Smoke ‘em for the kids!
posted at 12:13 pm on April 4, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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The “normally brilliant” Tom Maguire responds to Allahpundit’s resounding “meh” to the anguish of Jake Tapper over Barack Obama’s apparent deception on smoking. Tom notes that Obama himself made his smoking-cessation effort a campaign issue on several occasions, and makes the case that we should hold Obama more accountable for his apparent dishonesty. However, like AP, I just can’t gin up enough outrage over a recidivist smoker:
Well, if it were totally irrelevant to the campaign I probably couldn’t find “Quit Smoking With Obama” at his campaign website.
If it were totally irrelevant to his campaign I probably couldn’t find him trying to score “family guy” points on the talk-show circuit (here with Ellen D on YouTube).
And if it were totally irrelevant to his campaign I probably couldn’t find a spate of stories from early 2007 in which Obama made a big deal out of this in a bit of pre-announcement publicity.
Look, Obama is performing delivering a valuable public health service by getting up in the face of Jeremiah Wright’s message that cigarettes were invented by the CIA in order to enslave black men. But if he is lying to us and to his wife, not to mention whiny reporters, well, that is modestly newsworthy.
Tom makes good points here, but it does leave out one important consideration, and that is how tough it is to actually quit smoking. People try quitting and fail honorably, and try again. It’s not easy, and having the national media hound a smoker about it doesn’t make it easier, either. I can accept the idea that Obama honestly wants to quit but hasn’t been able to shake the nicotine addiction — but that may be because I used to smoke and understand the issue better than some. I wasn’t much of a smoker, either — maybe a pack a month — and after 15 years, there are still times I wish I had a cigarette.
Besides, if we want to hit Obama for his dishonesty, why not focus on actual campaign issues? We have all sorts of targets of opportunity, ranging from character issues (his association with Jeremiah Wright) to policy (Iraq) to the campaign (100 years of war). We could even ask him about his math after claiming that the March on Selma led to his conception — five years before the march. We don’t need to check his nicotine levels to call his honesty into question, and it just makes him seem more of a victim to pursue that.
In fact, if he wanted, Obama could turn the negative into a positive. Mindful that the Democrats want to expand S-CHIP on the backs of smokers — who tend towards lower-income, working-class groups — Obama could say that he wants to show solidarity with the underprivileged. He’s already having trouble establishing his street cred, according to Howard Kurtz, with bad bowling and cheesesteak snobbery; maybe lighting a cancer stick will help voters relate to him. He could even claim to be helping kids get health care by martyring his own health.
Better to leave it alone, I say.
Addendum: The scare quotes around “normally brilliant” are just in fun. Tom really is normally brilliant, but we need a good blogfight on a Friday afternoon.
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Is anybody asking for outrage over it?
MayBee on April 4, 2008 at 12:14 PM
Manufactured outrage? What would Fred have to say about that?
OneGyT on April 4, 2008 at 12:16 PM
Well, as has been proven on this site, it is very easy to quit smoking…some have done it many times.
right2bright on April 4, 2008 at 12:17 PM
I posted this comment on the other thread, but it goes better here.
I quit one year, eleven months, and nine days ago. I did the laser acupuncture thing. It worked like magic. I’d always had trouble trying to quit; cold turkey, patches, gum, writing down when I had a cigarette, some little machine that was supposed to tell you when to have one… This worked. Immediately. I haven’t had one since, haven’t “needed” one. There have been thoughts of having one, but those thoughts are fleeting.
I emailed Obama around a year ago to recommend the people I used (I’m from the Chicago area and there’s an office downtown). I never heard back from him and it seems he didn’t take my advice.
kimsch on April 4, 2008 at 12:18 PM
Oh come on. If anyone who was a moderate to heavy smoker knows how hard it is to quit.
I am taking Chantix and yes it has worked very well for me, but I can’t tell you I don’t have the “urge” to light one up or choke the absolute crud out of someone occationally. Stress is usually the main issues for me wanting to light up… even though I haven’t in about 2 weeks.
