Don’t hate me because I smoke. Hate me because I demand the freedom to do so.

I’m not a real smoker. I don’t smoke cigarettes. In fact, I really don’t like eating at a restaurant where I am sucking in smoke with my burger or steak. But I do smoke cigars, which is one of my little enjoyments in life. And there used to be no greater joy in my life than going to a jazz lounge and ordering a brandy or scotch and picking a cigar out of their humidor, lighting up and listening to the lounge act.

But now I can’t do that. All of the places I used to enjoy going and smoking a cigar have been forced, by law, to go smoke free.

I don’t stand up for smokers because I enjoy second hand smoke. I stand up for smokers because they are individuals and they have the same rights as non-smokers. And to that end, I ask the lawmakers and the people who endorse and support anti-smoking laws if they know anything about this Country and what it means to be a free Nation?

The first line of the preamble of our Declaration of Independence states:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed, by their Creator, with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.”

As far as I can tell, that proclamation does not give anybody the right to take away the rights of one to favor another. In a free country, where free will and choice is upheld for all citizens, there should be no need to infringe on the rights of anybody. Yet here we are.

Minnesota is seeking to follow in the footsteps of several other states in imposing a state-wide indoor smoking ban (thank Rep. Phyllis Kahn for authoring this one). I find this unacceptable and to an extent, unlawful. They are imposing rule on private property, and are trying to take free will out of the hands of citizens. The law will make it illegal to smoke in almost any enclosed public place, including private clubs, and workplaces.

This is a horrible attack on the basis on which this country was founded. This is government telling the citizens that they no longer have the right to choose, and that they will make the decisions for you. This action takes away Liberty, and in a sense, violates the pursuit of happiness. What this does is strip away private property owner’s rights to choose whether or not that will allow smoking on their own premesis and takes away the individual’s right to choose whether or not they will patronize or work at a place that allows smoking or not.

In essence, the government is shielding those people who don’t want to have to choose by simply imposing overarching totalitarian laws. They are telling YOU that you cannot enjoy Liberty becuase somebody else thinks it imposes on their Liberty.

Sorry, it doesn’t work like that. One of the guarantees we have in this Country is the concept of equality, and the fact that all people have equal rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. When you take away the rights of one in lieu of another, there is no longer equality. When you take away the rights of private property owners in lieu of people who have the choice to be there or not, there is no longer equality.

I don’t know why we’re suddenly so willing to throw out those things that our country was founded on. The more we restrict, the less free we are. The more decisions we take from our own hands and give to others, the less free we are. The more we favor one group at the expense of another, the less free we are.

And on a personal note, this ban includes VFW and American Legion Posts, which is a massive insult to us Veterans. We fought for our Country, served in the Armed Forces, volunteered our lives for a cause… And now we’re being stripped of our right to choose; being denied the very Liberty that we swore to uphold. What gives you the right to take my freedom away? How dare you?