Judge dismisses Obamacare suit filed by Gov. Phil Bryant

You may well have heard by now that United States District Court Judge Keith Starrett has tossed out the lawsuit filed by Gov. Phil Bryant (R) over Obamacare.  Judge Starrett ruled that, since Gov. Bryant has health insurance (that you and I already subsidize), Bryant has no standing to maintain the portion of the lawsuit dealing with mandatory insurance coverage.  In effect, the only way Bryant could sue would be to drop his health insurance.  But hey, why would someone want to do something silly like drop their health insurance?  Especially when you get such a good deal on it through your government job?


Going further, Judge Starrett dismissed the remainder of the lawsuit, which was targeted at the protection of personal health information, as not yet ripe.  The judge found that since the rules regarding the protection of health information haven't even been made yet, it would be a nullity to proceed further with claims that Obamacare violated people's right to privacy.

In related news, Gov. Bryant's lawyer in the Obamacare suit, State Sen. Chris McDaniel (R - Ellisville), was cited by the AP as relying on the right to privacy, of all things, as the basis for this portion of the now-dismissed lawsuit.

Hang on, gang.  It's time for a little one-on-one conversation between me and the angry SuperTalk listeners reading this right now.

Angry SuperTalk Listener - Right to privacy...right to privacy...where have I heard that before?
Me - I'll tell you: it's the basis behind the landmark ruling in Roe v. Wade.
Angry SuperTalk Listener - BUT THATZ DA ABORSHUN CAZZZZE!!!1!!!11!
Me (dodging spittle) - I know. That's really something, isn't it? 

Considering that Sen. McDaniel spends his time at the Capitol being about as big of an opponent to the right to medical privacy as one can find, I find it interesting that he's willing to toss that aside so he can continue to saber-rattle against Obamacare.  I'm sure he figures no one is paying enough attention to figure that out.

In closing, this is exactly what Attorney General Jim Hood was thinking when he decided not to waste our Attorney General's office's time and resources on this lawsuit.  Even though Haley Barbour told him to.  Pardon me for bringing that up, ok?