Are you familiar with the idea that there's only one holiday fruitcake in the world?  One that keeps being re-gifted with a new bow for every recipient?  And that eventually, the fruitcake that you received from Aunt Ethel and then gave to Cousin Jim will eventually find its way back to you?  Well, the theory of the lone fruitcake is on display in Missouri, where legislators are surely forcing a smile and choking out a half-hearted but unconvincing, "Uh, thanks."

After narrowly escaping the 2007 legislative session with the "Emily Brooker Intellectual Diversity Act" [HB 213] dying in the state Senate, the enemies of academic freedom and the free exchange of ideas are back for the 2008 session offering the same stomach-churning fruitcake they tried to foist on us last time.  Sure, it's got a different bow attached to it (it's now the "Emily Brooker Higher Education Sunshine Act" [HB 1315]), but it's the exact same ACTA-inspired legislative gut-bomb that legislators wisely refused to act on the last time. 

more after the jump...

And speaking of nutty fruitcakes, would you like to take a wild guess as to which Missouri legislator is again pushing this foul-tasting bill?  Why, it would be none other than Representative Jane "Queen of Bad Ideas" Cunningham, the same legislator who attempted to pass off this "gift" last year.  Cunningham is not someone you'd like to have as your Secret Santa - whether it's this odious so-called "intellectual diversity" legislation, a school voucher scheme that ignores evidence that the program is ineffective, or a plan to deny public school teachers the right to free speech, Cunningham's gift-giving prowess actually seems to make Aunt Mimi's annual present of socks and underwear seem downright appealing.

Incidentally, everyone hates fruitcake.  Let's hope Missouri legislators end the vicious cycle of re-gifting and simply dump this particularly nutty concoction in the trash.