LIFESTYLES AND LIBERALS

It has become commonplace to hear liberals complain that conservatives,
especially those with a religious tilt, are acting like Ayatollahs by trying
to pass "lifestyle" laws that would undermine Americans' privacy and
freedoms. We're no fans of the religious right, but find it ironic that the
comparison might actually be more valid when applied to the "lifestyle" laws
that liberals tout.

Consider a recent news story from Tehran. On Sunday, the father of a murder
victim decided to pardon his son's killer after throngs of Iranian citizens
had begged for the killer's mercy. (In Iran, the victim's father gets to
decide the killer's fate.) The victim, a member of the Islamic militia, was
stabbed to death when he was trying to stop the killer's friend from smoking
a cigarette in public - a practice that's illegal during the Ramadan holy
month.

In other words, the victim was a member of the Smoking Police, and those
begging for mercy were, in part, expressing their frustration with the way
militiamen routinely invade individual privacy to uphold government-backed
prohibitions.

We're not saying that Americans who support ongoing wars on tobacco, fatty
foods and whatnot would create similar militias to enforce their fetishes.

But we are suggesting that such a scenario is no more preposterous than the
ones liberals warn against when pointing to conservative crusades against
homosexuality and the like.

Our solution is the better one: Individual freedom, with the government
staying out of the prohibition business altogether.