I am not a frequent diarist here at Daily Kos but do read and comment frequently. I could not pass up the opportunity to nominate Georgia for "Dumbest State of the Year" based on the following nonsense coming out of the Georgia General Assembly.
Jim Galloway reported this week that the Georgia house Judiciary committee passed a bill out of committee that would "prohibit the involuntary implantation of microchips in human beings." Okay, so I can almost understand that involuntary implantation of a microchip is not such a good thing but who really thinks that this is a problem or may become a problem? Better yet the committee passed the bill after the following exchange with a witness. From Jim Galloway:
At the House hearing, state Rep. Ed Setzler (R-Kennesaw), who is shouldering the legislation in the House, spoke earnestly for better than a half hour on microchips as a literal invasion of privacy.
He was followed by a hefty woman who described herself as a resident of DeKalb County. "I’m also one of the people in Georgia who has a microchip," the woman said. Slowly, she began to lead the assembled lawmakers down a path they didn’t want to take.
Microchips, the woman began, "infringe on issues that are fundamental to our very existence. Our rights to privacy, our rights to bodily integrity, the right to say no to foreign objects being put in our body."
She spoke of the "right to work without being tortured by co-workers who are activating these microchips by using their cell phones and other electronic devices."
She continued. "Microchips are like little beepers. Just imagine, if you will, having a beeper in your rectum or genital area, the most sensitive area of your body. And your beeper numbers displayed on billboards throughout the city. All done without your permission," she said.
It was not funny, and no one laughed.
"Ma’am, did you say you have a microchip?" asked state Rep. Tom Weldon (R-Ringgold).
"Yes, I do. This microchip was put in my vaginal-rectum area," she replied. Setzler, the sponsoring lawmaker, sat next to the witness – his head bowed.
"You’re saying this was involuntary?" Weldon continued.
The woman said she had been pushing a court case through the system for the last eight years to have the device removed.
Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, picked up the questioning.
"Who implanted this in you?" he asked.
"Researchers with the federal government," she said.
"And who in the federal government implanted it?" Willard asked.
"The Department of Defense."
"Thank you, ma’am."
So clearly it would seem that anyone suggesting they have an implanted microchip in their "vaginal-rectum area" has at least one screw loose. But even after the Georgia House Judiciary committee listened to this off the wall testimony they thought involuntary implantation of microchips to be a serious issue and passed the bill out of committee. OMG you can’t make this crap up. Georgia should clearly be considered for "Dumbest State of the Year."
Link to AJC story AJC/Galloway Story