People tend to blithely forget that Laura Bush is a "former" smoker who has been caught taking a puff now and then.

I actually hope your hopeful assessment of Obama is more accurate than my one of doubts, for obvious reason.

Just to add a bit about why I called McCain a half-assed liar. I think McCain says that the surge is working because there are some indications that it is working militarily. There is little evidence that it is working politically. However, should it start to work politically, even those of us who oppose the war should be glad of that because political solutions will get us out of there sooner and because solving their political problems is what is best for the people of Iraq.

I don't think McCain is actually lying much on Iraq because he is coming from his own paricular mind set. If you really believe something, you may be wrong; you may even be deluded, but you cannot truly be said to be lying.

The more phony thing that McCain has been doing is his embrace of the religious right. I do believe that McCain is anti-abortion, just not quite as anti-abortion as the fanatics. He will definitely appoint judges likely to overturn Roe v. Wade, so that is not a lie.

if Obama is smoking on the sly, it would be better if he would just admit and talk about it being a tough struggle. All people who struggle with bad habits and addictions actually do better if they can be open about the road that they are travelling. People who don't smoke often underestimate the addictiveness of nicotine.

However, for those who are defending smoking as a lifestyle choice, I think they should know that some studies show that alcoholics actually live 15 years longer than long time smokers.

I smoked for 35 years and quit 4 times. The 4th time was over 7 years ago. Thank heavens Nicorette gum got me through the months of intense nicotene craving until I finally made it. I commmend Obama for quitting and want to remind people that it is a very hard thing to do. I can't imagine trying to do so during this stressful time, so he deserves a double commendation! Quitting is a process - it doesn't happen all at once. Don't judge him because he was a smoker. Only judge those who aren't even trying to quit.

This is one of those personality-based bullshit story(?) or topic that Salon really shouldn't propagate; slow news day or not. It's the kind of shit that Greenwald claims serves no purpose but to distract us. Next time work harder to find some substance to meet your quota... don't get lazy and give us this shit.

If the author of this article agrees Obama's being an ex-smoker is not important, then why did he go on for two more paragraphs?

This is typical of the media reporting laziness that passes for journalism now. There is no story to report today, so the reporter puts in a story anyway. If there is nothing to generate heat, then let's invent something. Chris Mathews has raised this to high art, where he invents meaningless controversies even when there really is a serious story (If Hillary Clinton held a press conference today announcing the end of her candidacy, all that Mr Mathews would be able to talk about would be if her outfit showed clevage).

Or is this one of those FoxNews type stories, where something that is unimportant, but could be taken as a negative is tossed on the table, "just to ask the question": but really to get another negative in front of the public? What will we see next? A repeat of the question if Senator Obama really did attent a Fundamentalist Muslim School. (with a "but it's unimportant" tossed in to absolve the writer).

I guess it was a slow news day for Tapper.

Yes I would. I will not vote for a "Black Power" candidate any more that I would for a "War Monger", or "White Supremacy" candidate.

crossed posts again. I have to go to sleep soon, but I was thinking today about this man: Saul Alinsky and how he played an important role in Hillary and Barack's lives...

Hillary wrote her senior thesis about him (which was suppressed for a long time because he was a radical)....Alinsky probably did help to inspire Obama's organizing methods in Chicago, and maybe in this campaign...

I wonder who he is, and I think it's interesting that he could (a radical) be at the crux of two candidates' lives who are both basically understood to be centrist...

interesting. I think I need to read more. My formal education didn't give me nearly what I needed it to in the way of politics and unions.

Yes, in a second. Our extremely fit, health-conscious president can't govern his way out of a brown paper bag, and if his approval ratings can be believed, a large portion of the country has lost confidence in him.

Hitler was a vegetarian tee-totaller.

Winston Churchill smoked like a factory and drank heavily, yet somehow managed to get Britain through WWII. (And who WOULDN'T have been driven to drink as a world leader inthose years?)

JFK smoked and drank. So did Roosevelt.

I see very little evidence that healthy personal habits contribute anything to the ability to govern well, lead or inspire, or at least, not for the long term. There's no correlation between bad habits and leadership skills either, heaven knows, but smoking or drinking won't deter me from voting for someone I believe to have the potential not only to lead, but to inspire.

For his own sake, and that of his health, I wish Obama luck on kicking the smoking habit. But he's a grownup, for Pete's sake. Much as I dislike smoking, I hate a nanny-state mentality even more. I wouldn't appreciate some stranger marching in to my kitchen and confiscating my ice cream, either, even if they felt they were intervening with the best intentions in the world.

If Obama can end the war in Iraq soon, and with whatever dignity and honor we can salvage from that mess, he can smoke whatever he darn well pleases, as far as I'm concerned.