You Can’t Spell ‘Needless’ Without ‘Needles’

The following is an excerpt from OpinionJournal.com’s “Best of the Web” written by the editor, James Taranto.

NOTE: The excerpt below is from the 12/1/08 BOTW archives.

You Can’t Spell ‘Needless’ Without ‘Needles’
Bloomberg reports on the latest entry in the annals of silly warning labels:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy voodoo dolls can still be sold by a publisher as long as they come with a warning that sticking pins in the toy is an affront to his dignity, a Paris court ruled today.

The court rejected Sarkozy’s appeal to block the sale of the dolls. It awarded him 1 euro ($1.27) and required the warning labels be added to the packaging in conspicuous block lettering. Sarkozy’s lawyer said the ruling wasn’t a defeat.

“The appeals court ruled very clearly that sticking pins in an effigy doll is an affront to human dignity,” Thierry Herzog, a lawyer for Sarkozy, said to reporters after today’s decision.

It’s a little like putting a label on a bottle of cheap liquor that says WARNING: MAY CAUSE INTOXICATION. The object of the warning is the purpose of the product.

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