Should Obama quit smoking?

[Liberal_in_LA]

Poll question: Should Obama quit smoking?

[La Lioness Priyanka]

1. its none of our fucking business.

[Dulcinea]

87. Agreed.

He's an adult & can make his own decisions. Period.

[alwysdrunk]

2. He doesn't have to quit

As long as he never gets caught on camera smoking there is no reason to for him to quit.

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. Oh, eventually he'll get caught on camera.

[Yes We Did]

93. So what if he does.

Last I heard it wasn't a crime.

[Double T]

4. No. In fact I think BO will smoke a lot more...............

once he's made aware of ALL the bush/cheney destruction he is facing. BO needs something to reduce his bush induced tension.

[Adsos Letter]

5. EVERYONE should quit...it is in their best interests to do so.

both financially and health-wise.

[AZ Criminal JD]

29. How do you know?

Who are you to proclaim what is in everyone's best interests? Smoking relieves stress and stops weight gain, both of which are healthy. I would like to put your life under the microscope so we can see all your habits. But that will never happen because those who love to preach at others always have something to hide.

[katandmoon]

32. There's a reason cigarettes are called coffin nails and Obama is a damn stupid fool to smoke

He's young enough that the dangers of smoking were WELL KNOWN before he ever started. I don't think it says much for his intelligence that he ever started such a filthy, dangerous, anti-social, expensive habit. Stress relief and weight control are a really shit trade-off for lung cancer. My mother and both in-laws were all very thin when they died from it. But they just HAD to smoke.

[AZ Criminal JD]

68. Most smokers don't get lung cancer

But of course you know that. But given your emotional statements, maybe you don't.

[DebJ]

81. No (hack, cough, hack), but we can't frickin breathe!!!! Worst

decision of my life, to smoke.

[AZ Criminal JD]

94. Obama doesn't seem to have any problem breathing

He plays basketball and seems to be pretty athletic. I think that is what gets non-smokers so angry. He is athletic and he puts a lie to all of the anti-smoker myths. I smoke and climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro, tallest free standing mountain in the world, last summer. No problems even at the 20,000 foot summit.

[Sebastian Doyle]

35. How much does Phillip Morris pay you to write bullshit like that?

Seriously.....

"Smoking relieves stress and stops weight gain, both of which are healthy."

That would have been a ridiculous statement in 1965. It's nothing but open shilling for big tobacco now.

Obama should quit for his own health and for his family, and as far as I know, he's been attempting to do exactly that.

But on the list of things that currently concern me about the Obama presidency, that one is pretty far down on the list.

[Kalyke]

52. Actually, everytime I've quit, I've gained weight I've never

been able to lose, so the statement is at least accurate for some people.

It's either smoke or be a house.

(Doctors have not been able to determine why I can't lose the weight. I eat healthy and am no couch potato. It's metabolic).

[ellisonz]

54. And they're great after unprotected sex with multiple partners!

[Stump]

58. Yep...

But they're not quite as safe...

[ellisonz]

74. Are you joking?

You obviously haven't seen my consorts!

:spank:

[AZ Criminal JD]

67. Let's put your habits under the microscope

Nope, won't happen. Not from the preachers.

[Adsos Letter]

44. Well, of course you're right...

smoking is soooo beneficial. :eyes:

Idiot.

[Hawkeye-X]

6. If he continues to smoke - might as well decriminalize and make pot legal to smoke.

[AtomicKitten]

7. We are not the sphincter police.

[peace13]

14. Too funny!

Not certain about all of us here!

[TK421]

8. I voted "It's none of our fucking business"

because it isn't, and I fail to see how it will affect his ability to perform as president


but I just might see someone point out how it might..

[Liberal_in_LA]

11. Is that a picture of "god's warrior" in your post?

I saw an article about Obama's smoking today, that's why I asked.

[TK421]

16. THAT IS THE GOD WARRIOR!!!@@!# yes, indeed!

;-)

[Liberal_in_LA]

18. IT'S OF THE DEVIL! I DON'T WANT IT!

[TK421]

21. That's not MY picture in that avatar n/t

[Kali]

9. should but really not our fucking business

[TheDebbieDee]

10. Yes, he should quit smoking - and so should everyone else!

And, yes, it's my business because he's the President. He's been elected to the highest office in the land and his inability to complete his term and initiate the expected government programs due to death, bad health, etc. could cause serious detriment to all Americans!

