Hello Everyone -
It was a great time at the Bullseye Saloon fund raiser on Saturday. The weather was wonderful and the performance was great by all who participated. Sue from Polish Palace (Sobieski), Buggs from Bugg's Place (So. St.Paul), and Birdie from Bird's Nest (Garrison) were present and a big thank-you for coming! Thanks to all the performers (smoking and non-smoking) that participated and donated to the Defense Fund. We are getting closer to our goal (75%) but not quite there yet. A special thanks to the band "4-On-The-Floor" and Shawn & Jessie for all there help!
- Video of the Bullseye Event can be viewed on Shawn's website (donations can also be made here):
http://www.freedomfight08.com/
- Speech written by Mark Benjamin.
THE BULLSEYE ADDRESS
Four score and four nights ago Minnesota’s bar owners brought forth on this state a new art form, Theater Night, conceived in creativity and dedicated to the proposition that all smokers are created free and equal.
Now we are engaged in a great legal war, testing whether that art form, or any art form, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war, Bullseye Saloon. We have come to dedicate this bar, as a freedom-loving place of patriotism for those who lit up so that others might smoke. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this bar. The brave people, smokers and non-smokers, who struggled here, have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here but it can never forget that we smoked here. It is for us, the smokers, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who smoked here before have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us – that from these honored smokers we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion – that we here highly resolve that these smokers shall not have smoked in vain – that Theater Night in Minnesota shall have a new birth of freedom – and that Theater Night of the smokers, by the smokers, for the smokers shall not perish from this state.
- Comments from the MinnPost Article (In case you haven't read these. Also, Mr. Moffit...you should consider using spell check - you spelled "lousey" wrong....it should be lousy. And your a big time Communications Director..tsk..tsk..)
Link to article:
http://www.minnpost.com/stories/comments_stories/?blog_post_id=1585#comments_section
Comments to article:
1) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Gerald Abrahamson says:
If they really are claiming to be putting on a play, then they will be able to show their city-issued license (or application--at a minimum) as a live-production playhouse....
(2) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Robert Moffitt says:
http://lungmn.org/
"People are under economic stress and they don't have their regular watering hole to go to." Actually, they do. They are all smoke free now. In spite of the lousey weather this weekend, Spring is coming, and all smokers need do is move to the exit and enjoy their cigarette al fresco, providing a safer and healthier environment inside for the hospitality workers, musicians and patrons who work there.We have seen these type of cheap theatrics before, and as Judith mentioned, they always fail.I'm a Minnesotan -- a veteran and a regular Joe (well, a regular Bob) who enjoys the VFW AND the Guthrie. See my counter to Mr. Benjamin's points on this KSTP-TV story:http://kstp.com/article/stories/S368429.shtml?cat=206Bob MoffittCommunications DirectorAmerican Lung Association of Minnesota
(3) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Rik Lynn says:
Judy and Bob seem to think this theater night scheme is just a way for business owners to get around the smoking ban for the short term and then, assuming the courts rule against them, they will just shut up, take their financial losses like good little citizens, and bow down to the state.None of these proprieters harbor illusions about continuing this scheme indefinitely. They know something will have to give.I can assure you that the theater exemption is just the crack in the door that they now have their foot firmly wedged into. It has opened the door for a ton of favorable publicity and some pretty impressive fund raising.This isn't gonna just go away if the courts rule against them, or even if they rule in their favor for that matter.A favorable (for the bars) theater exemption ruling will force the legislature to re-open the FTBA to get rid of the exemption and all sorts of havoc could result from that.I think the fun is just beginning.
(4) On April 28, 2008, Author Editor Gregory Lang says:
http://freedomtoact.com/
(1) On April 28, 2008, Gerald Abrahamson says: If they really are claiming to be putting on a play, then they will be able to show their city-issued license (or application--at a minimum) as a live-production playhouse...."
(5) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor Peter Swanson says:
http://swanblog2.blogspot.com/
I am waiting for the "What is art?" debate to begin. The players are different than in the NEA funding context, but the question remains.
