Too Fucking Short

I mentioned that some clown being interviewed on NPR yesterday said that the Constitution was "too old and too short."

When writing laws, short is a virtue. It may not always be possible, but if a law can be kept short, that ensures that it will be widely read. Congress routinely passes bills that go into the hundreds of pages, which virtually guarantees that nobody will read them. A bill that is so long that people will not read it is no different than a secret law.

For instance, someone over at Kos discovered that the new FISA bill also redefines what is a "weapon of mass destruction." A WMD, in military parlance, is a nuclear weapon. Chemical and biological weapons are "area denial weapons." Congress, in its extremely finite wisdom, is defining a WMD so broadly that it includes tear-gas canisters. (Next, Congress will specify that when the tide flows out, it is really flowing in.)

Shortness is a virtue.