David Rodeback's Blog

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Petty Tyranny Loses by a Narrow Margin

I'm not a smoker. I don't think anyone should smoke. I don't go to private clubs. And, as to government regulation in general, I'm not the sort of person who resents the state legislature telling me my children and I have to wear seat belts. (If government foots the bill of scraping my body off the pavement or pays me when I become disabled, government has a reasonable interest in keeping me inside the car and in one piece.)

But I'm with the 16 state senators, notably not including my own, Mr. Valentine, who defeated a Senate bill to ban smoking in private clubs! This bill is the sort of half-wit moralizing that gives Utah a bad name. It went down this time, but watch for it to be proposed again next year.

What are the other 13 thinking? I have an idea. What I'm thinking is this: A group of elected tyrants is no better than a single, self-appointed tyrant.

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