Niki Tehranchi

In the middle of the onslaught of horrendous news from around the world, the earthquake from Chile, Senator Bunning's filibustering, Toyota's blood profits, TV's Bachelor picking the slutty girl over America's Sweetheart, one news last night somehow managed to irk me more than anything else: The fact that President Obama is STILL a smoker after how many bloody decades?

Please don't take me for one of those crazy teabaggers or a correspondent from Fox News (oops sorry, I am sounding redundant).  I am not an Obama hater.  I don't even like writing about politics.  My political philosophy can be summarized in one sentence: "Il faut cultiver son jardin."  But as a former smoker myself, it really bugged me that this man, the most powerful man in the Western Hemisphere, the so-called leader of the free world, can't even free himself from the disgusting habit of smoking, something that can end his life in agonizing pain and leave his beautiful children orphans not to mention the country and the world in disarray. 

People love to undermine politicians for sex scandals.  I say who cares?  Have you ever heard former NY Governor Eliot Spitzer speak on some of the country's most pressing domestic issues?  The guy is so fiercely intelligent, charismatic and articulate, I would vote for him in a heartbeat, I don't care how many hookers he has slept with.  There are so many others like him, Clinton, Mitterand, JFK, Trudeau, who have been embroiled in adulterous affairs and that still didn't prevent them from being brilliant leaders.  To me, Obama's smoking is more undermining of his character and resolve than if he was caught doing the hanky panky with an chubby, beret wearing intern.

I smoked on and off betwen the ages of fourteen and thirty.  Yup, that is a very vvvveeeeeerrrryyyy long time.  The genius of the smoking industry to make smoking look like the cool, rebellious thing that almost every geeky teen-ager takes it up or at least dabbles in it.  And the stupidity of people like me not only to buy into it, but to ignore all the negative information about it, and to fill up the pockets of unscrupulous and unethical corporate giants.  Even though it made my hair and clothes (and even my pores) smell awful, even though it would make me cough, even though it left that disgusting after taste in my throat, even though the air would be filled with that stale nicotine smell that is so nausea-inducing, even though it would crush my parents' hearts, even though even though even though, the list goes on and on....  All the even thoughs in the world did not deter me.  Until I got pregnant.  And then overnight, I quit cold turkey.

Guess what?  I never even had a craving for it afterwards.  It's been almost 4 years and I am FREE.  I have never felt so good. More than all the health and grooming benefits, I am liberated from the chains of addiction.  That is really the best feeling in the world.  And there was no gimmick, no nicotine patch, no nicotine gum (just the thought of it, yuck!).  Cold turkey is the way to go.  All you need is the will.  And guys, I am not talking about someone who is iron-willed and tough and always takes on challenges.  I am none of those things.  If I had been, I wouldn't have been smoking for 16 years (sigh, what a waste!)  So it irks me that Obama, who is supposed to be the tough and trustworthy leader of the most powerful nation on earth, who has accomplished something that no one else has been able to in the history of race relations in America, could be so weak in the face of this.  If I could do it, he should be able to do it.  Come on, my man, what's it gonna take?