The whole point of free speech is not to make ideas exempt from criticism but to expose them to it.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Some folks have no conscience

Bob Ellis's little ego scratcher, modestly called Dakota Voice, has a topic post today that promotes an interesting, if inaccurate (I'm being nice) premise. He quotes from a letter to the editor that he says appeared in the Argus Leader:

"Isn’t it incoherent for South Dakotans to be voting on banning the smoking of cigarettes in bars and restaurants because of its great health risks, while also asking them for permission to smoke a more dangerous drug?"

While smoking is known to kill about 400,000 people a year in this country alone, cannabis has never killed anyone, anywhere, ever. Cops kill people fairly often, though, because they suspect those people of having cannabis. Speaking of coherence, I don't know of a cop ever shooting anyone because they suspect they might have tobacco, a substance known to have killed millions.

Ellis redeems himself a little, though, by giving me a shout out within his post. Check it out. He might even let you post a comment. You'll have a better chance at that if you agree with him. :--))

11 comments:

DDC said...

Funny that Heidelberger and Ellis both have articles on their blogs this morning advocating in favor of government control of the individual and taking away personal liberty & responsibility.

Another common thread between the two? They both like to include multiple links to their own material to back up their articles.



"noodogoo"

Bill Fleming said...

These days if Bob Ellis is against you politically, I think that's considered to be a point in your favor, since he is so consistently wrong on so many other topics.

He can't even lead his own grassroots party.

If he were as smart as he thinks he is, and really wants his side to prevail, he would stop arguing this issue, and several others as well.

Most conservatives I know think he does the causes he champions far more harm than good.

Bob Ellis said...

Most rational people realize that promoting intoxication, use of a harmful substance, and subverting respect for law and authority are signs of a lack of conscience.

As Thomas Jefferson said, "The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

Promoting the use of a dangerous, harmful substance--especially when there are countless other genuinely medicinal alternatives available--and subverting respect for law and order are indeed a threat to human life and happiness.

(I also doubt you know any real conservatives, Bill)

DDC said...

The thing about Ellis is that he doesn't care about cutting government. He doesn't care about liberty. The only thing he cares about is getting his team in control of government so he can win his little culture war.

The Tea Party is a healthy protest of government intrusion into people's lives. The problem with many Tea Party groups is that they were spontaneous events at the beginning without any experienced leadership. Unfortunatly, people like Ellis saw this vacuum and stepped in to use the Tea Party as a vehicle to advance his culture war. It went from being a protest of over-reaching government into a forum for him to advance his agenda.

Fortunately, this isn't the case of most of the Tea Party movement, but it is the faction that gets the most attention.

DDC said...

Bob,

My father has a lot of back problems. He had surgery about 18 months ago that possibly made his pain worse. He now can only work about 4 solid hours a day before he starts feeling a lot of pain and needs to quit.

The only thing that seems to effectively help his pain is to either work only about 2 hours a day or to take half of a tablet of Oxycontin. He needs to go home to take that dose because he can't see straight for about 6 hours after he takes it. If he doesn't eat a good amount of food before taking it, he gets extremely nauseous and I've seen him throw up on more than one occasion after taking it.

Society is no better off with my father taking Oxycontin, but it usually relieves his pain enough for him to be comfortable.

Should we ban Oxycontin since it provides no benefit to society as a whole and always results in the intoxication of the person that takes it?

DDC said...

Newland,

You were wrong about Ellis letting people post comments. He has closed comments on that story. So much for trying to have an honest debate on the subject.

Ken G said...

Ellis, you're also for the smoking bans, why am I not surprised. RINO. Bill Fleming nailed it, folks like you drive folks away from the party. I recently went Independent after voting Republican the last 25 years, guys like Ellis destroyed the party. Voted for McCain, I'll be very hard pressed to vote RINO in 2012.

BTW Ellis, Science has proven cigarettes far more harmful than cigarettes. Google Dr. Tashkin, we (taxpayers) paid him for like 20 or 30 years to prove marijuana was physically harmful at UCLA I believe. Guess what, he found nothing. Humans have what are called cannabinoid receptors (appetite, pain sensation and mood), marijuana has cannabinoids, this is where the pain relief comes in. Tashkin assumed that marijuana actually has healing properties, not the opposite.

He did not recommend it being smoked, but smoking it isn't even necessary now, there are many other options without having to smoking the stuff or swallow a pharmaceutical pill. The pills cost far more than pot and are simply too powerful for most folks. Those things are 100% THC Bob. Pot's a cheaper way for sick folks with little to no insurance to get some relief, or otherwise go without. It's a matter of human decency Ellis. It just so happens the worlds 3rd most used recreational drug is also a medicine. Just like cocaine, alcohol and opiates, pot has its place in medicine. But not cigarettes ; )

larry kurtz said...

Of course, Ellis and his industry benefactors are responsible for the likes of Agent Orange, Malathion, DDT, and Polyethoxylated tallow amine all in court as their real-world effects wreak havoc on children.

How's your prostate, Ellis? ip would be happy to conduct an exam.

larry kurtz said...

"kinker"

Anonymous said...

sooo...whats with dakota voice always closing comments? I take it thats not an open forum for discussion and debate then?

Bob Newland said...

It's like Ellis says, "Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed" (John 3:20)