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Mike Huckabee. Now there's a tyrant waiting in the wings. Anyone in power who thinks it's their business to MAKE people live "healthier" (at what line in the sand and by which arbiter?) lives "for the good of society" (sorry, we are a free people who don't live FOR the rest of society) is a danger to me and this country's fundamental freedoms.

As Arkansas governor he signed a bill to ban smoking in his state and has suggested -- in a waffle way -- support for something like it on a national level.  Even in this linked interview, where he "clarifies" the statement that pinned on him a desire for a federal ban on smoking, he distorts.  Restaurants ARE included in the ban.  It's that they have the option to stop admitting or employing anyone under 21 in order to be exempt.  He also fails to mention that tied to the "workplace" smoking ban was a ban on smoking in cars -- the first intrusion into individual private spaces and incursion on parental autonomy (see debate material). Anyone who understands how the anti-smoker crusaders work will see through the mist he casts on the issue and how easily the words he uses to describe his ban vision can be applied to anything at any time.

Smoking and trans fat bans not important? Nonsense. It's THE litmus test. If a candidate supports those he's too much a risk to the ownership over my own body and the equally important cornerstone of liberty -- private property rights.

If you like smoking bans then open your OWN restaurant and bar. If you don't like trans fat ASK the waiter if its in the food you're ordering -- then don't order it.

But very important to also note is that Huckabee was once against bans (read anti-nanny government)! It wasn't until he found (health) religion that he imposed his own ideals on others.

We've all heard the anti-tobacco professionals state that since boards of health already regulate restaurants on such health issues as cleanliness and bacteria in food, it's okay for them to regulate restaurants' smoking policies.

The anti-smokers used this same argument in Arkansas, but Governor Huckabee called it a "ridiculous" comparison:

Huckabee explains smoking ban decision
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Michael Rowett
Nov. 11, 2001

"One relates to the unseen issues of food preparation, where the public has no ability to ascertain cleanliness. The public is not allowed to go into the kitchen and make an inspection, so the Health Department does that on their behalf.

"The smoking issue is one in which it's part of the atmosphere of the customer, not the atmosphere of the kitchen. It's a very clear distinction to me. That's a ridiculous kind of association some have tried to make."

He also said, "You can't look at a plate and tell if it's got E.coli or salmonella. You can't look at the plate and know how it was washed and under what temperature the water was heated. But you can walk in and say,'Do you have a nonsmoking section?' If they say,'No,' then you say,'Thank you very much but I'll be taking my business elsewhere.'"

Gov. Huckabee pointed out that customers can SEE tobacco smoke, and then they can decide on whether or not to eat in that restaurant, that smoking's like any other part of the establishment's ambiance--the music, the color of the walls, the type of food served, and the noise level.

"The business owner has a right to paint the walls what color he wishes. He has the right to serve Italian, Mexican, Greek or American food. He has the right to have music and determine what kind, whether it's going to loud, soft, hard rock or violin music. And he has a right to determine whether he's going to allow people to smoke. That's part of the ambiance that he as a business owner creates. If I don't like red paint, Italian food, loud music or waiters who sing, I make a consumer decision and I don't go there."
 

Huckabee Rules Out Smoking Ban Legislation
Associated Press - April 14, 2004

The governor said smoking is an individual's choice and added that he does not want to use legislation to control behavior. Huckabee said he would rather see people quit or refuse to start smoking because it is unhealthy -- not because they have been given instructions from state government.
 

That Mike Huckabee has flip-flopped makes him worse than the everyday nanny.  It's impossible to trust him to stick to an opinion -- or more importantly, a principle or core value  -- day to day.

VOTE NO ON HUCKABEE

Related

Huckabee says ban on smoking during pregnancy makes sense
E-mails illustrate Huckabee strategy (Huckabee's Devious Strategy to Get Smoking Ban Passed)
 
 

Huckabee says ban on smoking during pregnancy makes sense
By ANDREW DeMILLO
Tuesday, June 13, 2006 5:49 PM CDT
(originally posted at dead link http://www.pbcommercial.com/articles/2006/06/13/ap-state-ar/d8i7j4s00.txt)

LITTLE ROCK - Gov. Mike Huckabee, who successfully pushed for a statewide ban on smoking in the workplace, said Tuesday a lawmaker's suggestion to prohibit women from smoking during pregnancy makes sense from a health standpoint.

Rep. Bob Mathis, who voted against the statewide smoking ban, said last week that children born to smokers face the risk of long-term health problems and questioned whether it was "constitutional" for a mother to smoke while pregnant.

Mathis, D-Hot Springs, urged lawmakers to study the issue before the Legislature goes into session in January.

Huckabee told news reporters Tuesday that it was unlikely the issue would come up before the end of the year because both he and Mathis are term-limited and leave office in January. Huckabee compared a pregnant woman smoking to a mother placing a cigarette directly in a child's mouth.

"I haven't thought it through all together in terms of the legality of it," Huckabee said while meeting with reporters to announce a planned trip to Asia. "From a health standpoint, heck yeah, it makes sense."

In a special session called in April to address Arkansas' school-funding problems, Mathis introduced a bill that makes it illegal for someone to smoke in a car that contains children in car seats. The bill, along with an indoor workplace smoking ban, passed easily in both chambers and was signed into law by Huckabee.

Huckabee said such a prohibition, if enacted, would probably have to cover other unhealthy activities such as drinking.

"There are a lot of things pregnant women shouldn't do. That's just one of them," Huckabee said. "The point is, if you're going to make that against the law you're probably going to have to extend it to all the other things that are equally unhealthy for the child."