They should ban being a fucking idiot.  Of course, then we’d all be in jail at some point.

My one comment (apart from my opening line which is admitedly a knee-jerk reaction) is this:
Has the good Senator Kilby ever played any of the games he wants to ban?

Has the good Senator Kilby ever played any of the games he wants to ban?

Puppets, the answer to this query is very likely the same as the answer to the question of whether any of the idiots who wish to see certain books banned have actually read for themselves the reviled literature: a resounding “no.”

I find it ironic that conservatives such as Daryl feel the need to complain about how liberals “oppress” everyone ("Orwellian" seems to be a favorite adjective of this particular individual), yet you rarely see them complain about this sort of blatant abuse of power in a society such as ours. I wonder why that may be? It must not be “oppression” when the individual in question happens to agree with the particular proposal up for debate.

Don’t get too down on Daryl about this particular Senator as it’s a Democrat. In fact it seems like a lot of Democrats are jumping on the ban video games bandwagon in a sad attempt to show themselves as being pro-family values. Liberman, Hillary, etc.

Not that there aren’t Republicans in the mix, but there’s plenty of Democrats as well. When it comes to anti-video game legislation it’s a fairly bi-partisan group.

You’re right, of course. It’s just something I’ve noticed at this site and others like it that attract adherents to all ends of the political spectrum.

Regarding Lieberman, however, as far as I can discern he is a Republican in Democrats’ clothing.

Don’t forget Clinton, the poster child for the Dems (which just goes to show… a whole lot of things, but I digress).
Games are an easy target for members of both parties who don’t want to tackle complex issues.  i.e.
-How do we get out of Iraq? 
-Damned if I know.  Let’s just trash video games again.
-Ok

Similar story
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2006/03/09/news_6145659.html?part=rss&tag=gs_&subj=6145659

I for one am totally in favor of getting rid of violent video games, and would like to see my children playing only games that come from bible stories.

The David and Goliath game
The Joshua game
The Good Friday game
The Deuteronomy 21:18-21 game

Yep..nothing but good, wholesome non-violence in the Jethric household.

Even the “Super Mario” franchise could conceivably become contraband were such a law to go into effect. Technically Bowser could be considered an “authority figure”.

There’s no need to soften the blow with “technically,” as Bowser’s the effing King Koopa!

I tend to think the main trouble in electing those who are at less than the national level of (mis)government is that most voters do not or are unable to really research the candidates and determine who is a nutjob and who is a manipulative, petty lawyer who wants to feel powerful (as most politicians seem to me to be).  I’m guessing that most voters, if they get any kind of information at all, may get a “Conservative Values” card from their churches, suggesting who to vote for, or a mass-mailing from the candidate that will demonstrate his tough stance on crime, his opposition to taxes, his commitment to good schools and roads, his pledge to attract good jobs to the community, as well as the candidate with his wife and children ("Vote for me, I’m not gay and my dick works!").  Of course, all this comes only after the primaries, which is when the Democrat and Republican parties decide amongst themselves who we, the people, get to vote for.
You know, it could be that this lawmaker has an absolute spoiled brat for a child, and is trying to make this law just so he doesn’t have to shell out $40 or $50 a week on whatever the hot new game is.

Political correctness gone mad...People seem to have forgotten that violence has been around since the dawn of time, it resides in all of us. When we where cave men how did our ancestors settle disputes? There was no law, we beat the crap out of each other and whoever was left standing was right. Violent video games give us a vent for this natural urge if anything.

Why is it, that Tommy Kilby cant look into he future, and realize that the world canges. We really dont want to mess around with old ping pong games no more. !!! But he thinks, that all young people only wants to use the computer for, is these old games. “No ,no new games with action and stuff. It is lame” Stfu i think.. Protect the games!!! Stand up for our rights!

First off i have played video games since i was born and it is stupid how some senator or congressmen has the guts to say something about the video game culture.Almost every game has violence of some kind,look at every old Nintendo and Atari game they wern’t as gorey but there was always some sort of explosion,death,or you had to rescue someone from evil and more than likely you had to kill or disable that thing to complete the objective. The video games really have not changed they have advanced and become more detailed.They don’t need to ban them just make a little more stricter rules and regulations and if a kid gets a hold of a violent game and hurts someone go after the supplier as well.

To me, violent video games are a hoot.  I think we need more of them.  In fact, I’m going to call my senator and representatives and ask that they introduce legislation making violent video games mandatory for all americans with any sort of computer or video game console. 

OK - seriously.  Maybe I should just work with EA, UbiSoft or Rockstar Games, and put together a nice shooter where you get to run around this or that state legislature with a plasma rifle or a flak cannon.  Hmm ... Serious Senate Smackdown.  Now there’s a game that all Americans could get behind

        lol les is mad gay

Why is it all the losers whine about how ‘COOL’ violence is?  Is your self esteem really so low that the only way you can feel good about yourself is in pretending to be such a cold, callus, cruel, selfish jackass?  It has been my experience that you can tell a LOT about a person by what games he plays and how he plays them.  That do the games you play say about you?

Studies have shown that violence, even animated, over the top violence, numbs people to the real thing and affects the perceptions of people towards what is acceptable and what is not in real life.  (Even more so in children, up until around the age of 20 or so.)

And saying it’s a ‘1st Amendment’ issue?  Don’t make me laugh.  Anything that is harmful to society loses any consideration for that kind of protection.  (Try yelling ‘FIRE’ in a movie theater and see if that kind of expression is protected. . . )

No, I don’t want to ban anything with violence.  Even Chess is a ‘violent’ game at some level, as well as Mario Bros, etc. as was pointed out earlier.

Yes, this guy is an idiot for pushing such a poorly thought out idea as a law, but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water and start pushing the idea that what society really needs is MORE violence.

It has been my experience that you can tell a LOT about a person by what games he plays and how he plays them.

It has been my experience that you can tell a LOT about a person by what they pontificate about.

but don’t throw the baby out with the bath water and start pushing the idea that what society really needs is MORE violence.

I never said anything about society needing more violence. I’m just not convinced that violent media is as harmful as some studies claim it is as there are plenty of other studies that would counter that claim. My opinion is one largely from experience, however, I grew up watching all manner of supposedly harmful violence—such as the old Bugs Bunny cartoons that are censored to hell these days—and surprisingly enough I’m a relatively non-violent fellow. My personal experience just doesn’t jibe with some of the claims being made.