Lawmaker Slips Up, Admits 'We Have To Regulate Every Aspect of People’s Lives'
You should remember the name Jesse Dominguez. He lives in Santa Barbara where he is a city councilman.
The reason you should care about this particular councilman in Santa Barbara is because he holds a surprising view of personal freedom and liberty. Dominguez recently said in a public meeting: “Unfortunately, common sense is just not common. We have to regulate every aspect of people’s lives.”
When he made these comments he was debating the earnestly important matter of the criminalization of plastic straws.
Is it possible the people of Santa Barbara are so obtuse they cannot effectively navigate through life without regulations regarding the use and disposal of plastic straws?
The answer to that is probably not, because after Dominguez blurted out those blatantly progressive words, the backlash ensued and an apology followed.
“I just wanted to apologize,” Dominguez said at the beginning of the meeting, according to Santa Barbara’s Noozhawk. “A few weeks ago I made a string of words in a rhetorical fashion about regulation and they were not taken as rhetorical and that’s my fault so I want to apologize.”
It’s not clear whether Dominguez has learned his lesson about controlling every aspect of people’s lives, however, because he still voted to support the plastic straw ban.
He and the rest of the council didn’t stop there. Polystyrene and foam products are banned there as well.
Unfortunately for Dominguez, what happens in Santa Barbara doesn’t necessarily stay in Santa Barbara. When word spread about the councilman’s lack of confidence his constituents’ intelligence, social media weighed in.
Now all the internet knows him as not just a Santa Barbara city councilman but also a wannabe major micro-manager of people’s lives.
https://twitter.com/RawDawgBuffalo/status/1026486603647250432
"Councilman Jesse Dominguez said the following in response to citizens who asked “what’s next?”:
“Unfortunately, common sense is just not common. We have to regulate every aspect of people’s lives.”Build the wall….around California.
— RepublicIfYouCanKeepIt (@RSE_VB) August 5, 2018
https://twitter.com/sheaholliman/status/1026507421437419520
PJ Media commented on the thirst for power from politicians like Dominguez and others:
“The essence of all politics is power. The essence of power is control. Who do we want exercising power/control over our daily affairs? In our republic, it is the individual who should be free to exercise control over his daily life as long as that control or exercise thereof does no harm to anyone else. That is the essence of individual liberty and has made America an exceptional nation among nations.”
Could it be true that Dominguez and the rest of the city council have managed to turn Santa Barbara into the closest thing any of us will ever see to Utopia?
If plastic straws, polystyrene and foam products headline the agendas at city council meetings in Santa Barbara, life must be pretty sweet there. Maybe cities with real problems like Chicago, New York or St. Louis would be well-served by their extraordinary talents. But common sense tells me that’s probably not true.
After hearing the true motivations of their city council members, one can only hope personal freedom and liberty might become a higher priority with the people of Santa Barbara over criminalizing plastic straws and foam containers.
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