Well, are we all feeling safer and healthier today?
The mislabeled “Freedom to Breathe” Act has taken effect. I imagine that the Tobacco Taliban is now trying to figure out how to get what little smoking is still allowed outlawed now. How people can have so little use for our rights to religious toleration, freedom of association, personal choice, and property is probably no big question. But what is wrong with the bulk of our populace, those who have allowed our basic rights of choice, association, property and toleration to be taken.
We keep hearing that smoking bans are popular. So what? Since when was majority opinion a factor in establishing human rights?
Dave Thune has said that he introduced the Gay Rights Ordinance because, even though it was controversial, it was the right thing to do. Now he says he introduced our local tobacco ban for the same reasons. He is wrong on both counts. Not only is the ban popular, it is the WRONG thing to do.
There are people who will continue to support the Tobacco Taliban-supported politicians at all levels of government even though smoking bans it are the wrong thing to do They say they can’t be “one issue” people.
Single issue??
> human rights?
> freedom of choice?
> freedom of association?
> property rights?
> religious toleration?
Which of these rights is a single issue?
Wake up America!
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2 comments:
Hey, Ray. You're not usually this mellow. Something happen?
I, since giving up smoking, am appreciative of the smoke free environments that now exist. It is great, as a non-smoker, to come home from a night out and not smell like an ashtray.
However much I appreciate this clear air there is a greater threat lurking in the precedent these anti-smoking laws set up. The precedent these laws establish portends a future where the government can intercede anywhere in Americans lives when it deems it necessary for the purposes of health and safety.
Aren't we allowed to be stupid if we want to anymore? (Smoking is definitely a stupid thing to do to your body, but it is YOUR body.)
Smoking, last I knew, is still a legal activity. Bars and restaurants, although public places, are private property. Therefore what these new laws do is prevent folks from conducting a legal activity on private property.
I am no lawyer but once a precedent is set isn't it often used as a model for future law?
What kind of laws can you imagine may come from this precedent? I can imagine a bunch, and I don't cosy to any of them!
I agree with R.Sammons on this one: WAKE UP AMERICA!
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