As much as I can’t stand B.H.O., I do know what it is like to want one when you have a stressful moment.
This will probably be the nicest thing I mention about B.H.O.
upinak on April 4, 2008 at 12:19 PM
Do we really have to be as dumb as the press is?
mymanpotsandpans on April 4, 2008 at 12:20 PM
Puhleeeze. Obama never wanted to stop smoking. He had to because it’s a cause celebre among libs. It would be like Obama having been a boy scout. It would be something to hide.
Let’s skip the hand wringing about how hard it is to quit. If you’re over 40, you probably did. But it’s hardly the point.
btw, did Grandma put him in the scouts in Hawaii?
JiangxiDad on April 4, 2008 at 12:28 PM
Maybe he’s not inhaling.
Chuck Schick on April 4, 2008 at 12:30 PM
I don’t care whether he smokes or not. But that picture with that heater dangling from his lips makes me laugh.
Sugar Land on April 4, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Laser acupuncture? Haven’t heard about that. Does it work on anything other than smoking — like junk food cravings, for example? I’d love to get rid of those.
AZCoyote on April 4, 2008 at 12:33 PM
About time we had a smoker that did not hide in shame.
pat on April 4, 2008 at 12:34 PM
Inability to quit smoking when you “want to” is a character flaw.
You are either lying about wanting to quit or you do not have the self-discipline to pull it off.
If Obama can’t quit smoking, can’t call out Jeremiah Wright for lying about the USA, can’t bring himself to actually VOTE while holding the office of Legislator, what kind of President would this man be?
EJDolbow on April 4, 2008 at 12:37 PM
OK. I’ll admit it. I have one cigar every 4-6 months.
Oh, the humanity…….
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on April 4, 2008 at 12:41 PM
I totally understand. However, then you don’t make having successfully quit part of your campaign.
amerpundit on April 4, 2008 at 12:42 PM
Hillary wouldn’t let Bubba light up his cigars in the White House. Will she bring this up as an issue?
jgapinoy on April 4, 2008 at 12:43 PM
It’s supposed to. They can use the laser for anything you could use the needle acupuncture for.
kimsch on April 4, 2008 at 12:48 PM
America’s divided: cigars vs. cigarettes.
I’m pleased Obama’s smoking. Given how anal-retentive the left is about tobacco pleasure, it’s refreshing.
Who honestly cares? He’s a fascist, race-baiting lunatic, who would be absolutely terrible for this country, but if he wants to smoke, let him. If he wants to quit, let him. This is quite obviously a “personal” issue, if there ever was one.
emailnuevo on April 4, 2008 at 12:57 PM
I have seen many people walk away from their last cigarette, and never have another one.
It is such a easy story, “harder to quit then heroin”, the most addictive drug, and on and on. And the best one, “if you never smoked, you don’t know how hard it is to quit”, well if you never quit, you don’t know how easy it is to really quit. You have just pretended to quit.
If you want to quit, you quit, if you don’t want to you don’t.
right2bright on April 4, 2008 at 12:59 PM
Actually, I’m impressed.
He knows which end to stick into his mouth and which end to burn. Give the racist socialist some credit.
saved on April 4, 2008 at 1:00 PM
He looks soooo cool smoking his newpimp.
TroubledMonkey on April 4, 2008 at 1:01 PM
NOW that is LAUGHS.
TroubledMonkey on April 4, 2008 at 1:02 PM
Choosing to smoke is a personal decision as is the choice to NOT start smoking in the first place. Both of my parents, younger brothers and 90% of the sailors I know smoked or still do.
I never started so I can’t relate to stopping. I CAN (and DO) disparage those who started in the first place.
SeniorD on April 4, 2008 at 1:10 PM
Lighting my cigar and saying “Meh”……
MNDavenotPC on April 4, 2008 at 1:15 PM
Seriously, there are way more important things going on with this fellow, I personally could give a rat’s arse if he wants to smoke or tries to hide it.
