After all this time, I'm not sure how I missed the fact that Obama was/is a smoker. So today I was pretty surprised to hear him admit to falling off the wagon in his quest to quit smoking.
I'm trying to figure out why this information is so disconcerting. Maybe it's because smoking seems to represent the antithesis of Obama. Over the past two years he's been attacked on every level, baited with every ploy, but never wavered. He stuck to his message and plan with an almost superhuman control and discipline. And this discipline wasn't limited to his public life. Whether it was how he made time for his family or how he managed to run 3 miles a day and play basketball in the midst of the frenzied campaign, there was no shortage of resolve.
In light of his character, the thought of him unable to stop smoking naturally leads to some cognitive dissonance. On the other hand, maybe it simply shows he's human after all, vices included.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Obama joins a long line of great historical smokers. It's a little known fact that Mother Teresa smoked 2 packs a day! Martin Luther King Jr. began rolling his own while working on his PhD. Ghandi? Don't even start with Ghandi. How do you think the Mahatma steadied his nerves enough to get through his hunger strike? With the help of his old friends, Joe Camel and the Marlboro Man, that's how.
Kidding. But it is interesting that the GOP never released attack ads featuring Obama lighting up. I can't help but think it would have lost him some votes. Then again, it might have helped him with the coveted Southern-Republican-Tobacco-Farmers-Who-Think-Tobacco-is-the-Number-One-Issue demographic.
It seems to me that addiction is not an indicaton of character. Persistence in the attempt to overcome addiction, however, is. Persistence is, after all, both the expression and foundation of resolve.
I definitely agree that the addiction is not an indication of character...though an inability to stop may shed some light on a person.
But that's a really good point looking at it from the other side (as an illustration of persistence versus a lack of discipline).
Post a Comment