The American Spectator

p> DANGER LOOMS br> Re: Ralph R. Reiland’s Litigation Nation : /p>

I think that all these lawsuits against manufacturers, retailers, park districts, and other public agencies for stupid self-inflicted injuries are turning people into morons. Almost everyone I know has a favorite product warning — from chainsaws (“do not attempt to stop chain with hands”) to curling irons (“do not insert into any bodily orifice”). My favorite is a full paragraph prominently printed on each mate of each pair of boxing gloves marketed by a well-known boxing/martial arts equipment firm in Lenexa, Kansas. It warns the prospective user that “boxing is a contact sport” (well, duh!) and that the user assumes all liability for injuries resulting from the use of the product.

I think that John Edwards may be right when he talks about the “two Americas.” There’s that America that’s made up of people who realize that life is not without risk and that one can avoid many of these risks through the application of common sense and by following directions. Then there’s that expanding America made up of feckless boobs who have enriched people like John Edwards and others of his profession through litigation brought about by their clueless and irresponsible behavior. The result of all this litigation is the creation of a “spork culture” where all the potentially dangerous corners in life are rounded down or padded, thereby removing all risk as well as any enjoyment from life.

p>Don’t forget your bike helmets and knee pads, kids — it’s dangerous outside! br> — Bill Erdmann /p> p> Welfare people are about the only ones who show up for jury duty (who else can afford it?), and from that dismal pool, the selection ritual eliminates most of those with IQs bigger than their shoe size. Even if a group is (accidentally) impaneled that is capable of thinking about the burden on the general public of the award it is asked to make, the law generally requires judges to instruct jurors not to consider that aspect of the matter before them. br> — Ty Knoy