Now that yet another "ban" has taken effect in Minnesota (smoking), I'd like to point out a few things to my fellow citizens, in hope that they will remember in November 2008 and vote these misguided career politicians out of office for malfeasance.
Firstly, bars are not "public." If the guidelines for public places are that any time you allow entry to your premises, it's therefore "public" domain, you'd better not allow the Maytag repairman into your home lest it be declared a public place. This silly notion is an irresponsible violation of the public trust vested in government and as such constitutes article one in malfeasance. Further, declaring private property to be "public" without just compensation violates the takings clause of the U.S. Constitution and constitutes article two in malfeasance.
Secondly, elections mean things. When a majority of citizens who bother to vote continue to elect people who have little knowledge of, or worse, contempt for the inherent and elaborated limitations placed on government by the state and U.S. constitutions, all of us are saddled by these meddling laws enacted by the do-gooders of the nanny state. The list, from zoning laws to mandatory seat belt usage to owning a duck to where adults can or cannot consume legal products, is far too long to enumerate here; you get the picture ... the cumulative effects of some constitute article three in malfeasance.
Thirdly, the convoluted illogic of these incessant attacks on private affairs and private enterprise boggles the conservative mind, as they make no sense whatsoever. Who but liberal Democrats and like-minded so-called "moderate" Republicans could ruminate on how next to kill the golden goose of tax revenue that private business generates? Government at all levels already has the best of all possible worlds in that, what other legal enterprise could one fabricate whereby a) you don't invest one cent of your own money in the business; you merely "allow" individuals with a profit motive the freedom to begin/purchase an establishment where they can provide a place where the general public can come to get away from the daily grind, toss down a couple of legal beers, and maybe have a couple of legal smokes, and catch a ball game while enjoying the company of your friends, and b) you get to collect 6.5 percent of all that the customers purchase, and further, you collect 9 percent of all beer/alcohol purchases the customers (pre-screened to be of legal age by the ownership of the establishment, by the way) consume, and the owners do all the paperwork?
Why is the state doing its best to drive bars out of business? From raising the legal age of consumption from 18 to 21 (discrimination against legal adults) to restricting the sale of off-premise purchases until 10 p.m. to disallow Sunday off-premise sales to discriminating against an entire race for gaming to banning the use of a legal smoking product, the state is making it all too easy for Joe six-pack (oops, I forgot; Joe better not have more than two or three or the state will take his driving "privileges" as well as his truck) to just say "to hell with it" and stay home. This cavalier attitude toward legal, revenue-generating private enterprise would be article four in malfeasance.
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The fourth point is the utter hypocrisy in this entire charade. If we decide that smoking is so dangerous that it is to be banned, let us make it a total ban, and make smoking illegal everywhere. But no, the dirty little secret is that the do-gooders dearly love the tax revenue gleaned from the sale of this product, so much that they keep raising the taxes on it, in order for them to perpetuate their doing-good, i.e. meddling in our lives. Article five in malfeasance.
People who promise the moon in order to get themselves elected will cause the sun to set on liberty. So, don't forget to wear your seat belt or your personal floatation device. Keep telling us how "free" we are. For the children.
Graham is manager at Broken Arrow Resort, Naytahwaush, Minn.
Toss 'em out of office for malfeasance By Terrence E. Graham 20071014
