March 09, 2005

Gov. Manchin (D-WV), Anti-Choice, Pro-Idiotic Drug War Policies

Great. Just great. The new governor of West Virginia has, I'll admit deservedly, been winning a great deal of positive press, and support generally, for the moves he's taken to change state government since taking office a few months ago. So what's he taking on next - protecting cell clusters from murder. If that's what he personally believes fine. And hey, West Virginia is a very Catholic state. But personally, I still find it horrifying that some rich, white, good old boy thinks he knows better than the women and doctors of the state what kinds of choices that West Virginians should be allowed to make in the interest of their own health and welfare. And he'll send those that disagree with him to prison. Lovely.

Sadly, that's not the only intrusion into personal liberty and people's health choices that he's making. There's also this inane proposal to limit the amount of pseudoephedrine that can be bought by people in the state. Want some Tylenol? Too bad. If he and the state legislature think you've already bought too much over the counter material you'll need a prescription, or there's no cold medicine for you.

Posted by armand at March 9, 2005 12:33 PM | TrackBack | Posted to West Virginia


Comments

Is he shoring up his "right wing" for a run for a higher office? Senator Byrd is retiring (or leaving) sometime soon, right? The "southern strategy" for Democrats is to find a southern democracic governor to appeal to the red-states in 2008. Does Manchin think he might be the one?

Speaking of Byrd and WV, did you notice that Byrd voted for cloture (end of debate, and hence passage) of the bankrupty bill in the Senate? Why is he in favor of that awful piece of legislation? I'm thinking of calling his office to let him know...

Posted by: baltar at March 9, 2005 12:41 PM | PERMALINK

I never assume Robert Byrd will share my views on any issue. I think that the Democrats have lucked out recently in that the man's own astoundingly high levels of arrogance and narcicism have been so deeply offended by what he perceives as ill-treament by the White House, that ... well, his level of personal offense is so high that he's turned into a very effective spokesman against the White House, even if ideologically he might agree with them on certain matters.

And yes, it's well known in the party that Manchin intends to serve in the US Senate once he leaves the governor's office (he'll probably appoint himself to Byrd's seat if Byrd dies) so he's doing all he can to remain extremely electable. Though personally I'd rather see former Gov. Gaston Caperton return to the state and run for an open seat.

Though in terms of the 2006 race, as long as Byrd is somewhat healthy he has every intention of running for yet another 6 year term (of course whether or not he could live long enough to serve through a six-year term ... I presume that will be an issue in the race).

Posted by: Armand at March 9, 2005 01:14 PM | PERMALINK

Well, the "cold pill" bill isn't that out of the ballpark for similar southern states. Because of the serious problems these states are having with meth trafficking and addiction (not to mention extra clean houses) many of them have instituted similar rules. Enforcement is a pain in the butt, though.

Posted by: binky at March 10, 2005 11:16 AM | PERMALINK
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