Berkeley would probably send big men dressed in black over to remove the degree from my wall if I didn’t acknowledge my belief that civil disobedience has a time and a place. As long as the disobedience stays civil I’m generally pretty open to a wide interpretation of what time and which place.

Some people, obviously disagree. There are people who want to say that all laws must be obeyed all the time. A silly concept given the over-regulation of modern western society, but a respectable goal if one isn’t too hypocritical about it in real life.

So today we salute the civil disobedience in Illinois:

Gov. Rod Blagojevich announced Tuesday that the state will set up an Internet network within the next month to help Illinois residents buy prescription drugs from Canada, Ireland and the United Kingdom.
. . .
“We have taken every possible step we could think of to convince the FDA, and convince the Congress, and anyone and everyone who will listen, that people across Illinois, and across our country, deserve access to safe and lower cost prescription drugs,” Blagojevich said. “The federal government has failed to act. So it’s time that we do.”

Of course, when San Francisco mayor Newsome committed his little act of civil disobedience, and said “I do not believe it’s appropriate for me, as mayor of San Francisco, to discriminate against people” groups came out of the wood work to enforce the rule of law.

[wags finger] can’t have no anarchy ’round here. just wouldn’t be proper [/wags finger]

Now c’mon. What’s a worse image for America’s impressionable youth to see: commited but non-traditional relationships fighting for equal status or old people buying drugs illegally off the internet?

Since Bush owes his presidency to a bunch of old people in Florida who couldn’t figure out a voting machine, I guess I understand why we’ve seen responses like the Federal Marriage Amendment out of the White House rather than squads of DEA stormtroopers poised to retake Illinois for the War on Drugs. If Bush won’t act for fear of incurring AARP’s wrath, maybe Pfizer and Co. can step in and bury the poor of Illinois in litigation. Take a lesson from the RIAA and target a few of the scoflaws for punitive litigation.

How come I feel that a lot of the people who were cheering for the rule of law in San Francisco are suddenly going to become anarchists now that their arthritis meds are 30% off?

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