And his team works overtime trying to hide Obama's dirty little secret. “He is -- get this -- a cigarette smoker.” L0L

Does Obama inhale?

BS journalism!

The Bogus 'Science' of Secondhand Smoke.

WHO study.

There is no bases in fact that passive smoking is harmful to people that do not smoke.

I would agree that smoking does stink and leaves a yellow deposit, but show me some scientific evidence that Secondhand Smoke (SHS) is detrimental to the health of nonsmokers. Do people lick the yellow deposit that it leaves with their tongue?

Wretched busybodies that pick on others are often overweight, have poor eating habits and have nothing better to do than look for the causes of their misery anywhere except themselves. I smoked like a chimney all the time I was pregnant and her growing up. She is now a confirmed anti smoker and tries to make my life hell. She’s forty pounds overweight and that has to be more harmful to her health than my coming to her house and lighting up a cigarette. I do not smoke in her house, but she’s constantly on my back about quitting my ‘nasty’ habit. She loves to come to my house and continue her campaign of getting me to stop. Why doesn’t she clean up her own filthy habit that causes her to be overweight? My weight has always been under control and yes I do use cigarettes to help fight hunger pangs. Which kills first, smoking or being overweight and having high blood pressure…then of course there is high cholesterol? Door #1 kills fewer people that door 2, 3 and 4. I have low blood pressure and my cholesterol level has always been low. I’m coming up 65 years old and have no intention of giving up my addiction, but since the smoke police elected themselves to be my judge, I have given up smoking everywhere else except in the privacy of ‘my’ home and car. My daughter is welcome to put on my tombstone, “Here lies my mother who smoked from the age of 14 and look how young she was when she died…I give her my permission to add the inscription of the cause of my death.” I will not be around to see what the cause of hers was. But women do live long lives in my family, ‘Great grandmother 92, grandmother 83, my mother who will be 86 this year.’ My mother was a heavy smoker ‘til she was in her late 60’s and stopped because she had a heart condition. I will ‘perhaps’ stop if I get a condition that is similar to hers.

I remember one Christmas Eve that my daughter took my coat out of her closet because it smelled. She put it in the cold garage and did not put in the dryer before I had to put it on. I was forced to travel 50 miles with a wet, cold coat. We did have words over that incident—she has never repeated that lack of humanity—had I been susceptible to colds and pneumonia, her act of cruelty could very well have killed me.

Is there a link between anti-smoking campaigns and puritanical believes? I would suggest that toxic, controlling governments are more dangerous than dependence on cigarette. How’s this for an idea? "If there is a nation that you do not like, encourage them to smoke and give them free cigarettes…the population will be decimated and it will be much cheaper than the budget for military spending."

“Rant over!”

A stupid pundit, on the other hand, can't simply quit being stupid.

I know that's a rhetorical question, but I care. I think his character is shady and I think it's a shady habit. At least he's interested in quitting ... but then again, he's suppose to be a distinguished American now. Would you want to lose a single vote over smoking in such state-splitting, close elections?
I never picked up smoking, I never did cocaine, I never became an alcoholic. Did you? How many of you went beyond the experimentation phase and habitually, seriously abused substances? Are you down with Obama?? 'Cause he was hardcore dude! Are these all such mainstream things now that it's okay for someone to be President to have done them? Or is this part of the "Obama is fresh" brand? - "Hey, Obama is not your father's politician; he lit up weed and snorted coke, just like my generation did!"
All hail the rockstar politician.
Is giving Obama a pass on all that makes him ordinary our version of passing "the beer test"? Are we tired yet of not having someone extraordinary seek the Presidency? We use to not have to settle for or resign ourselves to having such low expectations in our leaders.
As for Bush's running and health, do read in full (from http://isbushantichrist.blogspot.com/2005_08_01_isbushantichrist_archive.html):

Sunday, August 21, 2005
Courage and the Coward In Crawford

A lot is being said lately about Cindy Sheehan, whose son Casey was killed in Iraq. Some are calling her the Rosa Parks of the anti-war movement. Not surprisingly, the right is throwing every ugly smear at her they can, because that’s how they operate. They don’t want to discuss issues, just make personal attacks.

