Posted on 11/20/2006 9:08:17 PM PST by goldstategop
There are few personal confessions more likely to alienate many Americans than to admit to smoking. Singles ads are filled with people who will never even go on a first date with someone who smokes. I strongly suspect that more women would date a millionaire who earned his money disreputably than a millionaire who smoked.
Drinkers are far more highly regarded than smokers, as are playboys, gamblers, lawyers, politicians and almost anyone else except child molesters.
So I have no doubt that some readers who until now have held me in esteem will lose respect for me when they learn that not only do I smoke cigars and a pipe, but I love doing so, have no interest in stopping and have been happy to pass this pleasure on to my older son. In fact, we regularly have some of our best talks while we enjoy our cigars.
For the record, I never smoke cigarettes, which I happen to dislike the smell of, and which I acknowledge to be dangerous. But what I write here largely applies to cigarette smokers as well. In fact, I find anti-smoking zealots far more dangerous to society than cigarette smokers, and would much sooner date a cigarette smoker than one of the zealots.
Having said that, however, it does need to be pointed out that there is little in common between cigar (or pipe) smoking and cigarette smoking. Most important, we don't inhale. This is not meant in the way former President Bill Clinton meant it when he said he "never inhaled." The purpose and joy of cigar and pipe smoking are to enjoy the taste of tobacco in one's mouth. The purpose and joy of cigarette smoking are only vaguely related to the taste of tobacco.
And that leads to two other great differences between cigarette smoking and cigar (and pipe) smoking: First, there is no issue of addiction regarding cigars or pipes. I have been smoking both since I was 15 years old, and could stop tomorrow if I wanted to. Indeed, as a Jew who observes the Sabbath prohibition on kindling fire, I do not smoke for a day every week, and it is effortless. Likewise, I am frequently on the road lecturing, and often miss days at a time with absolutely no discernible effect. Second, because one does not inhale when smoking a cigar or pipe, the likelihood of lung cancer is minimal.
Yes, I am warned by doctors that I am more liable to contract mouth or lip cancer, but while physicians may see such diseases, in 40 years of smoking I have never met or heard of one person with either cancer.
Indeed, I am quite convinced that my one-a-day cigar or pipe may well have had a positive impact on my health given how much relaxation it induces. Stress kills far more people than cigars or pipes do.
It is a sign of the times that the latest James Bond film has prohibited 007 from smoking a cigar. One of the most benign practices a person can engage in was banned, but our macho hero can be shown drinking alcohol and bedding women (and without any mention of condoms!), not to mention killing people and engaging in behaviors infinitely more dangerous than cigar smoking.
We live in the Age of Stupidity. This new age has been induced by widespread college education and widespread secularism -- Psalms is entirely accurate: "Wisdom begins with fear of the Lord" -- which explains, for example, why only well-educated secularists came to believe that there were no innate nonphysical differences between men and women.
Nearly 100 years ago, before widespread college education and before widespread secularism, when America tried to prohibit a vice, it chose alcohol, not tobacco. It knew that there were immoral consequences to alcohol consumption -- most child abuse, most spousal abuse, about half of violent crimes and most rapes are accompanied by alcohol. Nobody has ever raped because smoking a cigarette or a cigar numbed his conscience. And no one fears smoking drivers; we rightly fear drinking drivers.
Both in my hometown and on the road, I find great joy in visiting cigar stores and schmoozing with the owners and with the guys smoking there. In fact, cigar stores may be the last place men can get together without women.
Of course if you think I am really killing people due to the secondhand smoke they inhale from my cigar or pipe, I presume all discussion ends. I am then simply a killer who needs to be stopped. I find absurd the notion that more than 50,000 Americans are killed every year just by being in the presence of smokers. But if you believe it, all you need to do is open a window and enjoy yourself.
The late legendary comedian George Burns was a listener to my radio talk show. When he was around 90 years old, he invited me to his Beverly Hills home. In the course of our two hours together, he smoked two cigars and had a couple of martinis. I asked him what his doctor said about those habits. George looked at me and responded, "My doctor died."
My father is 88 years old and has been smoking a few cigars a day (in my 87-year-old mother's presence, I might add). They are both in near-perfect health. He not only taught me the joys of cigars. He also taught me the importance of thinking for myself and how to lead an honorable life that includes as much joy as possible.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Macanudo Bump!
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
Backwoods and Macanudo Profundo PING!
excuse me while I light up my hand-rolled Hoyo de Monterrey Excalibur.....
Ah, a man after my own heart. I just finished a cigar and bourbon watching Monday Night Football. Very relaxing, especially since i'm a Dallas Cowboys fan.
In honor of your thread...here's a Cigar City, Florida...Arturo Fuente Hemingway Classic Bump!
The perfectos are my favorite.
I have a nice cigar once or twice a year. Davidoff on Madison Avenue has a really superb offering.
I deeply respect Dennis Praeger, He is a gentleman and a true conservative intellect. But he is wrong. I don't care if I'm a conservative, a liberal or a Martian. Common sense tells me that breathing smoke into the human lungs is an unhealthy habit. And I am saddened by all the young people in the convenience store line ahead of me spending their money and their health on Marlboros and Camels. Smoking is a dirty unhealthy, and addictive habit.
Come on Dennis, is that a responsible statement? He's never met a person with mouth or lip cancer, so he figures it's not worth worrying about? I've heard of ballplayers and celebrities with those cancers.
So is drinking or eating fast food....In fact, a much stronger argument could be made regarding the detrimental health benefits of fast food over cigars......
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
I might just try that one on for size as a tagline...
Personal anecdotes are much more accurate than professionally gathered statistics. /sarc
I didn't say anything about laws, but smoking is a bad habit. I would hate to see conservatives distinguish themselves by being smokers. It's not a political issue.
And yes, drinking and fast food are vices as well. I don't drink much but I do eat fast food, and parents probably should be ashamed giving their kids that stuff. We won't be fighting the terrorists with all the obese and diabetic kids we are bringing up. Again, I'm not talking about laws but about behavior.
I don't care for cigars. I enjoy fine wine.
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
You can read his classic poem here.
Chain cigarette smoking is another animal. A degenerative, often deadly one at that.
The militant cigarette smokers are completely in denial. I defend their right to kill themselves, but they refuse to accept the fact it's a deadly habit.
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