If Philip Morris is a paedophile, what are his happy customers?

From – where else? – the Guardian:

No national administration would allow paedophiles a say in setting child welfare policies. So why should the views of Big Tobacco on issues of health be taken seriously? And no, I don’t think this analogy is too extreme. 

One wonders what David Cronin – the author of this nonsense – would consider an extreme analogy? Of course, my own view is that Big Tobacco has been utterly spineless when it comes to standing up to the misinformation and propaganda spread by the “health” industry.

Nonetheless, there is something to the notion that Big Tobacco is quite happy to hop into bed with the authorities – but that’s because doing so benefits large tobacco companies at the expense of their smaller rivals. This isn’t merely a true of smoking legislation: it’s the same theory that governs, nay dictates, Walmart’s support for some of President Obama’s healthcare proposals.