You've Got To Be Kidding

Alternate Title: Don't You Have Some Real Problems To Address?

At first I thought this headline was a joke.

Sadly, it is not.

Government Considers First Pokemon Go Regulations

Pokemon Go players have certainly had their fair share of run-ins with the law this week — mostly on the wrong side of it. Two men sustained serious injuries and are facing possible charges after falling down a cliff in California chasing Pokemon. Two teens were arrested in Toledo after jumping fence into the Toledo Zoo following the digital creatures. And in LA, police are chasing after Pokemon Go players who wander on to random neighbors’ lawns.

Okay, stupid people do stupid things. Nothing new about that. But apparently some of the idiots we have elected to office think they must do something to protect us from ourselves.

... the app itself is now the target of lawmakers, who want to regulate the game, claiming that the app poses a significant risk to public safety, and the fun must end.

One New York Assemblyman is considering drafting some sort of restriction on the game, claiming that Pokemon Go, which involves battling digital creatures, could have “tragic real-world consequences...”

Senator Al Franken is also looking into Pokemon Go. The former SNL star and Minnesota Democrat has written a letter to Niantic, the company responsible for programming the augmented reality portion of the app, asking them how much information they’re collecting from users, and what they plan to do with that information.

If his questions go unanswered, Franken could call for Congressional hearings on the subject...

That's what we get for electing a joke to the senate. (You know  the old saying: "That's the problem with political jokes. They keep getting elected.")

Democrats think congressional hearings are a bad thing when it comes to hillary, and Benghazi, or hillary and classified information, or hillary in general, but they're a good thing when it comes to imaginary creatures on your cell phone. Sigh...

The scary thing is that the move to legislate a game - a friggin' video game! - is occurring at multiple levels of government, and in multiple locations.

I am firmly in the "less government is better government" camp. This is just the latest reason why.