Governor Gregoire Signs Law To OK Slandering Women

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire (we'll get back to the validity of the election later) signed a bill this week permitting saying bad things about a female 12 or older that could injure her reputation or expose her to contempt. Unless she is a prostitute. Then it was already OK. What Gregoire really did was sign the repeal of one of Washington's obsolete laws, this one dating back to 1909.

Of more practical interest, the state Legislature repealed a ban on Sunday liquor sales which dated to the mid-19th century. Since the state directly controls all the liquor stores in Washington, don't look for a big change overnight. 20 of the state's 162 outlets will start opening on Sundays, and an unknown number of the 154 contract stores may do so. For reference, San Francisco alone has 219 liquor stores just in the city. Anyone remember something called Free Enterprise?