Smoking: Obama's stubborn habit

Should anyone care if the president still sneaks the occasional cigarette, despite his promise to quit?

President Obama has come clean, said Lynn Sweet in Politics Daily. Under questioning by a reporter after he signed a tough anti-smoking bill, Obama on Tuesday admitted that he still occasionally sneaks a cigarette, even though he promised First Lady Michelle Obama he would quit as a condition of her embracing his White House bid. "Obama's inability to go cold turkey"—despite the help of Nicorette gum—should serve as a reminder of how tough it is for smokers to kick the habit.

No, this is a reminder that President Obama is a hypocrite, said Ignatius Reilly in Right Pundits. And, once again, the press is letting him off easy. "If George W. Bush smoked in the White House, the liberal media would be asking 'How many children has George W. Bush killed with his bad example?"

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