4shoes on April 4, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Anyone know what brand Obama smokes?
Let’s send him a carton and watch the PC crowd have a fit!
cool breeze on April 4, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Why is the Obamanation trying to quit? Is it because it… isn’t cool? bad for his health? loses him votes? makes him look stupid? You pick the reason. I go for, loses him votes.
And now he’s lying about it.
It proves two things he’s a typical phony politician and he’s a liar.
roux on April 4, 2008 at 1:18 PM
Wimp.
ChrisM on April 4, 2008 at 1:19 PM
If he can’t quit cigs, how long before he falls back into his weed smoking and coke snorting habits?
I think it’s a fair question. In fact, McCain should bring it up.
Metro on April 4, 2008 at 1:19 PM
ChrisM on April 4, 2008 at 1:19 PM
Well …. yeah.
Ed Morrissey on April 4, 2008 at 1:20 PM
Yeah, but that’s because his cigars smelled funny…
Big John on April 4, 2008 at 1:22 PM
Is Maguire reading the web back in 2000? If he looked carefully he’d see the “Quit Smoking with Obama” page is user-generated. This isn’t something the campaign is promoting.
seanhackbarth on April 4, 2008 at 1:27 PM
only bad habit I never had. don’t know how I dodged it, everyone else did. Had all the other ones, except gambling, didn’t want to lose my coke money.
LtE126 on April 4, 2008 at 1:29 PM
Obama falls into the category of someone who lies over “anything”. Perfect Democratic candidate. Wait until “his” story of being shot at by a sniper comes out in November.
He can’t be held responsible since he’s the victim of cigarette companies and their focus on rich Black men that grew up in Hawaii, were raised by typical White people, and spend long hours in racist gatherings hooting and hollering. Nothing like a cigarette to relax after one of Wright’s sermons.
Hening on April 4, 2008 at 1:30 PM
Yeah, I love that picture too, he’s got that “maaaan, Yacub is f—-n’ me again” look on his face. Though he seems to be a Virgina Slims man to me.
LtE126 on April 4, 2008 at 1:33 PM
I tried the nicotine patches, but couldn’t keep them lit.
BacaDog on April 4, 2008 at 1:33 PM
It’s great that everyone can still freely discriminate against smokers – and I guess you all can comfortably discriminate against fat people too. I am seeing a great cloud of smug eminating from this thread. I am an educated person and a former smoker. I am and have been fully congizant for a long time the health dangers and the other downsides of smoking. Those who think that all one has to do to quit is just choose to do so are delusional. Its just not that easy. All who are former smokers got to that place for their own reason and holier-than-thou commentary from people whose own bad habits would not stand up to scrutiny is unlikely to be the catalyst for “change”. Obama engages in hypocrisy on a grand scale on a daily basis. These things should be examined – the smoking issue is a red herring.
HawaiiLwyr on April 4, 2008 at 1:34 PM
Agreed 110% 4shoes. There are much more important issues to be discussing.
BTW – 16 1/2 years smoke free!
LL
Lady Logician on April 4, 2008 at 1:37 PM
The reason is that a lot of the dishonesty in camp Obama/Clinton happens on a very high level, i.e. understanding the full scope of the lie requires vast efforts of background material parsing, and in course of that a lot of voters might end up passing and forgetting about it (cf. he said/he said).
However, the smoking issue requires little time to understand, and connects with Joe Sixpack. It’s mass-compatible.
Niko on April 4, 2008 at 1:42 PM
Obama apparently smokes Marlboro Reds.
Some more shots of him puffing away here, thanks to a Hillary supporter.
cool breeze on April 4, 2008 at 1:43 PM
Heck neither did I. But I want to die of emphysema/lung cancer, etc. even less.
