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President Obama Did Not Bum a Cigarette From Anyone on Air Force One 2 Days Ago

by Tommy Christopher | 1:06 pm, December 23rd, 2010

» 40 comments

During White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs’ weekly Twitter Q&A, the issue of the President’s struggle to quit smoking came up, and Gibbs confirmed an observation that he made earlier in the month that he had not “seen or witnessed evidence of any smoking in probably nine months.”

Responding to a question from @CJStatler, Gibbs declared, unequivocally, that “POTUS hasnt’ had a cigarette in about 9 months.”

In fact, aside from a press staffer who shall remain nameless, the only person I’ve seen still smoking at the White House is the idiot who just had a heart attack.

The title of this post is a reference to fictional fill-in Press Secretary Joshua Lyman‘s insistence that The West Wing‘s President Josiah “Jed” Bartlet hadn’t smoked in two years, to which a reporter replied “He bummed a cigarette from me on Air Force One two days ago.”

There’s little danger of such a revelation here, as Gibbs is in a position to know, firsthand, whether the President has slipped off the wagon. For what it’s worth, I have also periodically confirmed this with sources who would know. In fact, you’d be surprised at how much helpful information people will volunteer while they’re busting your chops about smoking.

That leads me to my own smoking recidivism. I have agonized about outing myself as a relapsed smoker, for many of the same reasons the President surely had for quitting. It’s an incredibly destructive habit, and sets a ppor example to those whom we would least like to see pick it up.

In my case, though, there’s the aggravating factor of dumbassery at jeopardizing my already shaky health, plus the very real possibility of physical violence from friends and colleagues who stood by me during that crisis.

Quitting smoking is incredibly tough. Since my heart attack, I haven’t missed a beat in abstaining from sugar, alcohol, potatoes, even salt, but after a few weeks in the hospital, I couldn’t hack it in the real world without cigarettes. I applaud recent efforts to warn of the dangers of smoking by putting graphic images on the packs, but you could force tobacco companies to package cigarettes in actual dead bodies, and many smokers would just say, “Scalpel!”

This makes President Obama’s accomplishment all the more impressive, considering that, while I have trouble getting through a press briefing without a cigarette, he has quit while being the leader of the free world. Hopefully, his example will inspire other smokers to quit, myself included.

In the meantime, I deserve all the grief I get over this, because people too numerous and wonderful to mention gave me a lift when I needed it most, and I am letting them down. If the President can do it, maybe I can, too.

Barack Obama smoking, Joshua Lyman, Josiah "Jed" Bartlet, President Obama, quit smoking, Robert Gibbs, smoking, The West Wing, twitter

Atticus Draco

‘
I’ll buy the Prez a pack of KOOLs if he wants one!
http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Hogan/179500970 Stephen Hogan

I’m glad to hear that he’s kicked the habit. Here’s hoping that he stays quit. Quitting an addiction as powerful as cigarettes while working in the world’s most stressful office is an admirable feat.

Tommy, I wish you the best with your struggles. As a former habitual smoker, I sympathize with your plight. I still will have a cigarette once a week or two, especially among friends who still smoke. The important thing to remember the next time you try to abstain is to not beat yourself up if you slip. That, for me at least, was the quickest way to relapse.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Hogan/179500970 Stephen Hogan

Atticus Draco said:
‘
I’ll buy the Prez a pack of KOOLs if he wants one!

I think he was a Marlboro man. :)
skyfet

I don’t like smoking, it stinks, so does the smokers.
Atticus Draco

Stephen Hogan said:
I think he was a Marlboro man. :)

I BE DARN!
I dont know why i assumed he smoked KOOLS
hmm,, i dont think of him of being a Marlboro man

My second guess were NewPorts
http://www.facebook.com/people/Stephen-Hogan/179500970 Stephen Hogan

skyfet said:
I don’t like smoking, it stinks, so does the smokers.

If you speak literally, then yes, smokers do smell. If figuratively, please cut them some slack. The hold that that disgusting habit has must be experienced to be believed. Many therapists liken it to saying good-bye to a best friend that you’ve relied on during both the best and hardest times of your life.
Ricia

C’mon, do you really believe he quit? Every word out of his mouth is a lie—-great cover-up job guys!
Harry Flashman

Tommy,

I just lost my brother, a heavy chronic smoker, from a heart attack. He was 49. I fail to understand smokers.

If someone were to tell you that in every little bite of food you like there was just a tiny bit of poison that will eventually, in all likelihood, either slow you, incapacitate you, or outright kill you, would you continue to eat it?

Smoking is beyond stupid. Its slow suicide. I’d tell you to ask my brother but – we can’t can we?
Atticus Draco

Harry Flashman said:
I’d tell you to ask my brother but – we can’t can we?

did ya ask him before he went?
Cecelia

I don’t smoke and never have, but it’s a mystery to me how this habit seems to have surpassed pedophilia in nefariousness.

Honestly, people who mainline heroin, smoke crack, or use White House interns as though they are ashtrays…etc…etc… get more sympathy than smokers.

