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The same tired old conservatives blabbing about nanny-statism and liberty seem to pick and choose when it comes to their definition of the word. Liberty is fine when business owners are allowing their customers to poison their employees, but when it comes to REAL liberty for citizens and the majority they say it doesn’t apply.
When our forefathers talked about Liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they were talking about all of us, not just the pub owners. Every American has the right to happiness as long as we don’t infringe on other peoples’ rights. That is really what the heart of the smoking ban is about. So I agree, the ban is about liberty, no ands, if’s or BUTTs about it.
I watched the trail of tears over at the War College since this whole smoking ban debate started. They have dug up every damn excuse you can think of to stop this from going forward. I’ll stand behind Pat Powers for going after overzealous politicians, God knows we have plenty of them in South Dakota, but the one thing I have learned about attacking them on my blog is intimidation doesn’t work unless you are right on an issue – Pat, this time you couldn’t be more wrong.
I liken the smoking ban to the food tax debate. What gives government the right to tax a necessity? What liberty do we have if government FINES us before we can eat? A smoking ban doesn’t make smoking or tobacco illegal it just requires employers to provide a safe work environment, something OSHA was been requiring  99% of other employers for decades. But a food tax allows government to force payment to them for basic survival. Talk about infringing on liberty!
So why aren’t conservatives fighting the food tax as hard as they are fighting a smoking ban? It’s all about priorities, not liberty – and their priorities lie in between the folds of their wallets.