Five months and counting.
baldilocks on April 4, 2008 at 1:47 PM
You trying to tell me that with her Vast Universal Network Of Experts In Every Field Under The Sun, Oprah can’t find one specialist to get B.O. to ditch the Cancer Tubes?
pilamaye on April 4, 2008 at 1:49 PM
You had to go there, didn’t you? :::laughing:::
baldilocks on April 4, 2008 at 1:51 PM
Feh. I quit nearly ten years ago, after trying at least fifty times. You simply cannot understand how difficult it is to quit if you’ve never smoked. It’s an addiction, people. But it’s also a mental thing.
Until you find the right element that keeps you off the cigs, you fail, and try, and fail, and try, and fail, and try.
For me, it was giving my word to someone else. The deal was he’d go on a diet, and I’d quit smoking.
It’ll be ten years on May 3rd for me.
He’s still fat.
Meryl Yourish on April 4, 2008 at 1:52 PM
Obama ‘08:
Change, like quitting smoking that will probably come sometime soon, maybe.
awake on April 4, 2008 at 1:54 PM
It’s amazing how some of you “individualists” believe that everyone should handle everything–including quitting smoking–in exactly the same manner.
baldilocks on April 4, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Hank tough J – only you can – and if anyone is strong, then you are the epitome of strenth. I designate you the Effectrix :)
Bill Clinton “That what aa meant baa ‘Aaa didn’t inhale’”.
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 1:55 PM
Alas, “hang tough J”.
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 1:56 PM
Thanks, Sister.
baldilocks on April 4, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Maybe I need to start smoking “epitome of strength”, of course :(
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 1:57 PM
Never say this “two packs of Marlboro in the box please”, or, “hey brother, can I bum a ciggy”. Problem solved.
Oh and that “cigar smelling funny” line is pretty funny.
2Tru2Tru on April 4, 2008 at 1:57 PM
That’s funny. I was told by a smoker that it was very easy to quit smoking. He said he had quit smoking dozens of times….
tom on April 4, 2008 at 1:58 PM
Mark Twain said, “Quitting smoking is easy. I’ve done it a thousand times.”
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 2:00 PM
Maybe Ann Coulter will endorse him now, since I believe she is also addicted to Nicorette.
kirkill on April 4, 2008 at 2:03 PM
As a life long non smoker, I can honestly say I think less of those who smoke. It shows bad judgement. You are spending money to do something you know is bad for you. Am I in favor of banning smoking in bars and such, no, not at all. Businesses should be free to allow legal activities if the owners of the business choose.
That being said, if I were supreme ruler, I would outlaw smoking, not for the public health reasons but simply to deny the government all of that hypocritical tax money.
AndrewsDad on April 4, 2008 at 2:03 PM
I agree with AndrewsDad. But I would also add that it is bad judgment because it makes you smell like crap. If you accidentally stepped in dog poop, wouldn’t you try to get it off?
kirkill on April 4, 2008 at 2:05 PM
On a macro level, that w/b most of Europe and Asia.
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 2:14 PM
Michelle Obama must not be proud of him.
Wade on April 4, 2008 at 2:16 PM
When asked if he smoked after sex, he replied “never looked”
Wade on April 4, 2008 at 2:17 PM
I reiterate my point from the first post. All the comments about how hard it is to quit smoking point out that if he has relapsed, people won’t judge him for it. Everyone understands it’s hard to quit. So why lie? The fact that he doesn’t need to lie about something like this, but apparently lied anyway, is what makes it bothersome. It shows he’s willing to sacrifice his honesty to protect a cultivated image and if he’s willing to ditch his integrity over something so trivial, we should expect him to ditch it over things that matter, too.
Spolitics on April 4, 2008 at 2:22 PM
Congrats! To anyone who’s been successful at quitting. Something I never picked up, but I’ve lived with smokers who’ve tried to quit, one woman would get heart palpitations, she thought she was having a heart attack. It’s tough.
