Pseudoephedrine bill dies with whimper

A toast to success! Blublublublublub!

Six weeks ago, I NEVER would have imagined I'd get to write about the forces of good going 3-0 in this year's session of the Kentucky legislature. But a miracle has just occurred.

I never expected lawmakers to pass a corrections reform bill that I supported. They passed it.

I feared they'd pass a right-wing drug testing bill that I opposed, which targeted the state's poorest and most vulnerable citizens. They did not pass it.

The third key issue I've been watching is their idiotic bill to make over-the-counter pseudoephedrine allergy drugs available by prescription only. I was on the edge of my seat over this one. But guess what? Today, this bill was officially declared dead.

The Good Republic, 3. The Evil Empire, 0.

Frankly, I'm numb with disbelief right now. Why, isn't the other side divinely and constitutionally ENTITLED to get its way on all 3 bills (and everything else)? I thought it was their birthright, don't ya know. Or at least they act like it.

Now the Sudafed bill's supporters are crying in their baste because their bill didn't pass. They're accusing opponents of not proposing any bills themselves to fight meth. Um, they did. I know for a fact there was an alternate bill that targeted only those who had been previously convicted of meth involvement. But Operation UNITE wasn't satisfied with it. Nope, it had to be their way or the highway.

With right-wingers in general, it always has to be their way or the highway. 'Compromise' does not seem to be in their lexicon.

What's really astounding is that the drug warriors expected innocent people with allergies to be inconvenienced all because the drug war had been so ineffective at combating meth. We'd be seeing a lot less meth now if the drug war hadn't been executed as poorly and as violently as it was for years.

With 3 major defeats for Kentucky drug warriors this session, who knows what crazy shit they'll do when they get home this evening? I can just picture them thrashing themselves about their living rooms in anger tonight. Some folks have said that the reason their ideas have been so extreme lately is that they know they're about to be vanquished for good, and they can't cope. Gosh, I hope so.