(6) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor John Olson says:
For the vast majority of us, this is old news. The law was passed, took effect, and is now subject to enforcement. Its clear that neither side is happy--which means that the law is probably just about right.Most of us enjoy the clean air in the bars and restaurants. (Side Comment: Now, if something could be done about men and women who insist on marinading themselves in cologne and asphyxiating the rest of us in the elevator, THAT would be an accomplishment!)Like any other issue, the three or four percent at opposing ends will continue to try and turn this into an ongoing media circus. I have no doubt that there will be court challenges coming up, but one has to wonder if that money might not be better spent elsewhere.For instance:Minnesota taxpayers are going to spend $5 million to study why some miners on the Iron Range are contracting mesothelioma--a worthwhile expenditure. Why couldn't tobacco settlement funds have been used to pay for that study instead of spending more for lawyers and lobbyists? THAT is the sort of thing that should be funded out of those tobacco settlement funds.Both sides have legitimate arguments that will never be resolved.
(7) On April 29, 2008, Author Editor Gerald Abrahamson says:
(4) On April 28, 2008, Gregory Lang says:Actually, there is no such thing as a as a "city-issued licence as a live production playhouse."Not according to the City of Minneapolis. See the following link, where they require a license to be an ongoing "theatre", which would include plays, etc.http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/business-licensing/what-we-license.aspTherefore, other cities would/could also have similar types of laws for zoning and licensing. Perhaps not identical--but similar enough to be enforceable.
(8) On May 1, 2008, Author Editor Mark Benjamin says:
I've researched the law and can assure all of you that Theater Night will not pass into ... the night. The Legislature provided no limiting definition to the term "theatrical productions" -- like they did for Native American ceremonies, farms and tobacco shops, all exceptions to the smoking ban. The Judicial Branch interprets the law but does not re-write it. Thus, one court correctly interpreted what most people understand to be an ashtray (an object) but would have enormous problems interpreting "theatrical productions" (an art form). It necessarily would require a court to review each bar's Theater Night on a case-by-case basis - something the U.S. Supreme Court used to do in the '50's and '60's with pornography before giving up. Our approach to the defense of Theater Night is to remind the court that it need not define the term "theatrical productions". That is the province of the Legislature and they need to take a second look at the exception and clarify it. When they do, we will be there to remind them that public health is more than just physical health (clean air.) It is also mental health (having a job and a place to socialize.) If we're going to have a smoking ban, let's have one that takes into account the physical AND mental health components of a comprehensive public health policy.
(9) On May 1, 2008, Author Editor Barry Homan says:
Oh this is fun. Enjoy the show all you antis, and watch how these bans s-l-o-w-l-y disintegrate in the coming years.Now why didn't we smokers just toss out our cigarettes, buy Pharma cessation products and become your friend, sitting there for hours in clean bars, talking to you and making your life more and more interesting?Antis ARE destined to be a short paragraph in the history books - not smokers!Hey, we're not going anywhere. You thought it was gonna be so easy, that smokers would love you, and you wouldn't have to lift a finger - SUCKER!We ARE still here, we're fighting back now. We'll find a way, and time is on our side - because you don't want to keep fighting us the rest of your life, do you? No way! Because you actually got better things to worry about besides some guy smoking in a bar, or about some gal in your office wearing perfume.You're hoping the next generation will grow up to be feebs, ninnies and liars just like you?So here's a clap on the shoulder, and a fake grin of support and understanding, the kind we see antis make all the time - smokers aren't gonna go away, we'll just keep fighting, and why?Because now we have nothing left. YOU did that. Which means we have nothing left to lose, and that's when a person becomes dangerous. You wanted to take away everything! Not smart at all, but then I never met an anti who could think rationally; they can only tell great lies, they're good at that.Oh this is fun.This IS fun!Watch it all change!
(10) On May 2, 2008, Author Editor Jim Smrekar says:
Mr Moffit,Thank you for your service to our country. Soldiers have fought for our freedoms since the beginning of this great country. One of those freedoms is the freedom of choice. This law has effectively eliminated that for these small business owners, employees and customers.Our country was built on a free enterprise system. Any business owner who thinks it’s in their best interest to be smoke free should do just that. Any employee who thinks it’s in their best interest to work in a smoke free environment should do just that. And any customer who wants to have a beer in a smoke free environment should frequent that type of establishment. The anti smoking lobby blew it on this one. By not allowing exemptions were they obviously should be, this whole thing is going to blow up. That’s a good thing. Our legislators wrote a bad law and are afraid to reopen the debate. Seeing that cigarettes are a legal product, I’d say your money would better spent making the sale of cigarettes illegal vs putting your agenda on the backs on small business owners. But that will never happen. How would the politicians attempt to replace the tax revenue that would be lost as a result? Plus we all know how well prohibition has worked in the past. Thank you Mr. Benjamin for fighting for the right to choose and showing the obvious hypocrisy of the anti smoking movement here and across the country.
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