Reno said that tobacco manufacturers are to be held responsible for the federal costs of treating people with smoking-related diseases. Along with Michael Jacobson, he wants the FDA to regulate caffeine content in soda, coffee, tea and chocolate. There's much more at stake than simply the matter of the government's suit against tobacco manufacturers. Reno's actions represent another attack on our withering Constitution and the rule of law that stands between liberty and tyranny. Liberty means that individuals are shielded from the whims of rulers as well as the whims of the majority.
Majorities can be just as despotic as tyrants.
After all, Jim Crow laws reflected the will of the majority. In one sense, despotic majorities are worse than a despotic tyrant because majority rule creates an aura of respectability. One might understand how a large percentage of Americans can come to despise 40 million to 50 million of their fellow Americans who smoke. But surely these people, I would hope, don't also despise our Constitution and rule of law. The tobacco controversy conclusively demonstrates the perils of socialism.