Representative Jim Waldman

January 9, 2010

Representative Jim Waldman
4800 West Copans Road
Coconut Creek, Florida33063

RE: Can Conundrums about Ethics be unethical? The Sun-Sentinel reports on Page 1 today that modern American Liberals who make up the Broward County legislative delegation are now in pretzel mode because of the threat of tougher ethics rules

Representative Waldman,

One of the main points of Nicomachean Ethics is the quest for balance. Since Aristotle, the father of Ethics, is now known as a Dead White European Male it might be better to leave him out of the discussion and switch to the moral relativism of situational Ethics.

“State Representative Jim Waldman, [D-Coconut Creek], expressed
Concern about a new entity of government being created
“with greater powers than the state attorney.”

Do you remember Judge Walsh, the special prosecutor of Iran/Contra fame? For that matter do you remember any of the special prosecutors? I search, vainly, for any modern American Liberal politician who opposed any of them not because they favored crime but rather that it was offensive to the legal system... Further, it allowed a spirit of “eclectic indignation” loose in the land that caused great harm to the body politic. Each and every “special prosecutor” loosed upon a Republican was greeted with huzzahs by the chattering classes. The silence was deafening when the tables were turned.

Do you think the WOG terrorist with a scrotum pocket rocket should be investigated by a “special prosecutor”? Do you think he should be charged with a hate crime? Christmas is still a sacred day for many people in this country.

I enclose a quote from A.V. Dicey about the Rule of Law. For some strange reason it is as clear as a 10 to 1 Tanqueray martini to all non-lawyers. To those officially steeped in pettifoggery and the marvelous labyrinthine ways of Jarndyce v Jarndyce it is good some of the time but never all of the time.

But back to Ethics.

In our conversation almost one year ago you made it clear that, if you had the power, you would ban all tobacco products in Florida.

I don’t suppose you’ve given much thought to uprisings led by the non-Casino Indians but I suppose they could be included ex post facto in the Stimulus program or shoved into the Health Care program.

My question to you is simple.

Is it ethical for the state of Florida to benefit from the sale of tobacco?

It is, as former Vice President Alpha Gump says about Global Cooling, Global Warming, Climate Change, & the new bogey man, drowning polar bears, “settled science” that tobacco kills.

Should Florida benefit from the suicide of any of its citizens?

At the very least shouldn’t you return the portion of your state paycheck equal to the percentage of the state budget that comes from taxing tobacco?

If you cash it you are compliant in death of your fellow citizens. I believe the adage qui tacet consentit is still valid.

Don’t you?






Kevin Smith