But to me, what it really illustrates is the difference between personal courage and cowardice. It would have been easy for Ms Sheehan to do what most mothers in her situation do – to tearfully take the folded flag from the coffin, and go home telling herself that her son had died for a noble cause. The loss is bad enough, without taking up the burden of rage and regret when you realize it was really all for nothing. But she had that courage, and from that she was able to give a meaning and purpose to her son’s death, by facing down the draft-dodging coward who had perpetrated it and told the lies that killed her son.

George W Bush is the personification of cowardice. A coward is still a coward, even though he is given all the power in the world. We tend to confuse the power of the presidency with the character of the man. It isn’t just Cindy Sheehan that Bush is afraid to meet with. Most of all he’s afraid to discover the truth about himself. He figured that recklessly sending other parent’s children off to die for a lie, could somehow mystically turn a draft-dodging coward into a courageous war president.. But Cindy Sheehan proved otherwise. She called his bluff.

It has always amazed me so many people fall for the devil’s tricks. They like to think of Bush as a strong and courageous leader, when all the facts have proven exactly the opposite. Not just his dodging the draft and life-long history of using whiskey as a liquid substitute for courage.

But a strong president would have been someone who had the courage to stand up for average citizens against powerful corporations and wealthy special interests. But never for a millisecond has this (p)resident ever been able to muster that sort of courage. He always allies himself with the strongest and most powerful because he knows they will keep him safe and on top. For him, it’s not so much that he is their flunky, as they are his political bodyguards. And they have kept their end of the bargain and kept him in office, in spite of losing two elections, and in spite of the disastrous state of the country.

This is a guy who not only fled to Nebraska on 9-11, but he has taken vastly more security precautions than any president in history. Wherever he goes – whether to NYC or even our closest ally in London – he completely shuts down the city. Everybody he meets is screened and scripted beforehand, and protesters are kept far away. He might have rushed into Iraq, and had no problem sacrificing Casey Sheehan’s life and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people he doesn’t know or care about – but when it comes to his own life, he takes absolutely NO risks.

Bush’s overwhelming fear of death is also manifested in his obsession with exercise. This is a man who spends two hours a day just working out. This isn’t just some guy going through a midlife crisis – this is a 59 year old man with a pathological fear of growing old and dying. He’s desperately trying to convince himself that if he can get his heartbeat down to 40 beats per minute, he’s still just as young and fit as a High School athlete (though he was actually a High School cheerleader).

That’s why he doesn’t go to any funerals for the soldiers. It’s also why, when Cindy met him the first time, he wouldn’t look at pictures of her son or even say his name. Bush is a coward who has filled his life with lies and illusions, and Cindy Sheehan is the cold reality staring him in the face. She has come back from the graveside, representing all those who have fought and died in Iraq. For Bush, it must be like meeting the grim reaper for the first time. How could he meet with her when, coward that he is, his entire life is geared towards denying her very existence?
posted by R. Stephen Hanchett at 2:36 PM

by this post. foily smoke and other ideas about what it could mean to have a smoking prez in this day and age.

fwiw- i agree with you 10000%: who cares? it's not like lighting up is the same as starting an illegal war of choice in the middle east...

on other people's part that they refuse to see that 'some' people are less than perfect!

Who the hell is other than Jesus and he's dead. Cut smokers some slack and think about your own vices.

Closet smokers:

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis was a chain smoker. One of the few pictures there are of her with a cigarette in her hand.

Laura Bush was a smoker.

Did Laura Bush quit…there are rumours that she did not!

Book: First Lady sneaks smokes (http://www.ydr.com/newsfull/ci_3676474) That link does not work. I wonder why? L0L

By MEREDITH B. MAZZOTTA | For the Daily Record/Sunday News

Apr 5, 2006 — First Lady Laura Bush exudes poise, politeness and the occasional stream of cigarette smoke.

