The RAVE Act: subliminal politics

We have now entered the Kevin Nealon "Subliminal Man" era of lawmaking, in which controversial bills are routinely snuck onto the back of otherwise benign legislation. Take the so-called RAVE Act (which holds property owners and promoters liable for illegal drug use on their property, even if they took steps to prevent it, and which may effectively kill most music festivals, forget about raves). A version of this act was attached to the AMBER Alert bill, which creates a new media-based system of response to child kidnappings. AMBER passed the House and Senate earlier this month without arousing much debate.

To translate into Nealonspeak: "We've finally found a model for protecting our children (Footloose), and for allowing the media to get all the information they need (smoked-filled room)..."