OPINION: Barack Obama's cigarette habit
Barack Obama smokes cigarettes, so Big Nanny's in a fuss. For freedom-loving Americans, it's almost good news.
The president-elect would need magic to outdo George W. Bush as a socialistic, big-government president. Unfortunately, he's likely to try.
Obama has promised a massive public works program in which government will create jobs and pay workers with tax money. He has promised to continue the Bush social-spending spree known as the Faith Based Initiative, which dilutes religion by entangling it with government. Obama promises a litany of government cures to problems individuals should solve. That means citizens who want to live in a free-market, limited-government, pro-freedom society are in for more of the same, if not something worse.
At least he still smokes, as revealed Dec. 7 on "Meet the Press." For freedom defenders, it says Obama disobeys Big Nanny - that ugly, collectivist manifestation of social and government forces that tells us what to eat, drink and inhale. It means he'll be hard pressed to enable oppression of smokers, in the realm of health care or anything else.
Proof that Obama smokes can be gleaned from the following partial transcript from the "Meet the Press" interview. The smoking discussion begins with an incredibly rude and inappropriate question by host Tom Brokaw:
Brokaw: "Have you stopped smoking?"
Obama: "You know, I have, but what I said was that, you know, there are times where I've fallen off the wagon. Well..."
Brokaw, seemingly astonished: "Well, wait a minute."
Obama, acting caught: "What can I tell..."
Brokaw, interrupting: "Then that means you haven't stopped."
Obama: "Well, the - fair enough. What I would say is, is that I have done a terrific job under the circumstances of making myself much healthier, and I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House."
Oy gevalt. The president-elect smokes in the modern nanny state? What will Big Nanny do, faced with rebellion by the most powerful and popular man in the country?
The first thing Big Nanny will do is play a "save the children" card. Any time Big Nanny wants to impede liberty, so the collective will behave like dupes marching in lockstep, she plays the children card.
Dr. David Hill, writing for The Hill newspaper last summer, expressed concern that a smoking president might become "a role model for his children and other kids who might think smoking's cool if Obama does it."
"Obama smoking cigarettes is repulsive! What kind of message does that send to our children?" said a typical blog entry on abcnews.com. Thousands of Internet blog entries convey the identical concern, exclaiming it's all about "the children." Only a monster would harm children.
By that logic, of course, adults must do nothing that a child could mimic. Adults mustn't climb rocks, as it's inherently dangerous.
Adults shouldn't drink soda, or eat junk food, because a child might do it. Adults shouldn't drink beer, or read dirty books. Of course, it's not really about the children. It's about exploiting society's love for children in order to exert power and control over adults. In truth, children can't be sheltered from influence in a free society. In truth, smoking parents can raise non-smoking kids. Adults who love children counsel and guide them and hope for the best, never indulging the fantasy that youth can be spared the sights and sounds of all unseemly adult behavior.
The "rules" Obama told Brokaw he would to not violate involve the White House smoking ban, which he should violate in the private areas of the White House if he so chooses. It will be his home. Smokers are free to smoke in their own homes. If employees in the private quarters don't like second-hand smoke, they can ask to transfer or quit. At least 10 presidents have smoked cigars, pipes or cigarettes in the White House.
Unfortunately, Obama didn't handle Brokaw's line of disrespectful questioning the way he should have. The appropriate answer would have been something more like: "Yes, I smoke. I have a right to smoke. I enjoy smoking, I'm an adult, and it's my life not yours. Can we please talk about public policy, and not my personal habits? After all, you're interviewing the president-elect."
From a political standpoint, Obama's cigarettes make him seem real. This is a man who looks perfect. He talks perfectly. He dresses like a million bucks. He's tall, fit and trim. He almost seems too perfect, if one ignores his politics. Smoking says that Obama, seemingly a pillar of personal perfection, is really just a man. Everyone is human, and all humans have some form of release. Smoking is that safe social disobedience that says "I don't always do what I'm told." Could this addiction kill him over time?
Sure, but so could eating too much steak.
If President-elect Obama desires to quit smoking, Americans should wish him well. If he chooses to smoke, however, it's his right.
Leave it alone.
Smoking is a nasty habit that comes with risks. Most people have habits that aren't all good. Bill Clinton ate McDonald's food, smoked cigars and suffered heart problems. Ronald Reagan ate lots of sugary jelly beans. Grover Cleveland stuffed his mouth with chew. Adults who don't like bad habits are free to avoid them. They're also free to indulge. It's called freedom, which is infinitely more important than good health.
So there you go, Big Nanny. Stuff that in your pipe and smoke it.
