Erick Erickson

Well, it's only April, but we already have our first nominee for idiot of the year. His name is Erick Erickson and he writes for something called "Red State.Com."

His latest post is entitled:

At What Point Do People Revolt?

I'm not sure if old Erick is afraid of the revolt he imagines is coming or if he supports it, but he writes hogwash like this:

At what point do the people tell the politicians to go to hell? At what point do they get off the couch, march down to their state legislator’s house, pull him outside, and beat him to a bloody pulp for being an idiot?


And This:

Were I in Washington State, I’d be cleaning my gun right about now waiting to protect my property from the coming riots or the government apparatchiks coming to enforce nonsensical legislation.

So what has happened in Washington to put him in such a tizzy? Has martial law been declared? Has the state government demanded the sacrifice of the first-born? What could it be?

Spokane County became the launch pad last July for the nation’s strictest ban on dishwasher detergent made with phosphates, a measure aimed at reducing water pollution. The ban will be expanded statewide in July 2010, the same time similar laws take effect in several other states.

Detergent?

Detergent. The stuff for washing dishes, that detergent?

What exactly is the problem here?

Washington State has turned its residents into a group of drug runners — crossing state lines to buy dish washer detergent with phosphate.

Really?

But the rage is building. It’s not a partisan issue. There is bipartisan angst at out of control government made worse by dumb bans like this

Really?

If the GOP plays its cards right, it will have a winning issue in 2010. . .

Really?

They're going to run on a detergent-based platform in 2010?

Really?

. . . But it is going to have to get back to “leave me the hell alone” style federalism where the national government recedes and the people themselves will have to fight to take their states back from special interests out of touch with body politic as a whole.

Yeah, reducing water pollution is such a tiny, special-interest issue. I mean, it only affects people who drink water. Or make canned soup with water. Or boil spaghetti in water. Or whose bodies are composed of around 2/3 water.

Erick Erickson. Nominee for idiot of the year!