No freeman shall ever be debarred the use of arms.

Radley Balko at the Cato Institute pleaded with the D.C. council in June, 2005, but unfortunately his argument fell on unthinking brains:

So what is this debate about? It's about freedom. It's about standing up to the healthists, those people who believe the state has not only the right, but the responsibility to police our personal lives for bad habits.

In this case, they want to trample on a business owner's property rights, on his right to reap the fruits of his investment and his labor as he sees fit, and on his right and the right of his patrons to freely associate with whom they please. Why do they want to do this? They say it's to protect the "public" from secondhand smoke. But exactly whom are they protecting?

Not the bar or restaurant owner. He could make the whole place smoke-free if he wanted.

Not the employees. They can work elsewhere. Or find a new line of work.

And certainly not the patrons. They're giving the bar or restaurant their business voluntarily.

The healthists aren't protecting anyone. What they're protecting is a "right" for themselves that they've fashioned out of whole cloth. They're fighting to get invited to the party, then make the rules once they get there. They want the so-called "right" to be self-appointed nanny, mother, rule maker, and rule enforcer for everyone else.

So what's the deal with self-appointed nanny, mother, rule maker, and rule enforcer Angela Bradbery? What led her on this crusade to protect our society from the evils of second-hand smoke? A quick Googling reveals no surprises:

• She writes letters. "Whether or not one favors a smoke-free workplace law, District residents should be allowed to vote on the issue." [Which they didn't get the opportunity to do]
• She passes petitions. "[Bradbery] drew up a list of 100 percent smokefree restaurants, and began distributing decals to smokefree restaurants and gathering petition signatures from residents who support smokefree workplaces. [But it's not enough that non-smokers have a list of smokefree restaurants, all people must be aligned to her way of thinking]
• She makes asinine analogies. "Smoking and non-smoking sections don't work either; that's like peeing and non-peeing sections of a pool." [Because, having two pools, a peeing and non-peeing, is too difficult a concept to imagine]
• She's a Media Relations Officer for Public Citizen
• And, naturally, Public Citizen is an "Organization founded by Ralph Nader, public-interest watchdog organization frequently critical of corporations." Geez, what a shocker.

So, while Ms. Bradbery is out using her superior intellect to save us all from ourselves, I can now remove DC restaurants and bars from my patronage list, as I did long ago in Montgomery County.

Radley Balko concluded:
"Let's put today's events in perspective. At this moment, we're meeting in Washington, D.C., the capital of America, the country that's done more for the freedom of man than any other nation, kingdom, or state in the history of the world. And what are we discussing? A law that would ban a man from opening a business on his own property where people can come smoke a cigarette and drink a beer."

At least, until the morally righteous Angela Bradbery decides that beer also offends her delicate sensibilities.

More: Your lungs are belong to us
George Will chimes in

Update: On the bright side, at least the Spokane Anarchist will be happy with this decision. [Yes, that's not a typo, there's an anarchist blogger out there who favors smoking restrictions. Anarchy at its finest]