“Surprising” >not<
I cease never to be amazed at the tone and scope of things like this. The whole underlying implication is that this sort of thing is surprising, shocking, rare, isolated, unexpected. It's nothing of the sort, and if you think it is, it's only because you believe The Big Lie. The Big Lie, of course, is that people who hold political office possess some degree of nobility, virtue, moral authority. No, they are people who desire to control and regulate your life. And they steal your own money to do it. They believe with all their hearts that they know best what limits ought to be placed on what you are permitted to value; what limits ought to be placed on the sorts of values you are permitted to trade; what limits ought to be placed on whom you might trade with: what race, gender, nationality, or geographic situation; and in what quantity, times, places, and what minimum time must have passed since the day or your birth, or that of your partner in trade. And they wrap it all up with enforcement at gunpoint. In short, though it's dressed up a lot prettier than others at other times have...