Nannyfornia

Det er ikke grunn at den amerikanske vestkysten gjerne blir omtalt som "the left coast", der California spesielt utmerker seg som delstaten hvor folk flest er så liberal at de tipper over i det fascistoide. Ikke minst ser vi dette i stadig nye utslag av barnepikementaliteten som gjør seg gjeldende overfor delstatens innbyggere. Noe en feature i dagens The Times tar for seg:

The outdoor smoking ban (...) is just one example of a frenzy of puritanical edicts from California's politicians that in the past few weeks has outlawed trans fat in all restaurant food, prevented LA supermarkets from handing out plastic bags, and put a halt to fast-food joints opening in the suburb formerly known as South Central. Other recent bans -and attempted bans - have challenged such monumental threats to human wellbeing as helium balloons, camp fires, circuses, swearing, texting while stopped at traffic lights, anything made from a dead kangaroo, dogs sitting on drivers' laps, homeschooling, rodeos, unordered tapwater in diners, spanking, nude beaches, and (this is true) the use of sexually-discriminating terms such as “Mom” and “Dad” in school classrooms.