In the brouhaha over a West Virginia lawmaker's foolish proposal, says Scott Greenfield, there's a serious point to be made about the overcriminalization of life today:

[At one time] legislators understood that the creation of crimes was reserved for only serious matters, and they did not try to burden the penal codes with daily annoyances, odd-ball situations or, as here, social engineering. To do so would not only be considered inappropriate, but would reduce the legislator's credibility to zero in the eyes of more serious colleagues. This has all changed, to the point where someone would be goofy enough to propose outlawing Barbie without fear of never being invited to lunch again....