Let’s get to the issues that fire me up and deplete the blogsphere.
Many of you remember my previous blog post entitled, “Ten Reasons Why Statewide Smoking Ban Threatens Private Property Rights, Conservatism & Common Sense”. I posted my ten points as a comment to the news story about the Governor signing the ban on the Santa Fe New Mexican’s web site. Any registered reader is able to do this and I wanted to share my ten points for discussion.
One of my points, of the ten, argued the following:
“Nothing is more dangerous than people convinced of their own moral superiority because they deny their political opponents that very attribute.”
Well, I got another response that proves my argument from above to once again be very, very true. A Roy Streit replied with the following two hate messages. You can view them yourselves at http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/58506.html (MY COMMENTS ARE IN PARETHESIS AND IN ALL CAPS):
1. By Roy Streit (Submitted: 03/14/2007 10:16 am), “Russell Forest – Posting other peoples work without attribution is called plagiarism and intellectually dishonest. . You plagerized your posting from a young (26 year old) arrogant red-neck with a blog-site: http://forestfire.wordpress.com/about/ I noticed the author was sucking on a humongous cigar. (Wonder if there is any truth to that old Freudian question.) To link directly to his article: http://tinyurl.com/2vb8y3 (but you’ll miss the cigar photo.)
(MR. STREIT IS OBVIOUSLY SLOW. I REPLIED BACK THIS MORNING THAT I, RUSSELL FOREST, AM THE WRITER/’ARROGANT REDNECK’ BEHIND FORESTFIRE.WORDPRESS.COM. APPARENTLY, MR STREIT IS UNABLE TO CONNECT MY LAST NAME, FOREST, WITH THE NAME OF THE BLOG. IT IS ALSO INTERESTING THAT MR. STREIT ONLY USES PERSONAL ATTACKS INSTEAD OF ACTUALLY ARGUING THE POINTS I PRESENTED. OF COURSE, THIS WAS EXPECTED SINCE MR. STREIT, AND THOSE LIKE HIM, REFUSE TO GIVE ME, AND MY VIEW POINT, ANY LEGITIMACY OR MORAL GROUND. HENCE, MR. STREIT IS A SHINING EXAMPLE OF WHY THE SELF RIGHTEOUS ARE MORE DANGEROUS THAN THE UNJUST.)
“Regardless, I pledge that there will be legal actions taken against this ban.” Going to waste money on some of those greedy liberal trial lawyers? Web-ed what happened to the 3 sentence restriction?
(I AM SURE THAT LAST LINE TO THE WEB EDITOR IS INTENDED TO ERASE MY POST BECAUSE, NATURALLY, IN MR. STREIT’S EYES I AM EVIL.)
2. By Roy Streit (Submitted: 03/14/2007 9:31 am), “It’s good to see NM joining 16 other progressive states. Tennessee Will probably join us and in doing so become the first major tobacco growing state to do so. And they are trying to triple the tobacco tax. Russell Forest – Who wrote your press release? Phillip Morris or Am Tobacco Co.? “It stops private property owners from allowing a LEGAL activity in their establishment.“ - Legal no longer!
(ONCE AGAIN, PERSONAL ATTACKS. IT IS VERY INTERESTING HOW HE NEVER TRIES TO DEBATE MY POINTS LIKE AN ADULT. IT IS ALSO INTERESTING THAT HE NEVER TRIES TO DISCUSS THE FACTS, STUDIES, AND ETC. IN HIS EYES, I AM TRULY EVIL BECAUSE I DARE DISAGREE WITH HIM ON THE ISSUE OF PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS/SMOKING BANS. THIS IS NOT UNCOMMON FOR ME TO EXPERIENCE FROM ANTI-SMOKING/ANTI-PRIVATE PROPERTY ZEALOTS. HOWEVER, I DON’T BLAME ALL ANTI-SMOKING ACTIVISTS FOR MR. STREIT’S BEHAVIOR NOR DO I BELIEVE THAT ALL ANTI-SMOKING ACTIVISTS BEHAVE AS MR. STREIT BEHAVES. I JUST WISH THAT THOSE OF USE WHO DISAGREE COULD BE TREATED WITH SOME RESPECT AND THAT WE COULD HAVE SERIOUS AND FACTUAL DEBATE. ONE OF MY TEN POINTS WAS THAT COMPROMISE CAN BE REACHED ON THE SMOKING BAN ISSUES, YET, THAT SOMEHOW MAKES ME EVIL IN THE EYES OF MR STREIT.)
I hope this has been a valuable lesson to those of you my readers of what a zealot is and how a zealot behaves.
Prohibition has returned to New Mexico. The concept of using big/nanny government to regulate human behavior so as to administer some form of do-gooder social experimentation is back.
Governor Richardson signed into law New Mexico’s new statewide smoking ban against private property establishments. This ban is a horrible attack on private property rights and common sense. Many support the ban, yet, they do not know what it shall bring. The angry mob of plebs have no long-term vision nor do they have any understanding of economics. Casinos are exempt which allows them to gain economically what other bars/restaurants lose. So, we now have the state favoring one industry over another. Soon, we will see efforts to further advance the cause of social engineering with bills to regulate trans-fat, caffeine, SUVs, gun ownership/usage, ATV usage and etc. You may laugh at me now, but just look at California, New York State, New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Illinois, Wisconsin, Nebraska and etc. The same people and groups who pushed smoking bans are now promoting other bans and regulations on our personal liberty and private property rights. In fact, word has it that Rep. Al Park, the smoking ban’s sponsor, will bring back up his old bill to pass a statewide ban on driving while talking on a cell phone.
