Revenge of the clueless

The Star-Ledger samples reaction to Day One of the smoking ban in "The Jittery vs. the Jubilant." Once again the anti-smokers are thrilled that they don't have to live with icky smoke in their lives, while the smokers wonder which of our freedoms makes us criminals next.

And the writers, bless their unsuspecting souls, are on the anti-smokers' side: "And patrons at diners from Colesville to Cape May breathed deeply and smiled, thrilled by french fries and pancakes that were no longer seasoned with Winstons and Marlboros." And this editorial asnide at a pool hall: "'This is an art,' said Nguyen. 'You need smoking and coffee to concentrate.' Tough break."

An American Legionnaire from Dover sums up the case for those who see public-sector micromanagement of private business as the problem:

"When did this county become Communist?" Bob Galante, 54, who served in the Army and prefers Marlboros, said yesterday. "All these people telling us we can't smoke, let them go fight for our rights."

And Irene Giegrich sums it up for the totalitarians:

"It used to annoy me to no end that I'm eating this nice steak, and that smoke is destroying it," she said.

Bottom line: Until the smoking ban went into effect Saturday morning, nonsmoking New Jerseyites could find places where they could eat steak. As of now, New Jerseyites who like a smoke after dinner are banned from steakhouses: "Go sit in the back of the bus, nicotine freak. Better yet, get off the frickin' bus." And the shrinking majority of us who tolerate other people's smoke, unfortunately, are mostly shrugging our shoulders and saying, "Hey, I don't smoke. This doesn't affect me."

Not true. Any assault on our liberty affects us all.