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Exchange between Jeff Smith and Mike Scanlon on smoking ban

Vice-Mayor Mike Scanlon:

Thank you for the exchange. However, you must not have read what I wrote, or not completely anyway. I do not smoke! Ha! Smoking is disgusting to me Mike. One whole paragraph of my letter to you below is dedicated to the fact that I am a non-smoker who believes in Freedom! Therein lies the power of my argument. I am not like you, and the handful of powerful and connected liberals in LEFTington, who wish to rule by mob-mentality, AKA democracy, as opposed to Constitutional Republican government, AKA Rule By Law, which is guaranteed by our Constitution.

I do not believe in forcing others to do what I want them to do. It is not for me to force business owners who CHOOSE to allow a LEGAL activity within their PRIVATE businesses, to DIS-ALLOW that LEGAL activity within their PRIVATE businesses. That is downright arrogant, wrong, un-American, and very dis-heartening to anyone who still believes in Liberty and Freedom. Yes, we haven't been wiped out YET! There are already non-smoking establishments in LEFTington Mike, made that way by their Free Owners exercising their rights as Free Americans

Jefferson, Washington, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and a host of other great Americans, must be rolling in their graves at what the good 'ol USA has become. America is now a nation of whiners, well-trained by liberals in government, to look to "big brother" to save them from every evil and even from themselves.

I love that typical statement of yours, "Why don't you take your gun and cigarette and go hunting in the great outdoors?" This exposes your liberal mentality in a big way. Again Mike, I do NOT smoke, and get this, I am not a hunter either! I am just not hungry enough for that yet. What you are saying here is that I am not welcome in LEFTington, by you and your leftist pals anyway, if I wish to exercise my Second Amendment Rights, constitutionally guaranteed, and if I wish to smoke, which again, I don't.

This is always what liberals do. They tell those of us who still believe in the Constitution, as written by men much smarter and more virtuous than either you or I, that we need to go somewhere else if we wish to live free. I am amazed that a person in an elected office would make such an arrogant statement Mr. Scanlon. I say, liberals go somewhere else if you don't like it here. This is the United States of America and we have a Constitution and Bill of Rights, no matter what liberal judges in high places say.

Which brings me to your last question. You said "What in the world do you need a gun for in Applebees?" My first reaction is to say, "If you have to ask, then you will never understand." Mike, the reason I brought up the disarmament issue was to show the readers that this foolish smoking ban is analogous to another un-Constitutional ban, the ban on firearms carrying in certain public establishments and in government offices. The latter should NEVER trounce upon the citizen's rights, as it should be the mission of government to protect and defend our Constitution against all enemies, both foreign and domestic. 

If you, as a PRIVATE Business owner, wish to not allow firearms inside your PRIVATE business, then I respect your right as a free American to do that, and knowing that, I would be the last armed citizen to come to the rescue of an Applebees client who is confronted by an armed criminal, since you do not think that Applebees clients deserve the respect of self-protection through carrying a firearm. It is the criminal who uses firearms for evil ends, not the armed citizen Mike. Communities with strict firearms laws have the highest levels of violent crime. That is a fact that even the liberals with their liar friends in the press cannot hide.

However, if you, as an elected official, wish to trounce upon our Constitution and tell other PRIVATE business owners that they cannot allow a LEGAL activity inside their PRIVATE establishments, then you are not doing your job as an elected official, in my view. In addition, since you are a competitor of these other businesses you wish to over-regulate with your liberal policies, you should not even be involved in the Council discussion of this issue. You should quietly stand at the side and let the cards fall where they may and accept the wishes of the other elected officials who do not have a conflict of interest in this fight. That would define integrity Mike. I am not saying there aren't other private business owners affected by this smoking ban on the LFUCG Council, for if there are, then they also should drop out of the fight.

We live in a time when people are sick and tired of government telling them everything they can and cannot do Mike, and this latest liberal notion of a smoking ban is just another example. You people in government, receiving funds from taxes taken from us without so much as saying "please", need to stop trying to be our nannies, get out of the business of regulating PRIVATE and LEGAL activities, and go back to taking care of roads, traffic, REAL crime, problems related to over-development, and keeping our streets safe. Then we could REDUCE the level of taxation that this liberal community is forcing upon its citizenry, give our public safety workers badly needed raises in salary, and thereby RAISE the quality of life in LEFTINGTON. Now, there is something to chew Mr. Scanlon.

The present government in LEFTington will go down in history as a government that saw it more important to regulate LEGAL activities in PRIVATE businesses, push a communist-style takeover upon a PRIVATELY owned water company that belongs to an excellent corporate citizen, and provide health benefits to non-married "couples", then to take care of its public safety workers. While you and the other liberals in this community were forcing "nanny government" down our throats, LEFTington ended up in the middle of a public safety crisis. That is why I don't vote liberals into government Mike.

