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LEFTington KY Continues to Argue Nanny-State Smoking Ban

By Jeff “Mario” Smith, Guerilla Reporter

June 24^th, 2005

Yesterday evening, in front of an almost full council chamber, LEFTington’s smoking ban review panel heard from the public one last time. This was billed as a time to present recommendations to amend this nanny-state attack against freedom and personal choice. The LEFTington Fayette Urban County Council www.lfucg.com has already passed a countywide smoking ban in all public businesses.

Georgetown Kentucky, a few miles to the north, followed suit with its own smoking ban. Both cities have a common denominator in that LEFTington Vice-Mayor Mike Scanlon mscanlon@lfucg.com owns Applebee’s restaurants in each of them and is an outspoken proponent of banning smoking in restaurants and bars. What ever happened to removing oneself from votes that directly affected one’s own pocketbook? Wasn’t that the noble thing for public servants to do in years past? I think it is called a “conflict of interest”. Gone are the men of virtue that once were attracted to public service! I wonder if people realize that by spending money at Applebee’s they are supporting these attacks against Liberty? Of course not, the sheeple are asleep.

As is traditional, the Heraldo-Liberal article, in today’s poor excuse for a newspaper, got it wrong. They made it appear as if this event was a two-sided battle between the “well-meaning” forces for clean air and a “handful of angry business owners”. Of course, this is wrong, and I know, because I was there and I also spoke, but when does the Heraldo-Liberal get it right anyway? This is no surprise.

While the paper is correct that the radical (my description) ban supporters want even a stronger ban, and the American Cancer Society, a group I thought was fighting cancer not fighting against the freedoms of Americans and American business owners, was on hand to throw their two cents, er uh, my two cents (I donate to the American Cancer Society every year, or did until now anyway), into the fray, their description of the ban opponents is wrong to the point of being irresponsible.

Yes, there were bar owners on hand to ask that the ban be amended and made more reasonable, but I did not see anger as the Heraldo-Liberal put it. I saw some enjoying the humor of all the over emotional liberal arguments for more and tougher nanny-state ordinances, and some expressing how their incomes and that of their employees has been negatively affected. One gentleman was frustrated that he could not speak against one of the panelists but I did not see anger. Also speaking against the ban were bar and restaurant employees, and me, a non-smoker who actually still believes in a concept bequeathed to us from our founding fathers, something called Liberty.

Conspicuously missing from the Heraldo-Liberal account of the evening was what I said which I feel was one of the most important parts of the discussion. I am not saying that because I said it, but rather because I believe Freedom and Liberty are far more important than tax revenue, salaries, and profits. I made it clear that I am a non-smoker. I told them that I am the youngest in a family of five where all the other family members smoked Lucky Strike non-filters at home and in the cars in which I traveled and I do not have cancer. So, to me, the fear tactic of second-hand smoke causing cancer is “fuzzy science”.

I let them know that I do not want, nor do I need, a nanny-state big brother government making bars and restaurants “safe” for me and my family. That insults my intelligence. I told them that I know I am a rare bird in that I actually believe in Liberty and Freedom and that this ban should be done away with. It is time to stop LEFTington from being anti-business and to stop stepping on the rights of business owners and others who wish to engage in a “legal” activity inside “privately-owned” businesses.

Also left out of the article was the most credentialed speaker in attendance, and that was Chris Derry of the Bluegrass Institute for Public Policy Solutions www.bipps.org. Chris spoke to the fact that this ban is an attack against the private property rights of citizens and offered a solution that is already working well in the United Kingdom.

While some of the ban supporters got up to speak of the horrors of cancer from smoking, they were a bit off in left field for this discussion because they were describing cancer that people who choose to smoke die from. This smoking ban is not about stopping people from smoking, it is about stopping people from having to endure “second-hand smoke”, that fuzzy science name for the Henny Penny concept that second hand smoke is going to kill us all. Nobody wants to see anyone die of cancer and all of us feel for those who lost family members to this non-prejudicial killer, but we must stay focused. A smoking ban in restaurants and bars is not going to stop people from smoking, nor is it going to bring back Aunt Millie.

Some wise person once stated that the only thing that stays constant is change. While that person missed the fact that God’s Law never changes and is the foundation of all things, he or she was correct. This panel, on which a restaurant and bar owner and outspoken proponent of this attack against Liberty sits on, will do its job of acting like it is listening to the concerns of all of LEFTington’s citizens, but in the end, Liberty will not be a part of their discussion, this ridiculous nanny-state smoking ban will continue to hurt local businesses and their employees, and the Heraldo-Liberal will continue to slant and more importantly, omit the facts. A cigar bar has already shut down, many are working a second job to make up their losses from this big brother smoking ban, and Liberty is going the way of the cotton gin. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The Great Britain Alternative Presented by Chris Derry…

http://www.bipps.org/pubs/publicplaces.pdf

BIPPS Article by Jim Waters…

http://www.bipps.org/ARTICLE.ASP?ID=362

Heraldo-Liberal slanted article… (by ckirby@herald-leader.com)

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/11972759.htm

"It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence
of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His
benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favors."
-- George Washington, Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1789.

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