I like three-toed box turtles almost as much as crayfish. But this still strikes me as a bad idea:

Legislation signed into law Thursday by Gov. Matt Blunt designates the three-toed box turtle as the official reptile of Missouri and makes the crayfish, also known as the crawfish or crawdad, the official state invertebrate [...]

Blunt said he assumes there will be more, because children get both a science and government lesson when they research and advocate for their favorite plants and animals.

"It’s amazing what they come up with up," Blunt said. "I’m sure we’ll be stunned by their innovation as we name yet another state symbol next year."

We just can’t have a symbol for every middle-school class in the country. A few symbols are cute. A few hundred symbols are a waste of time on the part of our elected officials.

I’m also bothered by the idea that kids have to get their own law passed in order to learn about the legislative process. Kids can learn about the legislative process by visiting Jefferson City, listening to debates over the internet, or volunteering for campaigns. We would never make sixth-graders governor for the day to learn about the executive branch (although a few people might like that).