4shoes on April 4, 2008 at 2:26 PM
I smoked for 20 years–quit in 2005–still have one on occasion–but it’s rare. I just didn’t have the wind I used to–I’d be breathing heavy just paddling out into the surf lineup–short of breath in the water is not a good combo, so I stopped–me, Marlboro Mediums. Oh yeah, I grew up in Hawaii–moved over there in 1968, 1975 grad–and BHO is full of it. White people/haoles are the bottom of the food chain–hence my log in name.
fnhaole on April 4, 2008 at 2:27 PM
Cigarettes were invented LOOOOOOOONG before the CIA.
The Indians showed us how to grow the stuff.
We gave them smallpox, they gave us cancer.
Capitana on April 4, 2008 at 2:34 PM
I respectfully disagree. Just because many have quit, it doesn’t mean they all had an easy time of it.
I’ve smoked but never got addicted. Yea for me.
However, my parents both smoked until I was almost ten. It was only the thought of her young daughter with a cigarette in her mouth that helped my mother drop the habit (She’d read a stat about how children of smokers often smoke, and it disgusted her). My dad took a little longer.
My husband’s parents still smoke. My mom couldn’t even stop smoking while pregnant, but my mother-in-law did. They tried so many things but can’t seem to break the habit even though they nearly cough up their lungs each morning.
It’s not easy, especially for people with addictive personalities. That doesn’t mean people who don’t quit should be given a pass, but it does mean that others can be understanding.
In college I knew a girl who smoked, and about halfway through our freshman year she came to the realization that she wasn’t actually inhaling. She considered herself a smoker, but she wasn’t really taking it in.
Instead of just quitting, she learned how to inhale.
My mom used to say often how she doesn’t understand why people smoke now. In her say, she says, they didn’t know how bad it was for you. These days people don’t have that excuse.
I can’t help but agree with her even though I’ve smoked myself.
Esthier on April 4, 2008 at 2:38 PM
We don’t need to focus on this, not much.
Obama’s lies, and the list keeps growing – it’s courtesy of RushBaby, from yesterday’s Obama smoking thread.
I’m sure they all have a compendium of such, but these are pretty blatant, and the year is new…
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 2:43 PM
Wonder if bho passes gas in front of his kids…
areseaoh on April 4, 2008 at 2:44 PM
That will only get worse if he ever quits. My father used to be skinny. Now he looks pregnant.
Esthier on April 4, 2008 at 2:56 PM
“Why aren’t more black people Republicans?!” – Average Republican who hasn’t read this post
Nonfactor on April 4, 2008 at 2:57 PM
(singing)
It must have been a typo, a typo a typo!
It must have have been a typo, it can’t be true!
Pcoop on April 4, 2008 at 3:11 PM
They’ll wake up some day to realize that they’ve been screwed royal by your party (might be this year), and you will cry hysterically after that, for decades to come.
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 3:20 PM
Nonfactor discovered the smoking gun. A single anonymous post that speaks for every single Republican.
Get the chloroform.
Chuck Schick on April 4, 2008 at 3:30 PM
It’s great to see all the ‘no global warming’ geniuses take on the science of nicotine addition. It doesn’t exist either?
After enthusiastically electing a president who spent most of his adult life addicted to hard alcohol- apparently too much of a drunk too much of the time to prepare himself for the White House- how can you worry about a guy with a tobacco habit?
bayam on April 4, 2008 at 3:32 PM
It is relevant, especially as Obama has been now proven to be a liar. Not a huge deal, but relevant.
echosyst on April 4, 2008 at 3:55 PM
You voted for Grant?
Hening on April 4, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Would that it weren’t a common occurrence in threads like these.
You need to meet some black people and talk with them about politics. You’ll realize that they’re not liberal because they’ve been manipulated by the Democratic party, but rather they’re liberal because they believe in the policies.
Nonfactor on April 4, 2008 at 4:23 PM
Everytime I go to rag on Obama for smoking, I realize the person I’m talking to smokes. I really don’t care if he does.
He is a liar though, but its not like saying he was under fire or something.
eski502 on April 4, 2008 at 4:25 PM
Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette.
