The American Prospect¸ a noted left-of-center magazine, exults this month in stories of "Where the Public Good Prevailed." Alongside worthwhile crusades like the lead-for-fluoride exchange in our drinking water, the authors deliver strong kudos to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the national anti-smoking movement as a whole (best represented by John Banzhaf and his group Action on Smoking and Health). This is nanny propaganda at its best: praise for an organization that wants to see social drinkers arrested, congratulations to a nonprofit that defends efforts to ban smoking in people's private homes, and affirmative support for the slow erosion of the individual choices which used to be the hallmark of American life.