[peace13]

13. Ouch.

What's next? Beer? Prescription happy pills? Square dancing? Where will it end? And where were you when * was juicing it up at our WH?

[TheDebbieDee]

72. I'm totally pi$$ed off that for the last 8 years

* has gotten away with his coke-snortin', booze-hound ways. That $hit has impaired his judgement, if he ever had any, and he's made decisions that have had life-changing effects on millions of people the world over, not just the United States.

When I was a Federal employee (til 1996), employment was accepted based on the condition that the employee would consent to a maximum of one urinalysis per year, if one was requested by the Federal agency by which one was employed. (I was never asked for a urinalysis by the Dept of Treasury, but I knew that my employment was contingent on giving a sample if asked for one.)

As far as I am concerned, the President is the highest-ranking of civil servants and I'm pi$$ed that he hasn't been held to some sort of physical/medical standards like all other civil servants and employees. But then again, most Democrats have been in hibernation for the last 8 years! (Pelosi, I'm looking at you.)

[JBear]

96. Not square dancing!!

Square dancing is so much fun with gay people too!! Abolishing square dancing would be discrimination against the fashionally challenged and the terminally geeky (of which I am both!)

Yellow rocks y'all!

[Kalyke]

53. He's in his 40s, not his 70s.

And he exercises and eats correctly.

You have nothing to worry about for the next four to eight years.

:eyes:

Have the Smoking Police gotten to you? I'd say so.

[TheDebbieDee]

73. Smoking Police, my a$$! It's a good thing for a person,

any person, to quit smoking.

Just like it's a good thing for a person to start an exercise program, or to take continuing education classes.

[Kalyke]

75. You completely missed my point.

My point is that Obama is healthy NOW. He will continue to be healthy during the next four to eight years - the time in which he can be president. Your argument was that it's your business if he's not healthy because he's your president. I pointed out that he's not going to keel over and die from smoking a cigarette or two a day during the next four to eight years.

[WillyT]

89. LOL !!!

Hell... if I was down to a cigarette or two a day, I'd consider myself quit.

:evilgrin:

:hi:

[jberryhill]

76. So could stress

I don't care if he smokes, is a chronic masturbator, or whatever else it takes for him to keep his wits about him.

[peace13]

12. I was at a health care house party yesterday.

One freeper there and man all he could say was that our president should lead by example. The third time he said it I had to say, 'Ya know we have had a coke head alcoholic for eight years. I doubt a few cigarettes are going to hurt.' Followed it up by adding ..first they came for the cigarettes and I said nothing then they came for the beer and I am pretty certain that I would not have survived * without the beer. Peace, Kim

[gulliver]

15. It would be irresponsible not to.

If Obama doesn't quit, he would be responsible for potentially millions of deaths from lung cancer and heart disease. That would put him ahead of Bush for most people killed. The health care system doesn't need people deliberately weighing it down because of their personal weaknesses/habits anyway. The "death chic" and "sexual risk taker" messages can be sent in other ways. Just get a teeshirt with "I want to screw and then die young." You could get three for the price of a carton of cigarettes.

[niyad]

46. nice job of hyperbole.

[IndianaGreen]

17. He has two small children! He must quit smoking.

In Indiana he could get in trouble with child protective services for exposing children to second hand smoke.

[Kalyke]

57. You can smoke and not expose your children.

Geesch.

You smoke outside and you don't smoke in the car when they're in the car.

This is really getting ridiculous.

[Starry Messenger]

19. Only if he adopts a pit bull and breads it with corn flakes.

Did I hit all the high points?

I voted yes, only because I just did in April. I want everyone to feel my pain. ;)

[Dervill Crow]

23. I read that as "breeds it with corn flakes."

That was a very unnerving thought.

[Starry Messenger]

41. That is unnerving.

:scared: What's worse, a super strain of corn-flakes or really crunchy canines?

[Dervill Crow]

20. Everyone who smokes should quit smoking.

People don't always do what they should, and THAT is none of our business.

