From the Editor

Jacob Sullum, NR’s former articles editor, analyzes in this issue how the press and television have treated Mr. Dole’s stumbles into the smoking controversy. They have pursued the Republican standard-bearer with a sort of hysterical nagging, and he has responded with a sort of uncomprehending common sense.

What he has not comprehended, of course, is that smoking has become a symbol of evil to the liberal Overclass, particularly to its media branch—and not just evil either, but corporate evil. The tobacco industry is killer Capitalism —and by this logic, smokers are not people who have different tastes and risk-tolerances, but helpless addicts and thus victims.

About the Author

John O’Sullivan

John O’Sullivan is a senior fellow at National Review Institute and a contributing editor of National Review.

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Jacob Sullum, NR’s former articles editor, analyzes in this issue how the press and television have treated Mr. Dole’s stumbles into the smoking controversy. They have pursued the Republican standard-bearer with a sort of hysterical nagging, and he has responded with a sort of uncomprehending common sense.

What he has not comprehended, of course, is that smoking has become a symbol of evil to the liberal Overclass, particularly to its media branch—and not just evil either, but corporate evil. The tobacco industry is killer Capitalism —and by this logic, smokers are not people who have different tastes and risk-tolerances, but helpless addicts and thus victims.