I didn’t realize that I’d be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.  I better not do it!”

The Federal Highway Administration is requiring the City of New York to replace its 250,000 street signs to “conform to national standards” at a cost of $27.5 million.

My state of Washington spent probably millions producing what has to be one of the most stupid public announcements called “Wash-your-hands-ington.”  This is just plain embarrassing.

In June, a group of high school students were singing the National Anthem at the Lincoln Memorial and were told by the U.S. Park Police to stop singing because they were “in violation of federal law and their impromptu performance constituted a demonstration in an area that must remain ‘completely content neutral.’”  Had they moved 25 steps – yes 25 steps – from where they were standing, it would’ve been alright.  The students, in an act of civil disobedience, continued to sing.  Yes, I’m fully aware the right to assemble may be restricted but, despite Supreme Court rulings, I don’t get why singing the National Anthem of the United States – anywhere – should be prohibited in America.

So, not only do government’s ridiculous actions cost us, the taxpayers, a small fortune, but it’s even more frustrating when government cowers to political correctness.

In early 2009, a Massachusetts parole board released a career criminal who was serving three concurrent life sentences after he convinced them his was a changed man. In December, he killed a police officer while attempting to rob a department store.  Fortunately, he died in the shootout.

But, there is a tiny ray of hope amidst all this dopey stuff.  Stanislaus County, CA officials have said that 13-year old Cody Alicea could keep the American flag on his bicycle.  Earlier, he was told to remove it because of “racial tensions” at the school.  Even bikers from the American Legion Riders escorted Cody to school to show their support for him and the American flag.  Like singing the National Anthem, anyone, anywhere, should be able to wear, display or carry the American flag.  After all, this is America, and if you don’t like it, leave!

I don’t get any of it, but if you do, God bless you.