[TK421]

24. I've smoked since I was sixteen, and have tried to stop many times

but then again, I think I have a death-wish

[AZ Criminal JD]

70. You are going to die whether you have the wish or not

I know the anti-smoking nuts think otherwise but so far every non-smoker who has died at some point (usually of a stroke or heart attack). But of course that doesn't count because after all they are non-smokers -- gods among us or so they think.

[Dervill Crow]

79. I'd much rather die of a stroke or heart attack than lung cancer.

It's not the death that's the hard part, it's the run-up to it. Of course now that we have assisted suicide it's not so bad; one can bail when the carcinoma metastasizes to bone.

I'm not an anti-smoking nut; the pervasiveness of high fructose corn syrup actually pisses me off more. :mad:

[Dervill Crow]

78. I hear ya.

I actually had quit smoking years before but started up again when my mom was diagnosed with (terminal, of course) lung cancer. It was 20 years ago and I've since quit again, but that was totally crazy. I think I felt like I was deserting her, me with my nice healthy lungs.

:shrug: Strange how rebellious we humans can be, even against ourselves.

If you want to quit, I hope you manage to. We all die, but smoking-related deaths are particularly brutal. :hug:

[Undercurrent]

22. It's nobody's business but his.

Sheesh! Next folks will want to monitor the man's dental hygiene habits. Does he brush the approved way, use the right brush, correct toothpaste, or mouthwash?

Obama will be living with more stress than most of us can imagine. Give him a break. If he wants to step out on the Truman balcony, or the Sunroom promenade, and have a smoke it's his right.

[TK421]

26. Talking to several people these past two weeks, Obama is referred to

as "that poor guy" of course, meaning that nobody wants the responsibility of the mess he has to face.

I know I don't....

[katandmoon]

33. I disagree that it's nobody's business. Smoking is very detrimental to one's health.

And he was just elected president. All the working out he does will not undo the damage cigarettes are doing to his heart and lungs.

[niyad]

47. my stepmother died of a heart attack at 53. never smoked, and her doc had told

her three days before that she was in excellent health.

george burns smoked five cigars a day until he died just before his ONE HUNDREDTH birthday. genetics, etc. have just as much to do with it as anything else.

[Lisa0825]

50. It's a known risk factor.

Anecdotes don't change that. No one has ever tried to say that 100% of people who smoke will get smoking-related diseases, and 100% of those who do not smoke will NOT. But smoking dramatically changes the chances that you will get numerous diseases, such as cancer, emphysema, heart disease, etc. If you really believe that it has no bearing on health, you are truly sticking your head in the sand.

[ddeclue]

84. or sticking their head in the smoke more accurately...

:)

[pipi_k]

61. My first (ex) husband, same thing

never smoked. Hardly drank at all.

Died of a sudden and massive heart attack in 2002 three months before his 53rd birthday.

My mother in law smoked for years. Survived many bouts with different cancers....skin cancer, colon cancer, breast cancer. She died in 2005 three months before her 94th birthday.

You just never know.

[JBear]

97. statistically speaking...

the genetics are stacked against him....just sayin!

:bounce:

[ellisonz]

56. You forgot flossing.

;-)

[Undercurrent]

62. Oh no!!

The teeth police will get me... fer shur. :silly:

[lame54]

25. I think Cheney should start

[Sebastian Doyle]

37. I'm pretty sure that's how Cheney got the fucked up heart in the first place

Probably grew up in Wyoming idolizing John Wayne and the "Marlboro Man" (both of whom died of lung cancer)

[Zuiderelle]

27. Yes, he should for his health. But, it's none of our business.

(It's also a very bad example for his children)

[sellitman]

28. NOOFB N/T

[Clio the Leo]

30. Yep and I wont vote for him again unless he does.

:)

[kwenu]

31. I don't smoke and I don't care.

[blogslut]

34. Obama IS in the process of quitting

And from all reports, he's doing a damned good job of it. He has said that he's slipped a few times but this is to be expected. Very few people can quit cold turkey, never smoking again.

Don't you think your OP is a wee bit misleading?

