US lawmakers are often criticized for not even reading the bills that they vote on, but instead, voting along party lines or influence from lobbyists. Some of the most notorious cases of this in recent history were the passing of the Patriot Act and the following National Defense Authorization Act.
In many cases, these bills are entirely impossible to read, consisting of hundreds or sometimes thousands of pages of tiny print and legalese, combined with a limited amount of time to decide and vote on the bill.
However, this is a problem that has been going on in Congress for generations and one lawmaker pointed it in a most epic way. On April Fool’s Day of 1971, Texas State Rep. Tom Moore proposed a prank resolution honoring a serial killer…and it passed.
The resolution officially honored the Boston Strangler for his “unconventional techniques involving population control,” but used his lesser known legal name, Albert De Salvo, instead of his infamous media moniker.
De Salvo confessed to murdering 13 different women in the Boston area, in the early 1960s.
“The Honorable Albert De Salvo has unselfishly served his country, his state, and his community. His sincerity diligence and cooperation has earned him the warm admiration and affection of his fellow practitioners,” the resolution began.
The resolution went on to commend De Salvo for his “significant contributions to the fields of medicine and mental health” and called him a “champion of worthwhile causes.”
Some parts of the bill did seem to indicate that something was not quite right, in addition to the obvious reference to population control. In one excerpt, the resolution states that “This compassionate gentleman’s dedication and devotion to his work has enabled the weak and lonely, throughout our nation, to achieve and maintain a new degree of concern for their future.”
While it seems obvious that this was a stunt to prove that politicians don’t even read the laws that they vote on, Moore claims that this was nothing but an innocent April Fool’s Day prank.
“Yes, it passed, but nobody got mad. It was an April Fool’s joke, but it made the press in a different light,” he told the AP.
Moore reportedly withdrew the resolution before it officially became law, so there isn’t a current law on the books honoring the Boston Strangler. However, this is still an important lesson on how government works behind the scenes.
Even if Moore didn’t truly set out to make a point, which is highly doubtful, the case was proven. It is more likely that he was initially trying to take a stand and then forced to back down behind the scenes when the story made headlines.
Either way, this proved that politicians will vote on completely ridiculous laws and resolutions that they have never even read. Even more alarming is the fact that this resolution was only a page long and took only a few moments of time to research, while most of the bills to pass through Congress are long, complex and confusing.
This situation is so commonly known that there have been numerous attempts at passing legislation to force lawmakers to read the bills they vote on, but since the fox is guarding the hen house all of these resolutions have failed.
http://thefreethoughtproject.com/lawmakers-pass-bill-honoring-serial-killer/
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John Vibes is an author and researcher who organizes a number of large events including the Free Your Mind Conference. He also has a publishing company where he offers a censorship free platform for both fiction and non-fiction writers. John just won a 3-year-long battle with cancer, and will be working to help others through his experience, if you wish to contribute to his medical bills consider subscribing to his podcast to support at https://www.patreon.com/johnvibes
I love your posts @johnvibes because they are extremely revealing and thought-provoking. In order for man to survive and continue to progress, we all need to begin to change our way of thinking. I for one, blame myself for my years of ignorance and complacency. It was a hard pill to swallow as I was extremely conscious about what people thought of me. Go along to get along was my motto, the social engineers know that we are lazy and my girlfriend accurately summed it up that "people will nearly ALWAYS take the path of least resistance." To me, that statement rang so true as people will just about do whatever makes their lives easier and hassle free.
Legislators don't read bills because they make fat salaries and get kickbacks from corporations and lobbyist groups. They don't give a fuck nor ever will they, when it comes to the people they purport to "represent". At every election, people cheer and wave their flags and their homemade signs, so disillusioned by the promises that never get fullfilled. Candidates will say anything to get votes because they know that the masses need the state to take care of them. Go along to get along...
It's easier to get plates for your vehicle and keep them current because we know they will pull us over and hassle us if they don't. It's easier to carry that mobile slave ID for licentious behavior because we get hassled and extorted from if we don't. The wool has been pulled over our eyes for so many lifetimes that we stopped questioning things. It reminds me of Plato's Allegory of the Cave, we have accepted a reality projected to us... accept nothing as truth if it is not self evident.
This is ridiculously true to some of our Politicians...I hope we have to be very careful in casting our votes during elections and really take time also to read/investigate before we cast our vote on a certain politician. Thanks for sharing this sir @johnvibes ...
The village where I live had a meeting this last Saturday to approve or deny a 'draft resolution' that would thereafter be revised and passed on to the county planning board.
Because it was essentially a vote for unknown language, it failed about 3 to 1. That's how honest folks vote on things. I am deeply suspicious of the folks that voted to accept the draft resolution, since after revision it could have said virtually anything.
Congress, insofar as they vote for stuff they don't understand, are vermin. The go to vote for anything not understood should be 'no'. Unfortunately, things can be drafted such that a 'no' vote is actually a 'yes' vote for new stuff. I have seen initiatives drafted to phrase things in the negative, like 'this initiative will prevent a new agency from being formed to harvest all organs of orphans for sale to rich transplant tourists, which will otherwise begin to murder babies no later than such and such a date'.
In a case like that, voting no is actually voting to create a new agency to murder orphan babies and harvest their organs for profitable sale to the rich.
Politics is inherently evil.
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This was 1971, how would it be now? I guess not much better ;)
What we need is more people inside the system that reveal the failings of the system. Most people see the problems but think these are just isolated cases. But the failures are an important part of the system and they allow a minority to exert control over our lives.
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