UP IN SMOKE © 1998 Joe Murray In the last couple weeks, the so-called "Tobacco Deal" went up in smoke when the tobacco companies backed out of the deal because congress had changed the terms. Now, President Clinton is on the rhetorical warpath, despite having done nothing to strike the deal and never proposing a solution to reduce the numbers of smokers. We are being told daily by the Clinton propaganda team, joined with their allies in the mainstream media, that the private character of a politician doesn’t matter. I think this argument goes up in smoke just like the tobacco deal. Clinton's immoral propensity to lie is daily manifested in his public actions and policies. In the case of tobacco, where Mr. Clinton says he is out to save the children, he is a well-known cigar smoker -- or as he says he just chews on them. This sounds a lot like some guy that says he smoked pot, but didn’t inhale. The tobacco companies might as well replace Joe Camel, their symbol, with "Slick Willie." The hypocrisy of the administration on this issue is further highlighted by Al Gore. Gore used to go around his home state of Tennessee as a senator, telling the story of how he grew up as a tobacco farmer. Speaking at the Democratic Convention in 1996, Gore gave the sob story how his sister had been killed by tobacco and how he had vowed to be an advocate to stop smoking. It turns out that several years after his sister's death, he was still bragging about being a tobacco farmer in order to gain votes and campaign contributions. Despite all the talk of saving children, cigarette use has risen by 36% percent among minors during the Clinton administration, according to the Center for Disease Control. Everyone is perfectly aware of the health risks of smoking. The overall number of smokers has decreased dramatically over the course of the last 30+ years now that the harmful effects have been preached from coast to coast. I personally don’t smoke. I think it is a harmful, filthy habit that I couldn’t imagine doing. I further couldn’t imagine living with someone that smoked, with their horrible breath and stained teeth. I personally think smoking is an immoral act of weakness, self-indulgence and self-destruction. If the effects of tobacco is as bad as we are told, then I think we should be debating whether to continue to allow it to be a legal substance or make it an illegal illicit drug and seek to stop all smoking. Many politicians besides Bill Clinton are lying through their teeth about the desire to reduce tobacco use. The only thing they want is to destroy as much freedom as possible by passing more laws to regulate our lives and raise taxes. Besides being hypocritical and dishonest, it is illogical. Our so-called budget surplus and Clinton’s solution for social security are based on these huge tax increases on tobacco -- primarily a tax on the poor. Many other programs are being proposed that would be funded by the tax revenue from increased cigarette taxes. If the goal was really to stop people from smoking and it worked, revenues would dry up, the deficit would skyrocket and the country would go bankrupt. If you care about improving or saving the health of people by getting them to stop smoking, you will wake up and stop listening to the demagogic lies of politicians, especially the prince of liars, President Clinton. The current direction of policy that calls for more taxation and regulation serves the opposite goal, fueling the fire of the power lust of every politician in Washington. No matter how much the politicians say they care and want you to stop smoking, the reality is that they need and want more people to smoke to generate more money and control over our lives. It is time to clear the air of the smoke of political rhetoric and demand an end to the promotion of the unhealthy use of tobacco as a source of revenue. It is time to light a fire under our politicians to defend and protect our freedom, health and prosperity -- instead of letting it go up in smoke. |
