April 28, 2008
Nanny State Run Amok, Mike's Hard Lemonade Edition
I've written this before: scramble the letters of "NANNY STATE," and you get "NEAT 'N NASTY."
Well, here's another great example of how the NANNY STATE delivers the NEAT 'N' NASTY:
A son's thirst and a father's oversight at the ballpark turned an otherwise fun outing into an ordeal for one family.Christopher Ratte of Ann Arbor recently took his 7-year-old son, Leo, to a Detroit Tigers game and stopped at a Comerica Park concession stand to buy him some lemonade. But it wasn't until the top of the ninth inning, when a security guard asked the University of Michigan classical archaeology professor about the bottle in his son's hand, that Ratte learned what puts the hard in Mike's Hard Lemonade.
"I'd never drunk it, never purchased it, never heard of it," Christopher Ratte [said.] . . .Ratte said he told the guard he had no idea that the $7 lemonade contained alcohol. But when he tried to look at the bottle, the security guard snatched it - and his son was taken to a ballpark's medical clinic. The mistake three weeks ago began a two-day stay for Leo in state custody and nearly a week before his father would be able to move back into his home.
Leo was taken by ambulance to Detroit's Children Hospital because clinic officials said he reported feeling a little nauseated after drinking about 12 ounces of the drink with a 5 percent alcohol content. But a blood sample taken at the hospital detected no trace of it.
Ratte said the workers from the state's Child Protective Services unit told him that day the intervention was unnecessary but they were just following orders. . . .
An assistant state attorney general said the state had no interest in aggressively pursuing the case, so a juvenile referee on April 7 agreed to release Leo to his mother as long as his father relocated to a hotel. Three days later, the complaint was dismissed and Christopher Ratte was allowed to go home.
Wow, so glad that the state of Michigan's Child Protective Services, which has allowed foster children to be abused to death by foster parents, has its priorities straight.
This is the epitome of statism. Disturbing.
NEAT 'N' NASTY.
***
One other thing: It should be noted that the Michigan Department of Human Services, which is in charge of Child Protective Services, is headed by Islamist Medicaid defrauder Ismael Ahmed. He should be under suspicion (and behind bars), not this innocent dad.
Posted by Debbie at April 28, 2008 06:35 PM
Comments
For those of us who read Superman comic books, think of the Bizarro world.
Posted by: c f ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.debbieschlussel.com/nav-commenters.gif)
at April 28, 2008 06:55 PM
WTF? Catch 22. These people ought to be sued.
Posted by: lonewolf at April 28, 2008 07:24 PM
Oh for crying out loud it was a MISTAKE he was only human. Haven't any of them done something a little dumb at all?
Posted by: mindy1 at April 28, 2008 09:42 PM
Nanny state, yes, but it's also this "zero tolerance" BS. Zero tolerance leaves no room for interpretation or rational thought. It makes the world a perfect place for those unclear on the concept of "common sense". You know,.. democrats.
Posted by: spiffo at April 28, 2008 10:00 PM
But the Muslims are preaching cold, hard hatred and death to America, but not one single cop would be allowed to step in and do anything about it in the state of MI. However, persecuting a dad over an honest mistake is just fine.
Posted by: Madame Vengier at April 29, 2008 07:27 AM
You mean persecuting a "white" dad. I have decided a long time ago not to ever spend any of my hard earned dollars in the racist city of Detroit. (Kwame uses tax money as his own personal bank account") I am sure that if he were black...This incident would have never made the news media. I really wish more people would start boycotting Detroit. When Kwame steps down, I may consider attending more events.
Posted by: kieko at April 29, 2008 08:35 AM
Wow- well, I guess every Roman Catholic who has a child preparing for their First Holy Communion should expect a knock on their door this week. I have a letter from my church suggesting we let out children take a sip of wine so the taste of the sacramental wine isn't a shock.
Posted by: MarySJ at April 29, 2008 09:31 AM
Finding it a little hard to believe that a professor did not realize that this contained alcohol, but also am amazed that kids are left in custody of individuals arrested for possession of meth and crack.
Posted by: eloopd at April 29, 2008 09:55 AM
The USA has become a Police State and Government employees have become the brown shirts.
The story illustrates that we no longer live in a free country.
This is not the country I grew up in where nanny state morons can take a child from a father for making an innocent mistake.
Posted by: ScottyDog at April 29, 2008 11:47 AM
come on! I really don't believe a dad can not know that he's buying his son alcahol! Don't you have to show Id when you buy this stuff?? The police acted apropriatly here.
Posted by: PrincessKaren at April 29, 2008 01:06 PM
Isn't Detroit the place where the mayor can have his bodyguards kill strippers with no repercussions?
I'm glad that city has its priorities straight.
Posted by: GEB4000 at April 29, 2008 02:28 PM
We have the same problem here in AZ. If the child is really in danger, the CPS invariably gives the parents a clean bill of health. A few weeks or months later the child is dead and THEN the parent goes to jail.
But if there is some MINOR issue the state is just liable to make your life a living hell while you fight to keep your child.
Posted by: robscottw at April 29, 2008 07:03 PM
Many years ago, when our 2nd oldest child was about 18 months old, she never gave us a single night's sleep, waking up at least 3 times every evening. Our oldest slept from sun-down to sun-up since week 5 but this one was digging us into an early grave through chronic sleep deprivation.
At the time, it was the Jewish holiday of Purim and we went to friends for the festive holiday meal, where much wine and alchoholic drink is served (it is the only such meal of its kind in Jewish tradition).
At some point my wife asked our hosts if they would mind if we refilled our baby's bottle up with grape juice. No problem, they said.
Turned out my wife had inadvertantly filled the bottle with sweet wine. Our little girl dozed off in an instant but not before completely sucking the bottle out dry.
A short while later my wife realized her mistake and we called the doctor right away. He said "not to worry, just go home and have a great night's sleep, she'll wake up nice and refreshed late in the morning."
And that is how we had the only night of uninterrupted sound sleep during the first 2 and a quarter years of our daughter's infancy.
Yes, it was tempting thereafter to slip her another bottle now and then. No, we didn't, heaven forbid.
Glad we don't live anywhere near Michigan. I don't look good in stripes, ball and chain.
Posted by: Shy Guy at April 30, 2008 01:36 AM
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