[Lisa0825]

38. IMO, that constitues having already quit.

One cigarette every now and then does not really make someone a "smoker." If 99% of the time he isn't smoking, he has basically quit.

I hate smoking. It killed both my parents. I wish everyone would quit. But I won't pick at someone for an occasional puff.

[NJmaverick]

36. Yes, he should

He should for himself and his family. He is the most admired man in America, so there is also the idea that it would set a good example. So I think he should. I will also say it's not the end of the world if he doesn't, as this is a minor issue (at best).

[TheManInTheMac]

39. None of our business...

If he wants to quit (assuming he hasn't already), that is his choice, and only he can make that choice.

[ddeclue]

40. He really does have an obligation to quit smoking.

Obama's example is far more powerful than the Surgeon General's warning.

His smoking has consequences.

It will cause the number of people smoking to rise in this country and indeed around the world.

It will increase the incidence of death and disease related to smoking and the subsequent health insurance costs in an already broken health care system.

The tremendous example he sets of otherwise being a fit President who exercises and watches his weight is otherwise utterly destroyed by smoking.

He, and for that matter President George W. Bush, could really serve to raise people's awareness of physical fitness and its relationship to many of our lifestyle induced health problems in this country and have a significant impact on the cost of healthcare simply by making an issue of it. Even President Clinton, who long had a reputation for being overweight, could join in on this issue as someone who very nearly died due to heart disease after being President and who has subsequently lost a lot of weight. There are other politicians of note who could also chime in like Bill Bradley and John Kerry who set a great example to older Americans of remaining fit and physically active in their older years.

Perhaps this could be an hour long TV special with interviews amongst the these politicians and various athletes like Lance Armstrong, Michael Jordan, and others.

It's great that our President can take off his shirt at the beach without being embarassed.

It would be better if he could do it without the cigarettes.

[Two Americas]

42. enough is enough

There are far too many threads about smoking. Too many people have an agenda - they are trying to tear down the PE. Don't we have more important things to be discussing?

We are all opposed to smoking here, and implying that some of us are not and labeling us as shills for the tobacco industry is dividing DU. What could the motives for this possibly be?

We should all be happy that Obama is going to be inaugurated, and give the man a chance before we jump all over him.

This cruel attempt to paint some DUers as pro-smoking is beyond the pale. get a grip people! It is not the end of the world. So he puffs for two minutes - that is a very small part of the ceremony but some people seem obsessed with that and are making it into far too bog a deal. It is not as though he has appointed some pro-tobacco person to a position where they will actually be setting policy.

Obama has said many times that he is opposed to smoking. These things take time, and we have other priorities right now.

[Teaser]

43. Everyone should smoke

I recently started my four year old smoking. He loves it. Also I have been working on ways to force my cats to smoke. I've designed a special headpiece that holds a cigarette to their mouth.

[ddeclue]

85. Did it look something like this??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bScOj4e0bOQ

[niyad]

45. I voted none of our business, because it ISN"T. geez, with all the truly serious things he has

to deal with, people are focused on this?

I don't care whether he smokes, I don't care whether anyone smokes. that isn't important to me (and before anyone starts screaming, I happen to be an allergic nonsmoker, one who thinks we have a lot more important things to worry about with our new president--like his safety, his job, the tremendous tasks he has to fulfill. I don't care, either, whether he has a couple of drinks.

[mucifer]

48. NOOFB but I'm hoping his exercising frequently offsets some of the harm.

I just think about Chicago's first black mayor Harold Washington. He died in office of a heart attack. He was under lots of stress and gained lots of weight in office. He also received death threats. I hope Obama keeps exercising to reduce stress. It would be nice if he quit smoking. But, I can understand if he is unable to do it.

[kiva]

49. If he chooses to, good for him.

If not, also his choice.

[gollygee]

51. He's been trying to

He said he quit but he sometimes falls off the wagon. To use it in the past tense wasn't accurate, but that does mean he's actively trying to quit. It isn't always an easy thing to accomplish. I don't understand how people can say he should just plain quit, like there is no physical addiction issue involved. People can't always just quit.

[emdee]

55. He's over the age of 21 --- it's legal = none of our business....

opinion of an ex-smoker,
emdee

[tilsammans]

59. As much as I HATE smoking . . .

. . . (too many of my family members' lives were shortened due to smoking) . . .

