I still can’t remember – but who said something to this effect “I may despise what it is that you have to say, but I will defend your right to say it”.

Positively!!! Coffee is good!! {{{{{jjjjjjjjjjjjava java java}}}}}}}}}}}

“I let people smoke in my house. I let people smoke in my car. My mother died of lung cancer, but she would have never banned smoking in her home. I promised her as she was dying that I’d never become one of the anti-smoking Nazis.”
How touching of a moment that would have been..Mama cigs killed you, and made you suffer a painful death but I promice I wont stop it from hurting others. Kinda like sayin The alcoholism and liver failure were bad in my family but that never stoped me from drinkin.. in fact I encouraged my neices and nephews to drink! .. hickup.. causin it tastes gud! Now I know why u work for who u do, that’s pure Carty intelligence! Brian wake up be a Shepard not a sheep!

The consumer has a choice as to where to go. I would not go to restaurants with smoking sections… A private enterprise has the right to do what it wishes with its property, provided it violates nobody elses rights

I think the ratio of NON SMOKERS is like 85% are non-smokers.

So…does that like mean that like 85% of non smokers are like non smokers?

Being a high school graduate with some higher education, I have trouble understanding ‘pidgin English’.

Kateb, I’m big on civil liberties. I’m not opposed to gay civil unions. Gay marriage I’d leave to the churches to decide. That’s unusual for a Republican.
I was a two pack a day smoker for many years. I quit cigarettes and all tobacco 13 years ago. I started smoking cigars about 10 years ago and find that a cigar a day helps keep me sane. Sometimes, I have two. I enjoy them.
Your finer restaurants will have a special room to which cigar smokers can adjourn for a fine cigar and a drink after work. Of course, Ohio killed that.
I let people smoke in my house. I let people smoke in my car. My mother died of lung cancer, but she would have never banned smoking in her home. I promised her as she was dying that I’d never become one of the anti-smoking Nazis.

I think you’re starting to get your groove back Brian. Being out of the Carty gerbil wheel has to feel good.

It’s takes about a year tho, in all seriousness, to get past something like that.

Several of you have made the point that the opposition to the smoking ban is about civil rights. And it is. For legal activities to be banned is a problem.

This is America. Where you can be as successful as you earn the right to be or as educated as you fight to be.

In America – you can be well educated and you also have the right to do stupid things. Because it’s about pursuing your own happiness and protecting all of liberties.

It’s smoking now – but what if the topic becomes obesity? For many of the same reasons. It’s a drain on the medical system – it causes huge expenses to health insurance companies that we all share the cost for – so what if someone brings a ballot initiative for banning obesity?

Or parental rights? A person who brings a ban controlling parental rights, because that has the same outcome often. Many children wind up in the system. It’s a cost and a drain on the Social Service agencies, both public and private, the Judicial system and hey – if we start controlling parental rights then maybe we wouldn’t have to fund a separate jail for juveniles.

The arguments and topics are endless. But once we lose our liberties, and so many have died for us to have them and to defend them and they’re so easy to lose, they’re gone.

We are supposed to be tolerant of each other and intent on preserving our neighbors rights as well as our own. We can’t expect everyone to conform to our own expectations and cater to us. Not if we want to keep those broad liberties that more than 600,000 died fighting for.