Maybe Rep. Dutton isn't so bad after all

The last time I wrote about State Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), it's because the legislator was trying to decriminalize pot possession. Boy, did I hear about it. Well now he wants to protect parents' rights to spank their kids, and this time I am four-square behind him:

State Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, has filed a bill that gives parents the right to use corporal punishment for "the reasonable discipline" of their children. "If your 14-year-old granddaughter leaves for school on Friday and doesn't come home until Sunday, you don't send her to timeout to get her to change her behavior," said Dutton, a father of seven and the attorney for the grandmother accused of abuse. "You've got to do something rather drastic."

When I was growing up, my mom had this magical wooden spoon. I could be in an entirely empty kitchen, and the second I reached for the cookie jar...WHACK! The spoon would appear out of nowhere and pop me right on the knuckles. And it was nice and legal.