What is that?
TfT

Tommy – have you tried the e-cig?

Smoking is a terrible habbit but there is nothing worse then hearing about it from reformed smokers, so I’ll keep my mouth shut.
david r

Atticus Draco said:
‘
I’ll buy the Prez a pack of KOOLs if he wants one!

Make that a carton of Camel non-filters.
puck30

Wow! cause he didn’t bum a smoke off anyone 2 days ago, I’m impressed, not really.

Tommy it looks like your trying to quit, cool. Don’t give up, it took me a few tries before kicking it. Been off the sticks for 20 years. You gotta purge the urge buddy.

The only advice I can give you is change your routine as much as you can, I found I was picking up a lot of sticks just out of the daily routine. Your job has enough stress in it bro we want you around for a lot more years.

And unlike some of your friends and a few sanctimonious a-holes on this thread, we’re here to help if you need us. Political views be damned, your one of the good eggs.
Hawk11

I quit smoking 4 years ago right before I got married. I used Chantix to quit and it worked. I had a relapse about 9 months later, but went right back on Chantix for a couple of weeks and haven’t had a cigarette since. I have no desire to smoke anymore, thank god. I can’t stand the smell on people and cannot believe that I used to smell like that.

The thing about smoking, for those who don’t smoke, is that for the 5 minutes a cigarette lasts it feels like a break that no one can interrupt.

Good luck Tommy. It’s a hard habit to break and keep broken.
puck30

david r said:
Make that a carton of Camel non-filters.

Nah! make that Players Cigarettes out of Canada, the gold standard of non-filters.
puck30

Hawk11 said:
I can’t stand the smell on people and cannot believe that I used to smell like that.

I have to say when I did quit I was not going to become a ‘Born Again Smoke Nazi’, but when you hung out somewhere where there was smoke and the next day you got up and smelled your clothes. It took all I could not to become one of those B.A.S.N.
TeaPartyPatriot

With their Messiah, “You Lie!” hussein enjoying his 10,000th taxpayer-funded vacation, looks like the d-crat socialist lamestreamers at mediaite are have such a slow news day that they have to result to posting this meaningless nonsense.
Big Eddie

Tom . Think of your children . My daughter noticed ten years ago I had reverted to smoking cigars , which I had done for years before she was born . She asked me to please stop . I said of course and never touched another one . That’s all it takes . For your sake , and Obama’s , smoking is nothing at all compared to sticking around for your little guys . Throw ‘em away , guy .
BatBoy

Here is a tune for you Tommy…..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIN8MmMloZE

I am a former smoker, but never had a heart attack…I do empathize with your problem.
http://www.facebook.com/people/Suzi-Biscuitbarrell/531825153 Suzi Biscuitbarrell

Tommy, I’m an RN and can tell you that “guilting” people into quitting doesn’t help. You’ve been saddled with a huge new health opportunity (as well as the burdens of trying to correct things) and eventually, you’ll quit. Take it one step at a time, and while changing your diet is probably the easiest your goals will change and when the spirit is willing you will give up cigarettes.

You’ll be fine, and your internal “health compass” will trigger you to quit smoking, very soon.
Magister

I’ve found over my multiple “quits” that if you don’t want to buy a pack because you’ll smoke it, you can generally buy singles from smokers you pass on the street.

Of course the most productive place for me is the Walmart parking lot, but there aren’t Walmarts everywhere and not everyone travels in cars. There are a couple of tobacco shops scattered around the country that sell singles, but most (state) tax laws don’t allow it, so they’re only in a few places.

/servicey
Atticus Draco

Magister said:
sell singles

lol,, what will a single run ya?
and is it still cheaper than pot?
James Nelson

Ricia said:
C’mon, do you really believe he quit? Every word out of his mouth is a lie—-great cover-up job guys!

Good God, man, is everything have to be about politics and how you people you don’t agree with lie? Grow up. A cover-up about smoking. Wow, you are really strange.
James Nelson

TeaPartyPatriot said:
With their Messiah, “You Lie!” hussein enjoying his 10,000th taxpayer-funded vacation, looks like the d-crat socialist lamestreamers at mediaite are have such a slow news day that they have to result to posting this meaningless nonsense.

Hey stupe, he’s had fewer vacations than George W. Bush (whom I do not hate, by the way — just making a comparison). Quit your childish exaggerations and grow up. If you don’t like it here, go away. As for meaningless nonsense, your post fits that quite aptly.
James Nelson

Big Eddie said:
Tom . Think of your children . My daughter noticed ten years ago I had reverted to smoking cigars , which I had done for years before she was born . She asked me to please stop . I said of course and never touched another one . That’s all it takes . For your sake , and Obama’s , smoking is nothing at all compared to sticking around for your little guys . Throw ‘em away , guy .

