Posted on 02/08/2006 5:09:49 AM PST by governsleastgovernsbest
by Mark Finkelstein
February 8, 2006 - 08:00
It wouldn't have been more than a couple years ago that had headlines invoked Britney Spears in a "lap" controversy, images of graphic goings-on in the Champagne Lounge might have come to mind.
But time marches on, and Britney-the-new-mother is now caught in a lap-gate of an altogether different sort, after photos of her were snapped driving her car with her four-month old son in her lap rather than secured in a car seat. In the latest development, according to this LA Times article, a Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy went to her Malibu home on Tuesday "to collect information for child welfare investigators" in connection with the matter. For the record, Spears says she was feeling hounded by paparazzi and drove off with the baby in her lap to escape them.
The morning shows worked themselves into a collective lather over the horror of it all, with the sentiment best summed up by CBS Early Show co-host Rene Syler, who, interviewing a child safety expert, emoted: "every time we look at that picture, it's just so, so scary."
Pluh-eese. Sure, kids should be strapped in a car seat in the back. But just a generation or so ago, an image of a parent tooling around with junior in her lap might have evoked cooing sounds from the person sitting in Syler's chair. The Andy Griffith Show meets Leave it to Beaver.
But today, in our therapeutic society, Britney's gaffe, if that's what it is, merited national news coverage. At one point at the beginning of the 7:30 AM half-hour, ABC, NBC and CBS were simultaneously airing a segment on the matter.
In a world where every day untold numbers of terrorists are plotting to kill as many men, women, and yes, little children as possible, where are the MSM's priorities?
lol, the lobbyist is the carseat industry. Will sell more. Pretty soon anyone under the height of 4'11 will be required to sit in a booster seat...
But sir, do not not understand that in the 1950s parents let their kids ride on the front bumper of the car while they drove down the highway? Did you see any of those kids get hurt???? NO! The fact of having kids in their seats, and buckled in, is a result of foolish laws that are restricting OUR freedoms! My children love to sleep on my dashboard when we go on trips. I will never force them into a seat harness. They are not animals!
Britney is a hero in my book!
LOL
We would ride on the running boards of the VW as a kid. What a non story. The safety nannies need to get a life.
What happened to the passenger side door of that vehicle?
Shouldn't the interior panel of that door be visible?
"How do you know she is trashy?"
If it walks like a duck, LOOKS like a duck, ACTS like a duck...then it's probably a duck.
lobbyist....
yeah she is a REpublican
said she admired the president on Crossfire to which Begala basically said - see Republican are dumb airheads poptarts
You think that the laws we have today don't affect people's lives? Endangered species act - letting the government seize a farmer's farm because he ploughed up a couple of rat burrows in his field. Gun control - getting shot by the feds because you had a gun 1/4 inch too short. Wetlands protection being denied the use of your property because you have puddles on it after heavy rains? And what about the Texas woman who was dragged off in handcuffs for violating a seat belt law? And slavery? What is working 40% of your time for the government but 40% slavery? I could go on and on, but to say these don't affect people's lives is silly.
Im sure its not until you get into a crash and then expect the PUBLIC police and fire dept. to come to your rescue. And Im sure you will want all of us to move to the side of the road, making us late for work and other appointments, so they can gwt through and save your child who now has horrible head injuries because you want to be such a badass and have your kid screwing around in the car instead of being in a seatbelt.
I hope so. Otherwise, I'm afraid he doesn't have much of a chance.
I would think that all of those would pale in comparison to being someone's slave.
BTW, you don't get shot for having a barrel too short. I know someone who got busted for it and all he got was a fine.
That's nothing.
Back in the day, I would let my little girl sit on my lap and drive the car on the highway while I finished off a 5th of Jack.
I did the gas and she drove. Did 75, kept it straight, no problems.
She was 5.
Now a days they got so many crazy rules, it just takes all the fun out of parenting.
Right! And I'm sure they left her alone for the day after she drove off.
The thing is, if the nanny government didn't mandate dangerous airbags, the child probably wouldn't have been in so much danger. It's not a cool thing to do, driving with a baby next to the steering wheel, but hardly a deliberate felony or child abuse.
Never trust anyone with brown eyes and blonde hair to make a good decision.
Lol
Tell that to Randy Weaver's wife.
I would think that all of those would pale in comparison to being someone's slave.
What is slavery but being denied the fruits of your labors - to labor for someone else without compensation, and not be able to change the situation? With the various taxes that the greedy government and its endless sea of busybody bureaucrats plunder and squander, ever more of your time is spent as a slave. You have the freedom to move about the country, but you still have to surrender your hard earned cash to federal state and local government so that they can wax fat on it.
When the government considers tax cuts as "spending" then you know that they consider you and everything that belongs to you as theirs.
It is at best, stupid to feed them McD's every day, yes, dangerous to their life? No. Apples and oranges argument and little to do with what I posted.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.