A bill that would have allowed Idaho authorities to monitor and track child support payments was killed in committee on Friday after Republican lawmakers warned it could compel the state to observe Sharia law, reports the Boise Weekly. Senate Bill 1067 would have allowed Idaho officials to use the federal government’s existing system to provide enforcement after tracking down deadbeat parents. Because the federal system is tied to the Uniform Interstate Family Support Act, which includes agreements with the Hague Convention on International Recovery of Child Support and Family Maintenance agreed to by Muslim-majority countries such as Bosnia and Albania, Idaho lawmakers fear the influence of creeping Sharia law…. “There is no specific language in the bill that would protect the rights of those dealing with parentage, child support and support orders from a foreign country that would contradict our laws here, ” said Sen. Sheryl Nuxoll (R). “There are other countries listed in the treaty—France, Belgium— that have recognized Sharia courts as quasi-courts. So I just feel that you should be aware of those facts.”
It takes a big person to admit that you fear something you don’t understand…and I seriously doubt any of the Republicans responsible for this bit of hilarity could define Sharia if you held a gun to their head. As we all know, however, definitions are for losers and Liberals. It’s not about what you know…it’s about what you’ve convinced yourself to be the truth. And Republicans in the Idaho legislature have this Sharia thing WIRED.
Today’s coffee-spew-quality laugh line should last us for awhile- “We don’t need to invite foreign law in Idaho.” Yep, we’re ‘Mericans, and we sure as Hell don’t need no furriners telling us how to do things. Never mind the fact that the Sharia they fear has not even the faintest relationship to the reality of Sharia. Sometimes, though, it doesn’t matter what you fear; it only matters that you do fear, and that you allow that fear to dictates your decisions in a way that (adversely, most likely) impacts others who actually DO have something at stake.
Sadly, this isn’t the first time Idaho Republicans have traveled this path.
Try telling a single mother whose deadbeat ex- isn’t keeping up with his child support obligations that “fear of Shria” is the reason the state can’t compel him to make court-ordered payments. I suspect she’d look at you with a deer-in-the-headlights stare and a “WTF??” on the tip of her tongue.
No, Republicans don’t have a monopoly on The Dumbass, but there’s little doubt but that they exercise theirs far more often and more expertly than Democrats. From Idaho to Texas to Arkansas to Floriduh, Republican legislators have demonstrated that having a double-digit IQ is no impediment to create a state of affairs in which things are totally and completely gefickt.
NEW RULE: If you’re going to fear something to the point of it allowing it to stop from doing something sensible, you must at the very least be able to accurately define what you fear.