Very well put, Eddie. We don’t agree on politics, but I thoroughly agree with you on this. Next month, it will be 30 years since I quit a heavy habit. Thank God, I have never looked back.
The_Reasonable_Lib

Stephen Hogan said:
I think he was a Marlboro man. :)

According to Dave Chappelle they were most likely newports lol
Tommy Christopher

I appreciate all of the encouragement. Kicking myself hardest for wasting the “gift” of a long hospitalization that skated me past the physical symptoms of quitting. Lemons to lemonade, back to lemons.
Magister

Atticus Draco said:
lol,, what will a single run ya?

I generally have two quarters available. If you do the math, full-priced cigarettes around here retail for about twenty-five to thirty-five cents apiece. When I’m shopping in a parking lot, I phrase it as “will you sell me” and then I ask how much I owe. If the person shrugs, I toss them a quarter.
leftofsocialist

Dear Atticus Draco:

While I realize that you enjoy being provocative rather than informative I really must protest your covert racism in regards to what cigarette President Obama might smoke. Kools? NewPorts? and you “dont know why i assumed he smoked KOOLS”
Is there someone over the age of 12 who doesn’t know that Kools and NewPorts were specifically marketed to African-Americans? I think not. Hence, your racism.
What other vices does your callous and callow soul harbor ?
Shame on you.
The ReaI Royal King

James Nelson said:
Good God, man, is everything have to be about politics and how you people you don’t agree with lie? Grow up. A cover-up about smoking. Wow, you are really strange.

You seem to be the sanctimonious sort when admonishing conservative wingnuts here. Yet you give wingnuts at the other end of the political spectrum a pass. Your fake outrage is perplexing.
The ReaI Royal King

leftofsocialist said:
Dear Atticus Draco: While I realize that you enjoy being provocative rather than informative I really must protest your covert racism in regards to what cigarette President Obama might smoke. Kools? NewPorts? and you “dont know why i assumed he smoked KOOLS”Is there someone over the age of 12 who doesn’t know that Kools and NewPorts were specifically marketed to African-Americans? I think not. Hence, your racism.What other vices does your callous and callow soul harbor ?Shame on you.

Ah, yes. More fake outrage. See my above post.
James Nelson

The ReaI Royal King said:
You seem to be the sanctimonious sort when admonishing conservative wingnuts here. Yet you give wingnuts at the other end of the political spectrum a pass. Your fake outrage is perplexing.

Funny, I’ve always given you a pass for your assine comments. Your right. I shouldn’t. You are a jerk, a religious bigot. The fact that you and I agree on political issues is no excuse. My outrage vis-a-vis right wingers is not fake. My giving you a pass is certainly my failure. It won’t happen again. You, sir, are a sanctimonious jerk.
The ReaI Royal King

James Nelson said:
Funny, I’ve always given you a pass for your assine comments. Your right. I shouldn’t. You are a jerk, a religious bigot. The fact that you and I agree on political issues is no excuse. My outrage vis-a-vis right wingers is not fake. My giving you a pass is certainly my failure. It won’t happen again. You, sir, are a sanctimonious jerk.

There, now don’t you feel better about yourself? Glad to be of help.
Cecelia

Tommy Christopher said:
I appreciate all of the encouragement. Kicking myself hardest for wasting the “gift” of a long hospitalization that skated me past the physical symptoms of quitting. Lemons to lemonade, back to lemons.

Addiction is psychological as well as physical, Tommy.

You CAN QUIT and YOU WILL
leftofsocialist

Dear RealRoyalKing:
And your grounds for the assertion:
“Yet you give wingnuts at the other end of the political spectrum a pass.”
Since you failed to append it I assume you lack it. Or were you just in a hurry?
jo hoochie

The RRK doesn’t like himself which makes him put others down to feel better. He must get some kind of high coming across as an ass to those around him and especially on the Internet where people can’t see him. People like this usually has no true friends.
Michael Charles

I use Fribourg and Treyer or Dean Swift snuff, they offer flavors that are quite aromatic and pleasant in the “pinch” or in a small spoonfull. It makes me look like somebody from the seventeenth century when I partake of that snort…I like it, though.
Liberty Back For More

Tommy. Why are you such an apologist for these people.
Georgia999

Harry Flashman said:
Tommy, I just lost my brother, a heavy chronic smoker, from a heart attack. He was 49. I fail to understand smokers. If someone were to tell you that in every little bite of food you like there was just a tiny bit of poison that will eventually, in all likelihood, either slow you, incapacitate you, or outright kill you, would you continue to eat it? Smoking is beyond stupid. Its slow suicide. I’d tell you to ask my brother but – we can’t can we?

Get off these people’s backs that are trying to quit smoking. Give them a break. Just because you are NOT addicted, stop with the holier than thou attitude. I smoked for 40 years. I was forced to quit 3 years ago. I know if I pick up one —just ONE cigarette, I will go back to smoking in a snap. You know the Potato Chip commercial ” Bet you can’t eat just one”? Well, with a cigarette, for SOME of us…”Bet you can’t smoke just one”.
Think about that when you’re stuffing your face with chips.
http://justplaythegame.us JustPlayTheGame

http://www.smokingaloud.com

30% of cancers they “say’ are related to smoking…
So, what’s the 70% related to?