So what if President Obama sneaks a cigarette now and then? All the fuss and controversy his honest admission has raised is crap. You try being the leader of the free world and perfect at the same time. He totally deserves a moment of privacy and a puff. The guy’s under a lot of stress.
Tobacco’s been around for thousands of years. And it was probably good you. There were no greedy tobacco companies loading it up with poisonous chemicals. After a tough day chasing down buffalo, the spiritual and calming properties were well-deserved. Then there’s the romantic folklore:
One Huron legend tells how, long before the coming of the white man, there was a great famine over the land. All the tribes came together in a council and called the Great Spirit Manitou for help. In answer, a beautiful and naked girl descended from the clouds. Leaning on her palms, she sat on the ground before the people and announced that she was sent to bring food. This said she returned to the sky. Where her right palm had been, corn sprouted, and where her left palm had been, potatoes. But from where she sat tobacco appeared. AH HA! So that’s how it started!
And it seems we’ve been inhaling all kinds of stuff….not just dried leaves. A nod to James Leavey for the following: According to the Roman scholar, Pliny the Elder (23-70 AD) in `Naturalis Historiae’, the inhalation of smoke from burning hare’s fur was prescribed as an exportant, the smoke from burning goat’s horn used to diagnose epilepsy, and, for consumption, smoke inhaled (through a reed) of dried dung from an ox fed on grass.
The history of tobacco is pretty interesting. Read more about it here. And leave Barack alone. If he can’t have a Marlboro Light, maybe they can burn some rabbit fur for him to sniff…but then PETA would get pissed. You can’t please everybody. Why even try?
Got a light?
Tags: Cigarettes, Obama, Smoking, stress
adchick 
June 25, 2009 at 6:52 pm
Well said… and now that I know a hot Indian spirit-chick’s lovelies are responsible, I’m looking forward my next smoke with additional relish.
June 25, 2009 at 8:14 pm
A while back, I remember a scientific study citing an interesting stat to the effect that, as of around age 60 or 65, the benefits of smoking (staving off Alzheimer’s) outweigh the potential damage, given an average lifespan. So, I’ll plan on taking up smoking then. Hopefully expensive cigars, or maybe a pipe?
I know it’s totally gross, but I enjoy chewing tabaccy on occasion, and it’s great to keep yourself awake on long, boring car rides. I’d never do it in public, though.
July 1, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I love how people want a man of the people, and then turn on him when he does something human. Yeesh.