Here are some quotes for you.

"Socialism is the philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy." 

Winston Churchill, 1948

"The more corrupt the state, the more numerous the laws!" Tacitus (A.D. 55-130)

"Few men desire liberty; most men wish only for a just master." SALLUST

"Let the people think they govern and they will be governed." William Penn

Yours in Liberty endowed by the Creator,

Saved by Jesus Christ, His son, and

Preserved by the American Military Veteran,

Jeff "Mario" Smith

LEFTington, KY

____________________________________________________________________________

----- Original Message -----

From: mscanlon@lfucg.com

To: jeffsmith@qx.net

Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2004 4:19 PM

Subject: RE: Smoking ban!

Hi Jeff,

I respect your opinion and agree with you in many ways.  It is time for people to realize smoking in enclosed public places is not fair to the majority who do not smoke.  You can smoke in lots of other places.  Why don't you take your gun and cigarettes and go hunting in the great outdoors?  What in the world do you need a gun for in Applebee's?

Mike

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff Smith [mailto:jeffsmith@qx.net]
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2004 11:25 AM
To: Albert S. Mitchell; Bill Cegelka; William L. Farmer, Jr.; Chuck Ellinger II; David Stevens; Richard S. DeCamp; Fred Brown; George A. Brown, Jr.; Gloria Martin; Jacques Wigginton; Jennifer A. Mossotti; Linda Gorton; Mike Scanlon; Paul Brooks; Sandy Shafer
Subject: Smoking ban!

February 13, 2004

Hooray for Freedom and Liberty!

According to today's Leftington Heraldo-Liberal, Leftington Vice Mayor and Councilman Mike Scanlon went to Frankfort, to speak to a committee that was discussing a bill to end the ridiculous concept of smoking bans. What is a smoking ban? Quite simply, it is local governments forcing private business owners to dis-allow a LEGAL activity within their PRIVATELY OWNED establishments.

Our Vice Mayor, Mike Scanlon, went to Frankfort to speak FOR the oppression of freedoms, and he has a dog in this fight, as he is the wealthy owner of Applebee's Restaurants. It is for that reason that Mike Scanlon should recuse himself from playing any role in this fight as a government representative. I, for one, will tell you that Mike Scanlon does NOT represent me, and I am a non-smoker from Leftington.

That's right, I don't smoke. I think smoking is a disgusting habit. I hate getting the smoke in my clothes and in my hair, what little I have left. I think it stinks and I think a lot of smokers are inconsiderate by throwing their butts everywhere, as if they aren't litter. However, when it comes to personal freedoms, I am on the side with the smokers who are exercising their right to enjoy a LEGAL activity. I am not going to force my desires upon them just because I happen to have someone in the local government on my side. No, that is wrong and underhanded.

Mr. Applebee, er, uh, I mean Mr. Scanlon, should recuse himself from this fight for he is acting like a hypocrite. Senator Damon Thayer, R, Georgetown, brought to the attention of the committee that Mr. Scanlon's restaurant in Georgetown is a virtual "smoke stack" and there is an O'Charlie's across the street where smoking is allowed so Mr. Scanlon is letting the marketplace dictate what his restaurant in Georgetown does regarding smoking. Quite eye-opening on Mr. Scanon, I would say.

Does Mr. Scanlon think that Leftington does not deserve to operate within the constraints of a free marketplace and should instead be under a dictatorship run by Mr. Scanlon and other anti-freedom zealots? I think not, and a smart group of senatorial committee members think the same voting 10-0 against Scanlon's ridiculous ranting. This argument is not about the right of local communities to determine their own destiny, we lost that in the Civil War. It is instead about stopping local communities from infringing on the freedoms of local business owners, who are huge taxpayers I would add.

Let this bill go to the floor and let it pass both sides of the legislature and let Governor Fletcher sign it into law. It is high time that local governments stopped becoming nannies for their little sheep and we were instead allowed to live free as our Constitution promises. There are already businesses in Leftington where smoking is not allowed and I can go there if I choose to. I don't need my local government to force a private business owner to make his restaurant smoke free just because that is what I want.

In addition, I have a Constitution and in that Constitution there is a Second Amendment which guarantees my right to keep and bear arms to defend myself, my family, and my country. Every day I have to go into establishments where my Constitutional right to bear arms is infringed. These businesses have a little sign on the door that says "no firearms allowed", and I have to obey or go to jail if caught. This is unconstitutional, but allowed anyway. If Mr. Scanlon were about freedom, he would rid our community of these unconstitutional bans to our Constitutional Rights. People gripe about having to enter establishments where they have to smell smoke. What about we who gripe about being disarmed at the door?

Yours in Liberty endowed by the Creator,

Saved by Jesus Christ, His son, and

Preserved by the American Military Veteran,

Jeff "Mario" Smith

Leftington, KY

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