Saving only one life

"The Life Line," Winslow Homer, 1884

Vice President Joe Biden, appointed by President Barack Obama to oversee a commission on gun policy following the horrific massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14^th, has established his criteria for making legislation.

“If our actions result in saving only one life, they’re worth taking,” Biden proclaimed at a meeting of victims and gun control proponents at the White House on January 9^th.

Let’s stop and consider this. According to the Vice President, the saving of one life is justification for taking legislative action which may affect the constitutional liberties of millions of Americans. Not to say that this is undesirable, but let’s consider a few scenarios.

On Monday January 7^th, a California mother was taken into custody for the death of her 2-year-old step-daughter. Proximate cause? According to police, she forced the child to ingest chili powder. Who knew that chili powder is poisonous to young children? The possession of chili powder should be immediately banned. After all, who actually needs chili powder? “If our actions result in saving only one life, they’re worth taking.”

In late March, 2011, a Georgia woman was killed by an injection of silicon intended to augment the allure of her buttocks. Morris Garner, a transgender, cross-dressing, unlicensed cosmetologist who formerly served in the military discovered that body-augmenting procedures might be profitable. So he hooked up with the unfortunate victim on the Internet. His lack of a license did not deter her, but led unfortunately to her death. Silicon injections for cosmetic purposes should be immediately banned. After all, who actually needs to have augmented buttocks? “If our actions result in saving only one life, they’re worth taking.”

Toledo, Ohio, August, 2011.  A 62-year-old women died from asphyxiation after falling head-first into her city issued recycling bin. It is likely that Sheila Decoster was trying to dispose of a small bag of recyclables but fell into the bin and perished from “positional asphyxia”. Clearly, these recycling bins are far more dangerous than we have been told. They should be promptly banned. “If our actions result in saving only one life, they’re worth taking.”

A recent Huffington Post article reports that 178 children have been killed by U.S. drone strikes in Pakistan, Yemen, and other countries. That's nearly nine Sandy Hooks. Do we hear a cry from the administration to curtail these strikes? “If our actions result in saving only one life, they’re worth taking.”

Not to make Mr. Biden sound foolish, but he is. Pandering to emotion to force political change is the worst kind of demagoguery. Legislation need be formed rationally, coolly, logically. Costs and benefits, rights and responsibilities must be carefully considered and balanced. We, the governed, deserve the benefit of the big picture, not the hormone rush of high emotion.