The claim that if government can require the purchase of health insurance it can therefore require the consumption of broccoli is one of those so-called “slippery slopes” that judges are always scrambling around.  Courts, politicians and lobbyists have found our legal system utterly eroded by slippery slopes, endangering us with every change in the law. If they identify a law that rankles, they will immediately excavate a slippery slope and then point to it with mounting panic.

Oh yes, health insurance today, but tomorrow . . . broccoli!

In the world of logic, this move is called “reductio ad absurdum” or “a reduction to an absurdity; the refutation of a proposition by demonstrating the inevitably absurd conclusion to which it would logically lead.”  Although logic has a strong reputation in our legal system, the “ad absurdum” part of this strategy should not be overlooked.

A delightful parody of the “reductio ad absurdum” is the current run of Directv commercials, such as “See what happens when you make bad decisions. Don’t wake up in a roadside ditch!” (http://bit.ly/ymT7PP).  In this instance, a cable television user becomes angry at being on hold with his cable provider, leading to several hazards, resulting in getting an eye-patch and finally getting mugged and left in a roadside ditch. Directv has run several commercials on the same silly premise, but no one is buying satellite television service because they are worried about ending up in a roadside ditch.  They laugh at the ridiculous outcome of a simple behavior, such as getting angry on the phone while being on hold.

However, when “reductio ad absurdum” is introduced into the courts or on the floor of the legislature, no one is laughing.  We are all sobered by the possibility we may be forced to eat broccoli in the future.  Why do we take these arguments seriously?

The National Rifle Association is a past master of “reductio ad absurdum.” Every restriction on the licensing of guns appears to them a violation of their right to bear arms.  Most recently they mounted a furious attack on the new technology, which would imprint an identification number on shell casings, so that police gathering them at the scene of a crime could trace them to their users– the criminals.   But if we can identify criminals, we can also identify innocent users of guns, and we wouldn’t want that– would we?  Why should we be allowed to know who fired a weapon and when they did it?  Won’t this mean that the government will come to our houses and seize our weapons without recourse? Ad absurdum!

Judicial decisions are particularly hazardous, because they are used as precedents, so there really is a slippery slope out there, not an imagined one.  The federal government has used its Constitutional power to regulate “interstate commerce” to intrude into affairs many would see best regulated by the state, such as education or care of the indigent. The Supreme Court is the ultimate arbiter of the degree of federal control, so it should take these cases of federal power seriously.

But the judges of the high court should be more wary of the “ad absurdum” arguments or they may find themselves with a satellite dish on the roofs of their houses.  Seeing broccoli as the outcome of universal health care really stretches the legal imagination. Health insurance is a lot more like Social Security and Medicare than it is like broccoli. Is the Constitutionality of Social Security at stake here? Should citizens be required to save money for retirement or for hospitalization? You can spot slippery slopes running off to the right as well as to the left.

We have a compelling social interest in citizens having funds for retirement, in having access to catastrophic health care, and ultimately to the high level of medical care this country offers. In no way does broccoli rank among these interests, and I will defend every citizen’s right to leave it alone. Regardless of the outcome of the Affordable Health Care decision, I am confident that the Supreme Court will protect my sacred right to eschew broccoli.

And I mean no offense to the broccoli growers and producers of America.