Beverage Politics
The Feds and the Open Container Ban
By Courtney Lowery, 4-11-05
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After watching the reaction over the weekend to Montana's new open-container ban, we just have to weigh in. The move, (solidified as soon as the Governor signs the thing) coupled with our new smoking ban is triggering all kinds hails to the dawning of a "modern Montana." Finally, the enlightened notch a win for safety and successfully change "cowboy culture!" But the way we see it, it was a big victory for over-reaching federalism and not much else.
We're not saying it's right to crack a cold one and take a little drive, and we're not proud of our state's poor drinking-and-driving record. But there's never been a convincing argument that open containers and drunk driving actually have anything to do with each other, and those concerns were far from being the real push for the ban in the first place. Rather, this was all about a federal mandate: pass a ban or lose federal highway dollars. And boy can we be bought cheap - the state would have lost all of $5 million in federal highway funding (and one of the few things Montana is not lacking is federal highway funding.)
We've always liked Victor Rep. Jim Shockley's take on the thing (he's the one who successfully killed the ban last session). He always said the issue was about state's rights and poignantly told the AP then that "It's not their business to change our culture. If they don't like our culture, they should go somewhere else."
But the one amusing thing about stuff like this is that when it hits the national news, you can always count on your favorite Montana cliches being spouted with great color and authority by people who obviously don't know a thing about the state.
Check out the header on this guy's blogor the asshole redneck a.k.a. personal freedom comment from this guy.
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Comments
With the same reasoning the use of the word, "asshole", has nothing to do with poor journalism or making potential advertisers think twice.
You can smoke or take sudafed or sleeping pills and drive a car; if I want to drink a can of beer on a hot day on a country road, and I'm willing to take responsibility for keeping my wits sharp, why shouldn't I be allowed to?
But the sad truth is, this approach (presumably) works -- and if my kids were on the road, I'd probably demand it too.
That said, this bill passed largely because of the worry of losing highway money, even though I believe it would just be diverted to a different fund.
Still, the fine is pretty low and it doesn't go on your record.
A small victory.
It was a quote, follow the link. Watch just about any show on Comedy Central (where the language is much edgier) and one will see that they have no problem attracting advertisers. For that matter, neither does the Missoula Independent, UM Kaimin or even our local highschool newspapers -- with similar language contained within.