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Big brother or sister? - Last week Texas' finest were
summoned to patrol the bars looking for intoxicated patrons.
The unlucky tipplers were arrested in a preemptive move to prevent
them from driving under the influence. Bob Dyer takes a dim
view of assigning guilt before acting illegally.
Either Or - Relativism is rampant these days.
We say we value liberty then complicate that simple ideal by
piling on all sorts of qualifications. We're free to
smoke except under conditions set by people who hate
smokers. The home is the castle except when its color
clashes with the esthetics of the governing class. Bob
Dyer wants to end the equivocation on an issue that is
forefront in America today.
Mistakes - Everyone makes
mistakes and most when confronted with the consequences are will to
admit to an error in judgment. The political class, however,
is loath to acknowledge infallibility even when correcting such
mistakes would bring in more money, the lifeblood of politicians.
State-imposed smoking bans costs each state and citizen tax revenue.
The money drain is not confined to the hospitality industry.
Freedom!! - Whatever the view of the conflict in
Iraq most people do agree that democracy, as opposed to the
dictatorship before the fall of Saddam Hussein, is a worthy
goal for that unhappy land. Bob Dyer doesn't argue
that Hussein was not a blight upon Iraqi aspiration for
liberty but can't help noting that enormous sums of money
and effort are freeing the people there while people here,
in Washington State in particular, are losing their freedoms
right and left.
Wearing a white hat - In these
polarized times a black and white view has become the standard.
Republicans evil, Democrats good and vice-versa. President
Bush as heroic, brave and wise but also simultaneously incompetent,
cowardly and stupid. There is no in between. Actions
speak louder than words and oftentimes an "evil" person does some
good while a "good" person endorses and enacts evil proving that
looking at the world through a black and white lens is limiting and
self-defeating.
Terms of Endearment - The good
will engendered by the holiday season is gone, all too soon. A
respite from seriousness is provided by a loving grandfather whose
smoking is irrelevant to those who love him best.
Philosophy - How on earth did we get from the land of the
free and the home of the brave to the fear driven, spineless culture
that will trash liberty to gain a dubious margin of safety?
Smoking bans are only one of the symptoms that indicate an the
country is slowly but surely discarding the principles upon which it
was founded. Bob Dyer gets to the nub of what ails us as a
society. Philosophical discourse such as that which lead to
democracy in Athens, is dead as a door nail in this country.
Freedom needn't have been lost but we needn't give up hope that it
can be regained.
Thank you - Bob Dyer looks
at that most elusive, and diminishing, aspect of American life;
choice. Why is it disappearing? Why do some individuals
and groups believe their choice to stamp out particular lawful
behavior trumps the choices of everyone else?
The Great Smokescreen - As
an educated man, Bob Dyer knows that the over-the-top claims by
anti-tobacco about the "hazards" of secondhand smoke are untrue.
What he doesn't know, and desperately seeks, is an answer to why
anyone would want to advance such ridiculous claims.
Keeping freedom out - Those who
wish to extinguish liberty may, in the short term, snuff out the
rights of smokers and the property owners who wish to cater to
them. As of yet, no government can curtail the efforts of those who
circumvent unjust laws in the pursuit of their happiness. As Bob
Dyer writes, that doesn't mean the busybodies won't keep on trying.
Good will to all - Enough
already! For several years this festive season that celebrates
peace and good will has been marred by strident and angry
squabbles. One side screams that it's tired of having Christmas
shoved down the throat of society while the other side launches
boycotts, consults lawyers and grandstands in the political arena
screaming that Christmas is an endangered species on the verge of
extinction. At the heart of the controversy is the American
psychosis that one must not ever be offended anytime or anywhere.
Lighten up folks, says Bob Dyer. Toughen your hides and
develop some real tolerance.
Seeking offense - Robert Dyer
ponders the odd phenomenon of presumably intelligent, well adjusted
people going out of their way to seek situations and places where
they will be offended.
Smoking to the end - How do
they do it? How come smokers, after being thrown out of their
watering holes, gouged for their smokes and generally being treated
like the scum of the earth, still have the sunniest dispositions of
us all? It must be something they are smoking.
Playing the odds - An educator
and a bemused observer of smoking ban pressure tactics has some fun
with statistics and percentages, the core of anti-tobacco's bag of
tricks. Like a card sharp playing with a deck of marked cards
anti-tobacco always wins. Anyone can play this game but, please,
don't call it science.
Patriots and smoking bans - The
smoking ban passed by the good citizens of Washington State hit
Robert Dyer hard. How is it possible that a veteran of the
military, a law-abiding man, good husband, father and grandfather
be excluded from "good" society merely because he lawfully enjoys a
legal product? He hasn't yet found the answer but that he has been
excluded says much about our culture and our values.
Thoughts on Veterans Day -
Although Veterans Day was celebrated last week we are pleased to
present today the poignant reflections of a Washington State veteran
who cannot quite believe that the country he served so well is
giving him the back of its hand because he chooses to lawfully enjoy
a legal product. |
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