In the latest bid by the new-morality police, the City by the Bay has decided to prohibit pharmacies from selling cigarettes. And this is just the beginning; the left is chock full of good ideas about how government can save us from ourselves.

If there ever was an example of projection, it's when liberals accuse traditionalists of the imposition of values. In truth, no one seeks to impose his vision of virtue on others with jihadist-like zeal more than the modern left. A case study in this is San Francisco, the topsy-turvy metropolis where the government cares about you so much that it's going to make sure you're healthy if it kills you. Not only has it prohibited pharmacies from selling tobacco, it had already mandated that employers provide paid sick leave, and, according to SFGate.com:

The supervisors also voted to require chain restaurants to post nutritional information, including calories and fat content, on menus. This follows the creation of a program to recognize restaurants that don't use trans fats and an idea by Mayor Gavin Newsom to levy a fee on retailers of sugary sodas.

The board is also taking up legislation to dramatically curb where smokers can light up, including prohibiting puffing in taxis, lines for ATMs and common areas of apartment buildings. And Newsom wants to close some streets to cars on select Sundays so people can jog, hula-hoop and lay out their yoga mats on the pavement.

In support of this, Wes Alles, director of the Stanford Health Improvement Program (another position we just cannot do without), said, "Could you fault the city of San Francisco for wanting to create a healthier population?"

Actually, Wes, yes, I can. Because you, sir, are the reason Ronald Reagan once said that the nine most terrifying words in the English language are: "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help." (By the way, since the San Francisco puppeteers are so concerned with eradicating unhealthy behaviors, I'm sure they will do their utmost to discourage homosexuality, which has been associated with premature death. Please get back to me on that one, Mayor Newsom.)

Help is an interesting word. It increasingly has become a euphemism, a codeword meaning, "I'm going to force my conception of virtue on you in the name of compassion, tolerance or sensitivity, and I won't even show you the courtesy of calling it what it is: the imposition of values."

This is a point people almost invariably miss. We have a habit today of saying that you cannot legislate morality, but the truth is that, unless we are to embrace anarchy, we have no choice but to do so. This is because a just law by definition is the legislation of morality.

Think about it: a law states there is something you must or must not do, ostensibly because it is either a moral imperative or is morally wrong, or a corollary of something that is. If not, why legislate it? Who will say he is creating a law based on taste or just for the fun of it?

Let's consider anti-smoking measures. They are based on the belief that it's wrong to harm your own health, that of others and/or to be a burden on society's medical-care system, and many believe it is right to impose this value through government.

And, boy, the impositions are now like the stars in the sky. The United States currently has more than 250,000 laws, and most of those enacted in recent times are the handiwork of leftists. They will mandate that people may not refuse to hire cross-dressers, that the Boy Scouts may not have access to public facilities, that religious symbols must not be in schools, and that employers must offer domestic-partner benefits, not to mention the tomes of regulations they have visited upon us. In their eyes, all legislation of morality is unequal, but some is less unequal than others. The great fantasy writer and philosopher C.S. Lewis once spoke of such people, writing:

"Their scepticism about values is on the surface: it is for use on other people's values; about their own values they are not nearly sceptical enough."

My goal in this piece isn't to convince you what constitutes just law, as that will be secondary until we accept that law-making is all about imposing morality. And we must understand two things. First, by failing to grasp this fact, we cede the high road to leftists. They can then discredit traditionalist measures with the "you can't legislate morality" ploy, while their legislation flies under the cover of, well, what are we to call it?  It's much like the Clintonesque idea that certain indelicate behaviours with young presidential interns aren't really noteworthy. They're just something liberals like.

Second, to discredit "legislating morality" (that is, their opponents' morals), leftists often seek to discredit morality altogether by espousing non-judgmentalism. The idea is that since we can't really say what right or wrong is, we can't possibly impose the former or proscribe the latter. But the problem with preaching non-judgmentalism is that it doesn't actually forestall judgment; it simply forestalls honest conversation about what proper judgments are. A sincere, healthy society acknowledges reality, which is that moral judgments must be made and that some of them must be legislated (i.e., a few just laws). It understands that the only law that isn't the legislation of morality is one that is the legislation of immorality, in which case it's the reflection of a misbegotten value. And we won't determine what true morality is and how much of it should become law by mouthing platitudes and sloughing off the matter.

As for San Francisco, it's reported that Mayor Newsom also wants to levy a $1,000 fine on those who don't sort their trash correctly. Well, I think I can be of assistance in this regard. When discarding refuse, don't forget to put the politicians in the bin with the pork fat and sponges.

Selwyn Duke is a columnist and public speaker whose work has been published widely online and in print, on both the local and national levels. He has been featured on the Rush Limbaugh Show, at WorldNetDaily.com, in American Conservative magazine, is a contributor to AmericanThinker.com and appears regularly as a guest on the award-winning, nationally-syndicated Michael Savage Show. Visit his Website.

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