I acknowledge that it is the hardest habit to break. Let's show our PE our support in encouraging him to quit. And if he can't, let's let it be. :pals:

[CreekDog]

60. Yes, unless he gets so pissed off that he nukes something

:dilemma:

[polichick]

63. I thought he already quit.

[Deja Q]

64. None of our business, but if we want a healthy President we'd recommend he quit, nicely...

:)

[Hippo_Tron]

65. Well personally, I voted for a president not a role model

If he quit smoking and set an example for others to do so it would be wonderful. But I'm much more concerned about how he governs than what kind of example he sets. If putting off quitting helps him govern better then it's fine by me. Hell if getting blowjobs from interns helps him govern better then that's also fine by me. Just hope he doesn't get caught.

[boppers]

66. Do we get to argue about his diet, too?

How about his exercise regimen?

This is just plain sad.

[Withywindle]

69. Let's check his poop for texture and consistency

like my vet tells me to do with my cat.


The idea that people will blindly imitate whatever the President does is just absurd. I didn't see sales of cowboy boots with the Presidential seal on them shoot up, did you? (thank god!) How about Segway scooters?

[MrSlayer]

71. I'd say that's up to him.

I'd like to see him give the State of the Union with a Marlboro hanging out of his mouth. Ruffle some feathers.

[pink-o]

77. I hope he does...if only for Michelle, Malia and Sasha's sake.

As for the rest of us--his constituents--we only have the right to insist that he upholds the constitution. His personal life should be his own.

But that said, if President Obama asked me personally, I would tell him of my own adored mom, who struggled with quitting smoking and finally did it at 60 years old. Too late, the damage had already been done, and she died of complications from COPD and a huge tumor in her lungs. I still miss her 2 years later.

And to the poster who wonders how we would all fare if our own habits were held to the same stringent standard I say: knock yourself out, Brother! I've been a vegetarian for 33 years, go to the gym at least 4 times a week, and live on my bicycle when I'm not working out. At 54 years old, I'm 6'1", female and weigh 149. I used to smoke, but I quit years ago because I KNEW it would bring me dire consequences if I didn't. It was hard, but dying like that is a lot harder. Regardless of who lived to be 102 smoking 5 packs a day, pretty well 99 percent of us would succumb to emphysema and lung cancer long before that.

[applegrove]

80. I quit using Champix/Chantix. The hardest part was what to do with all my free time.

Obama won't have any free time so it should be easier for him. I'm sure every momment of his day will be filled with something important be it Presidential or family in nature.

[Colobo]

82. Yes, but for his own benefit.

[ChazII]

83. Obama is an adult

and if he wishes to smoke, it is none of our business.

[DainBramaged]

86. meh

[moondust]

88. Of course he should.

If for no other reason than to show his daughters that smoking is not okay.

[JuniperLea]

90. EVERYONE should quit smoking... but it's none of our business...

I'm an ex-smoker and I have very strong feelings about this.

As long as Obama doesn't make me breath his second-hand smoke, I have no gripe. Of course I'm concerned for his health. I'm not so sure smoking is a greater risk than the stress one tries to alleviate by smoking. Seriously. If I wasn't so enamored with the wonderful smell of my breath, my hair, my clothing, my car, and my home, I'd be smoking right now. I'm so freaking stressed!

[middleamericano]

91. Everyone's free to smoke

It's legal and safe if done far away from children.

[frogmarch]

92. yes, he should quit, but it's

really none of our business if he does or not.

[JBear]

95. Yes he should, but...

it is still none of our business. He has to decide that he is going to do it for himself.

:bounce:

[and-justice-for-all]

98. Obama smokes? nt

[Upton]

99. Of course he should quit

He should set an example for other Americans, especially children, that it's not okay to be purposely inhaling carcinogens. A cigarette smoker is nothing more than a drug addict...something we don't need in the WH.

[LWolf]

100. Of course.

From the perspective that everyone should quit smoking for the good of their own health.

That doesn't mean I think we need to be the overseers of the smoking population.

Of course, Obama, as a role model, has another incentive to quit.