[Speed Gibson,
Thursday February 2, 2006 at 9:00am]
Patriot Insider smokes Dave Thune
A new Saturday morning show from 9-11 has sprouted on WWTC 1280 AM, the Patriot Insider hosted Patrick Campion, and featuring Mark Yost and Craig Westover. This week, with Mark away, we heard an hour each on eminent domain and the smoking bans. The new Taxpayers League Live on KTLK 100.3 did a similar eminent domain debate and both were well done.
The smoking ban hour featured St. Paul Councilmember Dave Thune (pro) and Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele (con). I doubt if any minds were changed, but it was great insight into the "thinking" of Dave Thune.
As you know, Craig Westover, even I in my own small way, have been after Bob Moffitt of the Lung Association to provide one competent piece of supporting evidence. He has provided none so far, and neither did Thune here. In fact, his reasoning was remarkable chutzpah:
Common sense suggests to CW that if there is indeed a mountain of evidence, Thune or Moffitt should be able to provide several examples. But so far, the number provided is zero.
Common sense suggests to me that if 38,000 people are dying annually from prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke, you should be able to produce some Death Certificates to that effect. So far, none, and umbrage for asking such a question. (Hint: they're in the same drawer with "hit by a comet.")
In fact, we should be stepping over all the corpses from the times when twice as many people smoked, and smoking was acceptable almost everywhere. There should have been 100,000 a year or more dying from second-hand smoke thirty years ago. Somehow, that didn't make the papers, let alone the New England Journal of Medicine.
Trying to reason above this level proved pointless, probing the justified role of government when the risk is 100% avoidable for example. All that got was a "Halliburton" response, with Thune claiming his opposition parrots "Big Tobacco." Everyone else in the studio howled in protest. This was where a referee would have stopped the fight.
My favorite definition of politics is "the acquisition of wealth or power without merit." Thune was soundly thrashed in this debate, unable to answer simple questions, unable to support his own claims, and unmoved by the resulting personal tragedies. Yet, he has the power to enforce his vision, one we're just too stupid to comprehend.
The smoking ban hour featured St. Paul Councilmember Dave Thune (pro) and Hennepin County Commissioner Penny Steele (con). I doubt if any minds were changed, but it was great insight into the "thinking" of Dave Thune.
As you know, Craig Westover, even I in my own small way, have been after Bob Moffitt of the Lung Association to provide one competent piece of supporting evidence. He has provided none so far, and neither did Thune here. In fact, his reasoning was remarkable chutzpah:
- I am admittedly terrible with math and statistics, so I am therefore justified in using other means to evaluate the "mountain" of evidence on second-hand smoke.
- What better means than common sense? Whose common sense? Why, mine, of course!
Common sense suggests to CW that if there is indeed a mountain of evidence, Thune or Moffitt should be able to provide several examples. But so far, the number provided is zero.
Common sense suggests to me that if 38,000 people are dying annually from prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke, you should be able to produce some Death Certificates to that effect. So far, none, and umbrage for asking such a question. (Hint: they're in the same drawer with "hit by a comet.")
In fact, we should be stepping over all the corpses from the times when twice as many people smoked, and smoking was acceptable almost everywhere. There should have been 100,000 a year or more dying from second-hand smoke thirty years ago. Somehow, that didn't make the papers, let alone the New England Journal of Medicine.
Trying to reason above this level proved pointless, probing the justified role of government when the risk is 100% avoidable for example. All that got was a "Halliburton" response, with Thune claiming his opposition parrots "Big Tobacco." Everyone else in the studio howled in protest. This was where a referee would have stopped the fight.
My favorite definition of politics is "the acquisition of wealth or power without merit." Thune was soundly thrashed in this debate, unable to answer simple questions, unable to support his own claims, and unmoved by the resulting personal tragedies. Yet, he has the power to enforce his vision, one we're just too stupid to comprehend.