Alex Massie Alex Massie

Obama’s Miserable Pandering

We’ll get back to Iran in due course, but first here’s a miserable moment from today’s press conference at the White House. Asked by some ghastly hack from McClatchy about his smoking (and the so-called “frustration and fear” that comes from stopping smoking), Barack Obama replied:

Look, I’ve said before that as a former smoker I constantly struggle with it. Have I fallen off the wagon sometimes? Yes. The — am I a daily smoker, a constant smoker? No. I don’t do it in front of my kids. I don’t do it in front of my family. And, you know, I would say that I am 95 percent cured. But there are times where … There are times where I mess up.

How craven is that? Pretty dire stuff. Is there any other legal product Obama would feel he had to apologise for consuming – even on an occasional basis? And does the President really mean to send the message that millions of Americans should feel bad about their enjoyment of a great Amercan product? Apparently so.

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