I have a question for you though, the answer to which might surprise you: Do you think smoking ban laws should ban a smoker from opening their own little smokers' club, hire only smokers, and allow only smokers and their friends to enter? We already have the precedent of companies being allowed to hire only non-smokers, and even precedents where companies are allowed to fire smokers who won't quit, so the sauce works as well for the goose.

Michael J. McFadden
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"
http://pasan.TheTruthIsALie.com

You could probably classify me as being anti-smoking. I have no problems whatsoever with governments passing ordinances that ban or severely restrict smoking in any kind of public place, including restaurants and bars.

My main problem and the reason I posted is that I saw two people immediately pile-on to make the death of a public servant a platform for their agenda, even if it might be an agenda I agree with. It's just unseemly but all too common in the world these days.

Aren't the whole medical, scientific and public health communities antismoking?

It seems to me that it is the proponents of smoking who would correctly be called the vultures.

I am not surprised that a southern politician from a tobacco state got some money from tobacco interests. What I am curious about however is if he learned anything from his own illness and if that led to any legislative action on his part.

Tim, I don't normally stop over at this blog area, but when I saw the news story I knew I'd find exactly what you complain about: the antismoking vultures jump on everything they can as fast as they can whether or not it actually has anything to do with reality. That's how they get their "mountains of evidence".

Competing Interest Disclaimer: I am the author of a book in the area of concern.

Does his career include anything relating to tobacco I wonder? Do you know?

He received $90,000 during his career from tobacco companies.

...

Rep. Charles Norwood, Jr., a seven-term Republican congressman from Georgia, died Tuesday after batt...

A southern congressman from a tobacco state contracts lung cancer. I really wonder how he stood on that subject. Did he defend the tobacco interests? Or did he stand with the medical community and the scientists? Or did he try to have it both ways?