The Bush Administration has discovered what liberals have known all along: the Constitution is a mighty comprehensive document, giving the federal government powers over the minutest aspects of our lives.
Case in point: apparently Bush & Co. have discovered that there is a right to miniature golf defined in the U.S. Constitution.
That’s the upshot of a new set of rules updating the Americans with Disabilities Act being released for public comment this Tuesday. Other new rights include easier access to light switches in hotel rooms by moving them 6 inches lower, wheelchair lifts in courtrooms to provide easier access to the witness box, and wheelchair lifts to provide easier access to stages in auditoriums. And the miniature golf courses? Soon at least half the holes will have to be easily wheelchair accessible.
It is, of course, utterly ridiculous that such things are matters of federal regulation. Unfortunately, it is not innocuous.
Not too long ago most Americans believed in at least the concept of limited government; more recently at least conservatives and most Republicans did. But now it seems that only a few libertarians still feel bound to even consider the possibility of limits to federal powers before proposing the imposition of ever more burdensome rules from Washington.
It may seem strange at first to see great danger in the latest proposed extension of federal power. After all, who could object to making the world a better place for the disabled? And that is what these rules are intended to do.
But intentions don’t matter in the real world. Consequences do.
And as a consequence of the Bush Administration’s new proposed regulations, the federal government is now asserting a legitimate interest in the design of miniature golf courses, the placement of light switches in hotel rooms, what is broadcast when on stadium scoreboards and video monitors, and a whole host of other, equally trivial aspects of our public and private lives.
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