Paternal Government

A letter by DON BOUDREAUX:

I'm outraged that Hillary Clinton promises, if elected president, to help people (in her words) "quit smoking, to get more exercise, to eat right, to take their vitamins" ("The Iron Lady," March 17). Perhaps I'm overreacting because I buried my mother on Wednesday, but neither Uncle Sam nor Mrs. Clinton is my parent. That role was performed remarkably well and lovingly by the persons who had responsibility for it: my father and late mother. I, like any self-respecting adult, resent beyond words the impertinence of any stranger presuming to possess the moral authority to intrude into my affairs.

To my own dying day, I will live by the creed instilled in me by my parents: My life is my own, and just as I have no right (or wish) to meddle in the affairs of others, no one - regardless of how exalted her status or how large her electoral majority - has the right to meddle in mine.