A free-market solution to Barilla's bigotry

In response to Guido Barilla's comments and his "I'm sorry you feel that way" non-apology, a competitor has done the following:

Bertolli Makes the Most of Barilla Chairman's Anti-Gay Comments

Barilla is struggling enough this week without its competitors piling on. But Bertolli doesn't care. Seizing on comments made by Barilla's chairman about how the company would never put gay couples in its advertising, Bertolli Germany quickly posted pro-gay imagery in its social feeds, happily taking advantage of its rival's misstep.

This is the way to do it, not to invite government to step in and thereby turn bigots into martyrs for free speech.

I love big government, except when it inconveniences me.

We all know the sort of shotgun statists and laser-beam libertarians who call for greater government control over everyone else's life, as long as they themselves get an exemption. We know about those who take a conveniently selective approach to reproductive autonomy or to freedom of association. Now, acquaintances of mine sing the praises of the Affordable Care Act, up to but not including the parts of Obamacare that inconvenience them personally.

The obligatory Barilla post

Guido Barilla has the right to say what he thinks about the family. Those who disagree with him have the right not to buy Barilla products. Why is this so difficult to understand?

People who complain about economic coercion against Barilla must know on some level that they're mistaken, since activists on both the right and the left have long used boycotts. Then again, perhaps economic coercion, like judicial activism, means whatever the person using the term doesn't like.

Whose body is it anyway? DC Government and tattoos

Personally, I am not a big fan of tattoos, but I am also not a big fan of nanny-statism, including this example:

Some popular impulse purchases — tattoos and body piercings — could soon become less impulsive if District [of Columbia] health regulators have their way.

A mandatory 24-hour waiting period is among the provisions included in a 66-page package of draft regulations governing the “body art” industry released by the city Health Department on Friday.

So the city government wants to take a more active role in adults' choices over their own bodies? What could possibly go wrong? Besides, it's not as though either tattoo parlors or potential customers could go to Virginia or Maryland or to a hack in the underground economy.