Not sure what they’re smoking at State House, but it’s not menthols

No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.

Those words are as true today as they were when Mark Twain wrote them more than a century ago — just consider what’s been transpiring at the State House.

Of course, you have nothing to fear from Beacon Hill unless you happen to vote, drive a car or smoke — or sell — menthol cigarettes.

If you’re one of the 2 or 3 percent of the adult population that doesn’t partake in any of the above activities, read no further. Otherwise … let’s start with voting.   

As you’ve noticed, the woke illuminati are still enraged by the results of the 2016 presidential election, and are determined that deplorables will never, ever win another race at any level. That’s why they’re pushing voting for illegals, 16-year-olds, felons (even those still incarcerated) — the more ignorant, indigent, shiftless or criminal you are, the more likely you are to vote for the frauds promising free stuff.

Now the alt-left are promoting abolition of the Electoral College and something called voter “harvesting” — collecting Democrat ballots outside of precincts, long after voting is supposedly over. But “harvesting” only benefits Democrats, because, let’s face it, most Republicans are rightly too wary of “community advocates” to hand over their ballots.

And now comes “ranked-choice” voting — also known as “rigged choice” voting. It got a committee hearing at the State House last week that got very little attention, just the way the “advocates” want it, because this rigged-choice is about as corrupt as it gets.

Under rigged-choice, you “rank” your choices, you know, like they do in Cambridge City Council elections. Have you ever looked at the Cambridge City Council? On second thought, don’t bother.

Bernie Sanders’ hometown of Burlington, Vermont, used to have rigged choice, until 2009, when the candidate for mayor who actually won the popular vote … lost. Same thing has happened locally in California — which is why the last two moonbat governors have vetoed statewide measures, Gavin Newsom as recently as last month.

The alt-left pushed it through in Maine, because they couldn’t defeat Gov. Paul LePage fair and square in 2010 and 2014. LePage was term-limited, so the first casualty of rigged-choice was the only GOP congressman in New England, Bruce Poliquin.

Poliquin was re-elected last year over his far-left Democrat opponent, until they started recounting the votes … and recounting … and recounting.

Now the advocates want to put this travesty on the ballot here in Massachusetts — every weekend I see a bunch of grim grannies at my town dump gathering signatures from the ill-informed. And sadly, let’s face it, nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the Massachusetts electorate. For evidence look no further than the State House… or the Congressional delegation.

Next, the Transportation and Climate Initiative, the TCI, which is nothing more than a T-A-X. Like rigged-choice voting, this is a slow-moving catastrophe, but it’s a multi-state conspiracy by assorted political hacks in the Northeast to raise all their gasoline taxes — by calling it a “carbon initiative” or some such thing, anything but a tax. That way they figure they won’t have to worry about any problems with, say, roll-call votes or voter referenda.

Again, this is sneaky stuff going on here, but word is getting out. Maybe because California has already imposed its own “cap-and-invest” program, the average price of a gallon in the “Golden State” last month was $4.13, compared to $2.64 nationwide.

Forbes magazine has picked up on this, and up in Maine, insurrection is brewing — the wrinkly new governor, Janet Mills, last week referred to the gathering anti-tax coalition as “trolls.”

Meanwhile, New Hampshire seems to be balking at the anti-democratic T.A.X. If they don’t go along, imagine what the MA gas stations along the NH line will look like if they’re selling gas for $5 a gallon when you can drive two miles north and get it for $3.

Check out the Mass Fiscal Alliance’s website for more information on this odious scheme.

Finally, was your local convenience store shut down Wednesday? More than 100 were, as the owners went to Beacon Hill to protest a bill to outlaw … menthol cigarettes. Seriously, menthol cigarettes? Does Kent still make “famous micronite filters?” How about Lark’s “unique gastrap” filter? Why not Marlboros, or Camels, for that matter?

When menthol cigarettes are outlawed, only outlaws will have menthol cigarettes. Outlaws… and New Hampshire.

Again, right now this is just a bill, but what’s next? Malt liquor? Tartar sauce? First they came for the Newports and the Kools, and I said nothing …

This is what happens in a one-party state, which is what Massachusetts has become. It wasn’t always this way. Once upon a time there was a State House politician named Calvin Coolidge, who was first the Senate president, then the governor, and finally president of the U.S.

When Coolidge died, H.L. Mencken offered this high praise of Silent Cal:

“He was not a nuisance. … The country remembers only that he let it alone. Well, there are worse epitaphs for a statesman.”

We could use a few Calvin Coolidges around here again. Statesmen who would just leave all of us the hell alone.

Check out Howie’s latest podcasts at howiecarrshow.com.