Ratify Binky's Law!

Last Friday, Gov. Pataki signed into law legislation that increases the penalties for those found guilty of drunk driving. It was called "Vasean's Law," after 11-year-old Vasean Alleyne, who was struck and killed in Queens by a drunk driver last year.

Vasean's Law joins Kendra's Law, Megan's Law, Amber's Law and a dozen other laws in recent years named after the young victims of awful crimes. While we're sure it's a very proud moment for Vasean's mother (who'd been pushing for the legislation), we have to admit that this whole trend of naming laws after children is starting to drive us a little nuts.

Worse, we're having an increasingly difficult time keeping them straight. (Who has to do what, now, because of Kendra's Law?) Laws should be named in such a way that we can tell what the hell they're legislating-not just to ease the consciences of grieving parents.

That's why we propose the immediate passage of Binky's Law, named after a dog we saw on a television commercial once when we were kids. Binky's Law would institute an immediate moratorium on naming any more laws after people. It's just our small contribution toward helping make the already insanely tangled and complex jungle of the modern American legal system a bit more comprehensible.

So please, for the sake of the children, write your congressman today and urge him to do everything in his power to push through Binky's Law as quickly as possible.

If you won't do it for yourself, at least do it for Binky.