So much for the notion that Texans have freedom...

A bill has been introduced in Texas that makes missing a parent-teacher conference a criminal offense.

Now, before everyone gets all upset, having a good excuse is an acceptable defense for parental misbehavior in being absent from the classroom.  And it’s only Class C Misdemeanor.  And the fines will be used strictly for educational purposes.  Of course, there is no provision outlining what exactly constitutes a reasonable excuse, or whether a parent needs to get a signed note from his/her respective parents/doctor/boss, etc.  But I’m sure all of these details will work themselves out in due time.

The Texas legislator who introduced this bill, as you might guess from the title of this post, is a Republican.

It's stuff like this that led me years ago to my epiphany about how Democrats and Republicans are the same beast.  For as much as Republicans talk a good game about "small government", they don't mean it.  Democrats and Republicans both love large government equally.  The only difference between the two are the social policies that they'd like government to force upon their constituents.

This post was sponsored by the letter L.