Yet, nobody else can see this coming. Everyone is only concerning with banning what they don’t like today with no regard for precedent and what their actions could cause in the future. Mob rule democracy has taken hold of our national being, destroying our Republic and its individual/private property protections and balance. Like Athens, Macedonia, Egypt and Rome, we begin our slow and voluntary descent downward.
There is still hope, a last stand if you will, for legal challenges to the new law. Specifically, that a state ban can exempt other forms of businesses to allow smoking while banning other businesses from allowing it. Basically, state sponsored bias. I am currently looking into finding such a business owner to lead the charge. I already know of several private property rights/conservative legal aid organizations who are willing to take up the cause. All we need now is one business owner willing to take a stand.
Also, the New Mexico State House passed a bill that would ban convenience stores from putting out full of ice-cold beer by a 35-20 vote. The proposed change to state liquor laws prohibits a licensee from selling unbroken, single-serving containers of alcoholic beverages that are chilled by ice in a tub or bin. The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Miguel Garcia, D-Albuquerque, (the same one who sponsored the bill in 2001 to give drivers licenses to illegal aliens) falsely claims that the ‘ready access to cans of cold beer makes it easier for underage or intoxicated people to get hold of it.’ Nothing could be further from the truth.
Banning the sale of cold beer from tubs is ridiculous because someone who is going to drink and drive can do so by purchasing a regular six pack from the back refrigerated area. This is another do-gooder, feel good law that only hurts those of us law abiding citizens in our rights as consumers in a free market. Plus, it unfairly hurts convenience stores.
It is also interesting that Rep. Al Park, the sponsor of our new statewide smoking ban, is a co-sponsor of this new piece of alcohol prohibition. Thankfully, the bills to ban all alcohol sales in convenience stores, as well as the proposed alcohol tax increase both failed. But for how long? Alcohol prohibition slowly creeps its way back into law gradually.
Prohibition has returned. To gradually regulate, and then eventually ban, usage of alcohol, tobacco, fatty food, SUVs and etc. Yet, the angry mob of plebs that is today’s American public openly embraces this new threat. Democracy is the belief that the public gets what it wants….GOOD AND HARD.
However, there has been some evidence to support our hope in a legal victory against the new ban. Thanks to a court ruling defending freedom and private property right in Colorado.
According to an article from the Rocky Mountain News, a La Plata county judge gave new hope to believers in freedom and private property rights who say they should be exempt from Colorado’s smoking ban because 5 percent or more of their revenues come from cigars and cigarettes. Judge David Dickinson ruled that revenues, not fancy humidors installed in upscale cigar bars, should determine which businesses are exempt from the ban. “(The ban) needs to be fair,” said Todd Risberg, attorney for the owners of Orio’s bar. “Either there’s no smoking or people can smoke. It’s real unfair to favor fancy people and fancy bars over working-class folks who like to have a cigarette. The owners of those bars don’t have money to hire lobbyists to get an exception.”The Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act, approved by Colorado’s legislature last year, provided an exception for cigar bars and casinos (just like the new NM ban). A business needs to prove that at least 5 percent of its revenue came from the sale of tobacco products during the year ending Dec. 31, 2005 to be exempted. The 5 percent had to come from tobacco sales, not including cigarettes from vending machines, and the rental of on-site humidors according to a memo issued in July by the Office of Legislative Legal Services.
Robert and Heidi Orio, owners of Orio’s bar in Durango, challenged that portion of the law last year, after the La Plata district attorney’s office filed charges against the bar for letting its patrons smoke. The bar didn’t have a humidor in 2005, but it did make more than 5 percent of its revenues from tobacco products. On Tuesday, Dickinson granted a permanent injunction prohibiting the district attorney’s office from filing more charges against the bar, provided its tobacco revenues remain high enough to qualify for the “cigar bar” exemption. The original charges have since been dropped. “Smokers need someone to fight for their rights,” Orio said. “It seems like it’s just no smoking, no smoking all the time. It cost us a lot to fight this whole deal. We shouldn’t have had to fight it the first time. I should have the right to do what I want with my business as long as it’s within the parameters of the law.”The ban was passed supposedly to protect non-smokers for public health reasons. However, Orio, a non-smoker, scoffed at that logic, saying adults have a choice of where to work. I hope our allies of private property rights and freedom in Colorado continue the fight in the courts. We in New Mexico are watching to learn.
Ah, I see you have suffered the wrath of Roy Streit.
Consider yourself lucky. Those of us on the forums at the Santa Fe New Mexican have to suffer his diatribes, ranting and raving, pseudo-intellectual blather on a daily basis. Yes, he does delete messages that embarrass him, unfortunately he doesn’t realize how much his posts do a better job of that. He is just too hardheaded and self-righteous to know it.