Where's the bull?

There is a legislator down in Salem (possibly only one) who doesn't have enough to do.

Sen. Ted Ferrioli, R- John Day, is bragging about Senate Bill 678, which would classify the crime of "Interference with Agricultural Operations" a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a year in jail and a $5,000 fine.

In a wonderfully self-serving press release, on his own letterhead, Sen. Ferrioli "explained how a perpetrator shot one rancher's prized bull dead and that others are opening gates on ranches letting cattle go free. Ferrioli demands that something be done."

Uh, Senator? When we last checked, it was already illegal to shoot someone else's cattle, probably a Class "C" felony as Criminal Mischief I. Intentionally leaving gates open would earn at least the charge of Criminal Mischief III, a Class "C" misdemeanor.

Let's ignore, for the moment, that more cattle have been shot and gates left open by incompetent hunters in one season than in a decade by what Ferrioli tags "environmental extremists."

The danger here is actually "legislator extremists" who feel they need to do something, anything, even the wrong thing, to show their value to their constituents. They craft special legislation for ranchers or loggers or others. It becomes more of a crime to shoot a $1,000 cow than to destroy a $1,000 pickup truck.

While this is wrong-headed, unfair, and a colossal waste of time, it may be a fine example of the prized bull that Sen. Ferrioli is pledged to protect.

ED