The federal government of these United States possesses several fatal flaws, but its proclivity for tyranny might be the most insufferable.  Apparently the fallout from the era of Prohibition is not enough to deter the federal agencies from repeating the same mistakes, as the FDA issued a proposal to outlaw menthol as a "characterizing flavor" in cigarettes.

BREAKING REPORT: Biden Administration Moves to BAN Menthol Cigarettes...

— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) April 29, 2022

According to the official document posted online:

Menthol's flavor and sensory effects increase appeal and make menthol cigarettes easier to use, particularly among youth and young adults. ... This proposed product standard would reduce the appeal of cigarettes, particularly to youth and young adults, and thereby decrease the likelihood that nonusers who would otherwise experiment with menthol cigarettes would progress to regular smoking. In addition, the proposed tobacco product standard would improve the health and reduce the mortality risk of current menthol cigarette smokers by decreasing cigarette consumption and increasing the likelihood of cessation. FDA is taking this action to reduce the tobacco-related death and disease associated with menthol cigarette use. The proposed standard also is expected to reduce tobacco-related health disparities and advance health equity.

What's most offensive is the recycled alibi in an attempt to cover its true intentions: despotism.  (As if we are so gullible that we would ever believe that the government acts in our best interest.)

Since when have politicians and bureaucrats ever cared about preventing death or "advancing health equity"?  The answer: never.

If they did, they wouldn't aggress against the physiological integrity of American citizens, knowing full well the consequences, or urge prepubescent children into irreversible anatomical mutilation.

The move to ban menthol from cigarettes is not about health or welfare; it is simply yet another scheme to acclimate us to a life of tyranny and subjugation.  With the slow (but consistent) erosion of our freedoms, we will be satiated by their "bread and circuses" — and thereby remain as footstools.

George MacDonald said, "It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected.  The best men do not want to govern their fellow men."  At its very essence, government is tyrannical, because it is composed of men who possess deep-seated motives to dominate.  For MacDonald, those who desire to allow others to live peacefully do not seek out public office — so with whom are we left?  Corruptible and amoral men and women, persuaded to act by visions of communist utopias, or at the behest of the highest bidder.

Articulated by Thomas Paine, "[g]overnment, even in its best state, is but a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one."  We are living in an era of the "worst state," and indeed it is intolerable.