Because I smoke...

I forced myself to hold off on commenting about this for a self-imposed 24 hour cooling-off period.  I wanted to make sure I didn't give the wrong context...

The easy response from a smoker would be along the lines of "here we go again with another anti-smoking fanatical attack", and the always famous "woe is me I'm a victim of wild-eyed activist health nuts", blah blah...but this to me isn't even the point anymore.  

There is an infrequently adhered to, and often times overtly trampled little "passage" in the US Constitution (that would be Article 14) that says "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;".  This is a little more well known, but the line that most interests me in these smoking issues is the somewhat less famous "nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

What troubles me most about these 4 employees is that the anti-smoking crowd is jubilant at the notion that another line has been drawn in the sand vis a vis smoking, and their little pet cause is all the more recognized.  They don't care about these folks losing their jobs, their livelihoods, the ability to pay their bills and support their families...they are only too happy to justify themselves through the veil of "they should quit smoking if they want their jobs".

Ok, then in the interest of fair play, let's make sure Article 14 is fully honored.  Attention all US Citizens:  If you are fat, African American, Female, drink coffee, OR smoke, you can be fired from your job or prevented from getting one unless you eliminate your [fill in the blank] risk factors that cost us more in insurance premiums.

How does one stop being a Woman, or an African American?  According to some folks you can't even control being fat.  

If you believe in the Constitution, which is an admittedly rapidly decreasing number of folks out there, you would think such things could never happen in our society.  But alas, they are, and appear destined to only get worse.