Puff, puff, puff and if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hates to make him wait.
You’ve just gotta have another cigarette.
Eeee—haaaa!
Blake on April 4, 2008 at 4:36 PM
Maybe you haven’t been reading these comments or the post itself, but most of us don’t care about this and do understand that it’s difficult to quit as we’ve said multiple times.
Because we’re not all robots, some people disagree.
And, what, this never happens on liberal blogs? These are the same people who think blackface photo shop is OK.
We shouldn’t excuse it here, but that’s no reason for you to act like it’s only a problem Republicans have.
Esthier on April 4, 2008 at 4:59 PM
Really? One person makes it common?
Downright tame compared to the crap Ive seen daily over at Kos and the DU.
Chuck Schick on April 4, 2008 at 5:15 PM
My main runnin’ partner growing up found out in Dec he’s got it in the lung and it’s spread now. Stage 4. Smoked all his life. I was his best man. We did every f’d up thing you can do together, along with all the guys we ran with. It breaks my heart.
LtE126 on April 4, 2008 at 5:29 PM
Barack’s got sort of a Stokely Carmichael stare going there. Next thing you know he’ll be posing in a peacock chair like Huey P. Newton.
rivlax on April 4, 2008 at 5:48 PM
To your shock, I do that a lot.
Entelechy on April 4, 2008 at 6:52 PM
And yet you still think “they’ll wake up some day to realize that they’ve been screwed royal[ly] by [the Democratic] party”?
I’d hate to be the recipient of your conversations.
Nonfactor on April 4, 2008 at 6:58 PM
I don’t know what all the uproar is about. The last great Democrat president, Jed Bartlett (D-NH), snuck a smoke all the time while in office, and he was a figure of mythological greatness, too.
Captain Scarlet on April 4, 2008 at 7:44 PM
This used to be a free country. We now have the smoking police, the spanking police, the CO2 police, the dodge ball police and the kids touching kids police, not to mention the kids drawing guns and the aspirins at school police. Ain’t socialism grand.
Johan Klaus on April 5, 2008 at 1:11 AM
Not to mention the Sharpie police! Please!
Captain Scarlet on April 5, 2008 at 1:22 AM
I can sympathize with Obama on this one. I quit 20 years ago this past January. I was sick for three months after I quit. My doctor says it’s my system cleaning out the toxins. The benefits. Since I quit I’ve seldom had a cold, I was getting bronchitis and respiratory infections twice a year, I haven’t had either since, and I dont feel like I’m suffocating in the summer. Quitting wasnt easy, but it wasnt impossible either.
abcurtis on April 5, 2008 at 8:52 AM
Btw – I quit not because I wanted to, I enjoyed smoking. I quit because my doctor told me I HAD to. Lots of respiratory issues. And I quit cold turkey. I lied to myself like a dog. Every time I reached for a cigarette, I told myself, why am I doing that? I’ve never smoked in my life. I dont know how long it was before the cravings quit, but after 20 years I have no desire for a smoke. Different methods work for different people, some dont work at all. I wish anybody who’s trying to quit all the best.
As I said there was nothing easy about it and I wouldnt want to do it again. But it’s not impossible either.
abcurtis on April 5, 2008 at 9:01 AM
I don’t lay this at your doorstep personally, but that is a courtesy I wish your party would extend to black conservatives. Thomas, Sowell, Rice, Steele etc.
Spirit of 1776 on April 5, 2008 at 3:05 PM
I smoked for over 40 years, quit 7 years ago and haven’t gone back. I used Zyban for 2 months to get over the rough parts. I didn’t need to quit I just wanted to because I was tired of being a slave to cigarettes. If you want to you can. However, it was one of the most difficult things I have ever done. and then of course you put on weight. Now I’m dieting. I’m going to do to fat what I did to smoke. Kick the butts, kick the lard butt.
UnEasyRider on April 5, 2008 at 4:19 PM
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