Although she officially quit the habit ten years ago, Bush still sneaks a smoke now and again from friends and White House aides, according to a new biography on her life in bookstores Tuesday: "Laura Bush: An Intimate Portrait of the First Lady" by Ronald Kessler.

But Jack Hayes, a member of the board the York chapter of the American Cancer Society, said Bush's actions are "dumb."

"There are 4,000 chemicals in one cigarette and when she smokes that cigarette she harms not only herself but everyone around her that isn't smoking," he said.

Hayes, 71, smoked a pack a day for 36 years, then stopped "cold turkey" after learning he had cancer of the larynx. Too scared to ever pick up another cigarette, Hayes found comfort in Reese's Peanut Butter Cups.

In 1994, Hayes' larynx was removed and he now breathes and speaks through a small hole in his throat.

Bush "is making a bad example to the teenagers," Hayes said. "They think if the First Lady is smoking, I can too and it must be very fashionable. That's what we've got to stop."

Kessler's book describes how the first lady's opinions have "brought budget changes to a range offederal agencies," as well as more personal details such as her smoking lapses and her difficulty in conceiving children, according to the book's publisher, Random House.

A Dover resident, Al Meskunas, has tried to quit smoking and said the first lady's occasional puffs humanize her.

"I think every reformed smoker would like to have one now and then it's just that you don't want the floodgates to open and start smoking all over again," Meskunas said. "I admire anybody who quits, because it's very difficult, very difficult."

Nearly 23 percent of Pennsylvania adults smoke cigarettes. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, accounting for approximately one in five deaths, according to the Food and Drug Administration.

Carl Kassar has run a treatment program for smokers at Hanover Hospital for the past two and a half years. A reformed smoker, Kassar does not advocate taking occasional drags to his patients.

"I tell them either you smoke or you don't. Leaving that door open still means that you are a smoker, you just don't do it as often."

Kassar said smoking now and then is risky and can lead to a relapse.

"Bush's smoking, despite her high profile, only underscores the insidious nature of nicotine," Kassar said.

-----

Which is preferable...a person who admits they do, and does not blow smoke in your face and respects your space, or one that lies like a blanket? If I were married to thank punk, I'd deliberately set either him or myself on fire and make sure there were no fire extinguishers around to extinguish the blaze. There's a thought...Laura could redeem herself and become a national heroine, if only she would set that sucker on fire, stand back and watch him burn! ROTFLMAO! I'm easily amused.

if the circumstances warrant it. I do it almost daily for my rabid, non-smoking daughter. She's a good person, but has some quirks as a Type A, controlling personality, that have to be ignored.

physically fit Presidents.

It's his mind that's hosed.

_{"Damn right it's loaded, it makes a lousy club."}

The small brain part that makes us human
By Sandra Blakeslee
Wednesday, February 7, 2007

The recent news about smoking was sensational: some people with damage to a prune-size slab of brain tissue called the insula were able to give up cigarettes instantly.

Suppose scientists could figure out how to tweak the insula without damaging it. They might be able to create that famed and elusive free lunch — an effortless way to kick the cigarette habit.

That dream, which may not be too far off, puts the insula in the spotlight. What is the insula and how could it possibly exert such profound effects on human behavior?

According to neuroscientists who study it, the insula is a long-neglected brain region that has emerged as crucial to understanding what it feels like to be human.

They say it is the wellspring of social emotions, things like lust and disgust, pride and humiliation, guilt and atonement. It helps give rise to moral intuition, empathy and the capacity to respond emotionally to music.

Its anatomy and evolution shed light on the profound differences between humans and other animals.

The insula also reads body states like hunger and craving and helps push people into reaching for the next sandwich, cigarette or line of cocaine. So insula research offers new ways to think about treating drug addiction, alcoholism, anxiety and eating disorders.

Of course, so much about the brain remains to be discovered that the insula's role may be a minor character in the play of the human mind. It is just now coming on stage.

The activity of the insula in so many areas is something of a puzzle. "People have had a hard time conceptualizing what the insula does," said Martin Paulus, a psychiatrist at the University of California, San Diego.

If it does everything, what exactly is it that it does?

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