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Location: LaGrange, Kentucky, United States

The opinions and interests of a husband, analyst and Iraq war veteran.



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Saturday, December 03, 2005

Let 'em play Xbox!

Until bedtime, that is. This is the post where I attempt to re-establish my libertarian roots.

It's the limits (or lack thereof) that parents set for their children during their formative years that best determine whether the next generation grows up to be socially adroit or underskilled.

Nip this nonsense in the bud, America.

Ever since Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) weighed in on video games in late summer -- alleging them responsible for "a silent epidemic of media desensitization" and for "stealing the innocence of our children" -- there has been a chorus of criticism about the games. [...]

Sen. Clinton's worries about video games have now been joined by those of the National Institute on Media and the Family (NIMF) which has just issued its 10th annual review of the video game industry. According to its "MediaWise and Computer Game Report Card", which was released at a press conference with David Walsh, president and founder of NIMF and Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.), the game industry continues to put America's kids at risk by producing games that while immensely profitable, are increasingly violent and sexually explicit.


If tomorrow an actuarial craze sweeps our youth culture, leading to binge bookkeeping into the wee hours on school nights, will the good Senator similarly agitate to ban the sale of pernicious ledger programs like Excel?

Of course not. As much as Hillary would love to legislate parenting practices, there's no conceivable scenario in which the parents of this country would support a government-mandated bedtime. She's forced to demonize a third party, in this case video games, to justify her intrusions into what is rightly the responsability of parents. And the sad thing is? Some parents will agree to cede that job to the Feds.

For the record, I'm just as disgusted when conservatives try the same tactic. "For The Children?" Please. Don't make me vomit. "For The Imposition Of My Morality" is more like it. Parents of America: For the love of all that is good, fight all government attempts to usurp your right to raise your own kids.

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