“I’ve never smoked. I even dislike being near lit cigarettes. (Cigar and pipe-smoke don’t bother me.) Moreover, I’m sure that smoking is addictive and unhealthy. Nevertheless, the ballyhooed ‘tobacco settlement’ announced in June leaves a taste in my mouth far more foul than would be left by choking my way through an entire carton of unfiltered cigarettes. The foulest feature of government’s long-running harassment of the tobacco industry is the elitist presumption that tens of millions of Americans are too dimwitted to be trusted with their own fates.” (written 09/97; posted 06/28/06)