Nation of Murders

Idiot demonstrates (once again) why he can’t be taken seriously, even when he puts in good work.

Back in July, the government decided not to lower the drink-drive limit from 80 mg / 100ml to 50 mg / 100ml. They claimed that there was no clear evidence on the benefits of the change, and instead proposed two years of research to gather that evidence.

They lied. Advice on the decision, released under the OIA, shows there was strong evidence that a lower limit would save lives. And they could even put a figure on it:

Now, it does seem from media reports that he is right – they lied.

So, Cabinet decided to kill 66 people and pay more than $500 million so the liquor industry could continue to make money. They’re murderers, nothing more. And we should hold them to account for it.

So cabinet decides not to change something that will put some otherwise innocent and responsible in jail, catch a few people who might or might not have done damage, but would do nothing to fix the worst parts of a problem. In theory, it would save lives, in practice… maybe not so much. Who knows?

Now, you could legitimately argue that the liquor industry influenced the government – if you presented evidence of that.

But to argue that the government are now murderers because of this decision is way beyond reasonable. I have a proposal that would remove all road deaths (guess 🙂 ) but given that the government does not implement it does that make them murderers? No, of course not. It means (assuming they gave it the time of day) they balanced the chaos my proposal to remove all road transport would cause with the lives it would save and decided that would be a bad idea, and would probably cause more deaths than it resolved.

(In case anyone asks, I don’t have a firm opinion on the drink drive limit. I’m not a drinker myself, and I have read cases on both sides. What gets my goat is the overreaction –  when people take a legitimate discussion of where to strike a balance and start decrying their opponents as murders, rapists or violent criminals.)

Update: DPF points out that this sort of language makes Idiot the “New Zealand’s Glenn Beck of the NZ Left”.