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Book Nook provides readers with insights into the world of books. Vick Mickunas takes you into the center of the publishing world with the latest book buzz, book reviews, and exclusive chats with authors..Home > Blogs > Book Nook > Archives > 2007 > March > 16 > Entry
is Laura Bush a chain smoker?
Well, she could be. That’s the rumor. Presidents (and their spouses) are entitled to some measure of privacy, right? That’s why you never saw a photo of FDR in his wheelchair. That’s why JFK’s hound dog ways were virtually unknown until years after his death. And Bill Clinton ? Well, he put it best when he said that he did not have sex with that woman.
Besides, smoking isn’t that cool anymore. Lots of people still do it but it is a dirty little secret for many. Even in tobacco growing states like Tennessee the popularity of the stinky weed is in decline.
I try to avoid cigarettes and pretzels. I don’t enjoy choking (or smoking) but I am fascinated with tobacco. My dad smoked. Winston’s. A pack a day. He blamed the Marine Corps. It seems that the tobacco lobby was so powerful when my dad served during WWII that every soldier’s rations included cigarettes. Most young guys who entered the service didn’t even smoke. Many picked up the habit during those moments of boredom when the guns were quiet.
A lovely new book has provided me with lots of info about this noxious but completely legal product.THE CIGARETTE CENTURY- The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America by by Allan M. Brandt (Basic Books) is a veritable humidor of material.
Brandt, a professor at Harvard gives readers all the scuttlebutt on this amazing product. No product has ever been so heavily advertised. It was portrayed as sexy and glamourous. Athletes and movie stars endorsed what is essentially a useless, dangerous product. For years the hazards were concealed from the public.
Those sexy ad campaigns are here as well as the strategies the tobacco companies employed to sell their products. Then, there are the lies. Lots of them, that were perpetrated to protect those profits while they were killing their customers.
It’s good stuff. When I finished the book I almost wanted a cigarette. Almost.
Permalink | Comments (13) | Categories: politicked
Comments
By Mike Sawyer
March 19, 2007 6:36 PM | Link to this
Vic, glad you didn’t fall in love with smokes, like my dad. He smoked Winstons like your dad. I just had a letter published in a couple of newspapers with the theme of “Uncle Sam” still promoting tobacco. I may write a book one day on how tobacco has dealt me some terrible low-blows. Fatherless by tobacco at age 11. With compassion, Mike Sawyer Birmingham, AL www.IWillNeverUseTobacco.comBy mairup
March 18, 2007 11:13 PM | Link to this
Will, re: my previous comment about “Why I care if Laura Bush smokes”…My point is that if she is a “closet smoker” then she is living a lie, trying to make people believe she is someone she isn’t. It sets the stage for distrust and — if null’s comment about her involvement in The American Heart Association’s annual campaign is true — hypocrisy.By Gene
March 17, 2007 3:51 PM | Link to this
This is really interesting, Laura Bush a smoker? The White House is a federal building, and you can not smoke within XX? feet of a federal building and they do tell you where you can stand and smoke! I can just picture the first lady standing outside with a parka on puffing away on her coffin nails! Yes they stink and I’m an Ex smoker of 25 years and boy do we tramp on human rights when we think we have the moral high ground! Just wait until the pendulum swings to the other side!By Larry Stone
March 17, 2007 2:50 PM | Link to this
It really would not surprise me! I could imagine anyone being married to that small piece of insanity doing much worse than smoking a chain!!!!By vick mickunas
March 17, 2007 1:20 PM | Link to this
Good point, Null! Thanks, for widening the scope of this discussion. Is there anybody else who wishes to toss their cigarette butt into the ashtray?By null
March 17, 2007 11:24 AM | Link to this
Yes, she is a smoker according to what I read somewhere. Also, have you seen the wrinkles around mouth from smoking that cig. It does MATTER when she represents The American Heart Association’s Wear Red Campaign each February. Heart Disease is NO. 1 killer of women. They should not have a smoker talking about the program-ever!By vick mickunas
March 17, 2007 10:11 AM | Link to this
If you read the post all the way to the end you’ll see that this was not an attempt to spark a debate about the smoking habits of Laura Bush, Barack Obama, or the Easter Bunny. It’s about smoking and how a new book exposes the insidious intentions of tobacco companies that were willing to do almost anything to sell their products. The fact that these well known individuals who just happen to have different political stands might also be nicotine cravers is purely beside the point, a mere footnote. Laura Bush is the pretty package that made you want to open this post and light up your minds. Then, I hoped that you might read it. Ah, the pause that refreshes!By will
March 17, 2007 9:33 AM | Link to this
Mairup, I also ask, “Who Cares?” What does it matter if LB smokes? It is her choice, she is an adult. Why are you so curious about it? How does it affect you? You must lead a blessed life to have the resources to worry about someone so removed from yourself. Remember this saying, “Less judgement, more curiosity” Life is better for all of us if we approach it in this manner.By Kevin S.
March 17, 2007 12:45 AM | Link to this
Actually, Barack Obama was a chain smoker before the campaign. He started on the nicotine gum to try to quit.By mairup
March 16, 2007 8:58 PM | Link to this
Well, actually…I care. If Laura Bush is a chain smoker, why should she feel compelled to hide it? Smoking is legal — no threat of jail. And if she’s an addict, why not admit it? Is she afraid of shattering some false image she tries to project to the public? Too many ties to the tobacco lobby? Unlady-like? I don’t know, I’m just wondering. I think the truth is important. And reasons why people lie are even more important.By mick
March 16, 2007 7:06 PM | Link to this
Who Cares?By Chris
March 16, 2007 6:52 PM | Link to this
Correction Rick: Barack Obama chain chews - nicotine gum, that is.By Rick
March 16, 2007 5:17 PM | Link to this
I don’t know about the First Lady, but I do know Barack Hussein Obama chain smokes.