Saturday, February 22, 2014

Sam Moore, Sex Offenders, and Your Preferred Narrative

Yesterday newly elected representative to Georgia House District 22 Sam Moore was publicly excoriated, humiliated, and denigrated for introducing House Bill 1033 before the Georgia Legislature. It was a move that revealed a lack of political savvy on Moore’s part. More on that in a minute.

I was on my way to a doctor’s appointment yesterday morning with my son when I read the news on facebook. A long-time Georgia Republican friend now working in Washington D.C. was irate that a freshman rep would be so foolish as to introduce such awful legislation that stupidly gave cover to sex offenders. He lamented the setback it would be to Georgia’s stellar political reputation, probably on a nationwide scale.

Without even knowing what bill this friend was referring to, I knew he was talking about Sam Moore. How did I know? I’m accustomed to Republican ‘outrage’ when anyone ‘new’ introduces anything, especially anything that doesn’t go through the normal vetting process, e.g. doesn’t adhere to the elbow rubbing, back patting, pay your dues-ing, lunch eating, waste-of-time protocol HB 1033 so clearly must have avoided. The arguments from these Republicans are always over how such actions discredit the party, or Georgia, or them individually as they tirelessly work for the good of Georgia’s great citizenry.

I already knew instinctively that whatever bill Moore introduced wasn’t what the press and pundits wanted to claim it to be. I knew it had to be part of some greater effort toward smaller government and more liberty. I also knew from experience that the mischaracterization of these efforts to limit government gives great joy and glee to many who make their living reporting on the expansion of power and those in power themselves.

What I wasn’t prepared for, however, were Moore’s natural allies in the legislature, most of whom I know personally, taking the road my insider Republican friend did and going along with the ‘for the children’ scare tactics by making loud public pronouncements against Moore and the bill. Particularly when I’m certain these legislator friends knew the true objectives behind Moore’s legislation:  the intent to return many of our 4th and 5th Amendment constitutional protections back to Georgians.

Let me repeat, I’m very doubtful that those legislators didn’t know where Moore was headed with this bill, a bill which basically attempts to make right the burdensome requirements to identify oneself to law enforcement even if one is not suspected of a crime.