Government censorship

One of my older, retired mentors, John called me yesterday to offer advice on something I didn't even know I needed advice on. That's the way it is with him sometimes. He lives alone, has almost no friends, family or other social contacts. Then there is me. But, that's fine with me, if all it takes to make his day is to listen to him for a short time. This time, after explaining how I could make a million dollars selling some super vitamin he just saw on TV, he ventured into his take on this smoking ban scheduled to start here in Michigan. He's a veteran. He doesn't smoke. He thinks the government should keep their nose out of his local VFW club. John says he's getting pretty tired of government censorship. He said he didn't put his life on the line to protect government censorship. He had my attention.

John believes that a smoking ban in private businesses, let alone private clubs like the VFW amounts to nothing less than government censorship, limiting freedom of expression illegally and unnecessarily. He says that the right to smoke in certain areas of private clubs is a private matter. No less important than the right to speak. he's ticked off that pornography and profanity is protected while all the do gooders are censoring smoking. John is doing his best to get signatures on a petition to get the supreme court to look at the legality of this smoking ban. He believes that when all is said and done, the government doesn't have the right to censorship of smoking while it protects pornography, profanity and certain types of murder. He was hot on the issue. I just let him talk. He made me think...............Joe