Thursday, November 20, 2008

Dirty Work... Second Try

Well… I’ve been wondering, ya know. I’ve asked the question from time to time and have never really gotten an answer. Why? Because there is no answer. Michael Kinsley, writing in the WaPo (“Let the Guy Smoke”):

Obama has never denied that he was a smoker for much of his adult life. He said as early as February 2007 that he had promised his wife he would quit in order to run for president. He also admitted as recently as this June -- when his presidential campaign was about three-quarters over -- that he hadn't done so. In May the Obama campaign released a carefully worded letter from his doctor, who wrote that Obama's "own history included intermittent cigarette smoking. He has quit this practice on several occasions and is currently using Nicorette gum with success." Obama has declined to amplify.

The instructions on Nicorette say to stop smoking before starting with the gum and to stop using the gum after 12 weeks. We know, because he has said as much, that Obama was still smoking the month after his doctor said he was using the gum. And even if he smoked his last cigarette on May 28, the day before his doctor said he was on gum therapy, the 12 weeks would have elapsed Aug. 20. Wouldn't you think that some reporter since then would have asked Obama whether the gum had worked? Yet no one seems to have asked.


“No one seems to have asked.” Dang, I may have heard that line before… somewhere. Ya think? This issue is a nit, to be sure, but it’s also symptomatic of the general lack of curiosity on the part of The Media where The One is concerned, innit? I’m also somewhat taken aback at Kinsley’s last word on this subject:

Obama's steely calm is now one of our country's major assets. If he needs an occasional cigarette to preserve it, let's hand him an ashtray, offer him a light and look the other way.

An Über-Lib offering apologies for the nasty habit, including a suggestion we just look the other way or even facilitate this deviant behavior? Well, now! Who’d a thunk it? No one gave ME that option back in the day when I still indulged. Nope… I had to go huddle in the doorway down on the street along with the rest of the degenerates to get my fix, all the while subjected to hard looks, glares, and the not-at-all-well-concealed opprobrium of passers by. One wonders if there will be ashtrays in the Oval Office or if Barack will have to step outside into the Rose Garden to quiet his Jones. Ditto for Air Force One, where I’m sure smoking is banned. Oh, well. We must be tolerant now, mustn’t we?

―:☺:―

Blown opportunity… That would be yesterday. I was up until the crack o’ dawn yesterday morning, going to bed somewhere around 0600 and staying that way until 1300 hrs. This sort of behavior always leaves me with something akin to a hangover, minus the throbbing pain. Nope… it’s just that left-of-center, out of sorts feeling that hangs on most of the day before we finally get back to what passes for “normal” here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington. So… why is this a blown opportunity, you ask? The weather, Gentle Reader… the weather. Yesterday was just flat frickin’ gorgeous. Bright sunshine, 72 degrees (at 1400 hrs, an hour after I woke up), and no wind. Perfect Happy Hour weather, in other words. I blew if off.

And I have regrets:

Today is NOT a nice day here on The High Plains of New Mexico. We will defer Happy Hour until sometime this weekend, as it were. More’s the pity.


―:☺:―


Finally… here’s some Steely Dan for ya. There’s no point at all to the Clintonista imagery, although it IS entertaining in a retro kinda way. Sorta. Nope… what we’re on about here is Dirty Work’s superb music and lyrics, as the song happens to be one of my all-time favorite Steely Dan tunes.


Good, innit? I'd tell ya why this song (ahem) strikes a lot of different chords with me... but I don't want to shatter any illusions you may hold about my...umm... moral values (and those of certain women in my past, as well). I leave you to wonder, Gentle Reader.

(You may ask what this "Second Try" is all about... I originally published this piece at 0942 hrs this morning. Blog-Bud Barry e-mailed me a few minutes ago to let me know the post was showing up in his RSS reader, but NOT in his browser. Sho 'nuff... IE couldn't see it, but all was well in FireFox. I cut and pasted the post into a NEW post, written in Blogger's "Compose" window, but the cut 'n' pasted bits didn't show up when I hit "publish." BOTH offending pieces have been removed... and I'm left looking a lil bit like the Verizon Guy... which is to say, wondering: "Can you see me NOW?")

12 comments:

  1. What I tell you
    Back down the line
    I'll scratch your back
    You can scratch mine
    No he can't sleep on the floor
    What do you think I'm yelling for
    I'll drop him near the freeway
    Doesn't he have a home

    Lord I know you're a special friend
    But you refuse to understand
    You're a nasty schoolboy
    With no place to go
    Try again tomorrow

    Don't tell me he'll wait in the car
    Look at you
    Holding hands with the man from Rio
    Would you care to explain

    Who is the gaucho amigo
    Why is he standing
    In your spangled leather poncho
    With the studs that match your eyes
    Bodacious cowboys
    Such as your friend
    Will never be welcome here
    High in the Custerdome

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  2. LOL! I LOVE it! ;-)

    (The whole Gaucho album, too, especially "Hey Nineteen"...)

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  3. I ain't commenting on the smokin thang!....asw rolls eyes dramatically for effect!!

    I was WIDE awake at 3am....but alas no rest for the weary my kids had me up at O-friking-dark-thirty, which is 5:30am today to use my shower, since both of the others are under repair (we are not going there right now) and so I dragged today while trying to work on said bathrooms....and so I whistled (not really but you get the point) as I worked...and listed to xm-radio (I refuse to give into the whole xm-sirius thing) and to the Christmas music....and then the song came on.... "Same Auld Lang Syne" and it made me sad....made me think of you too.... hard to believe he's been gone almost a year.....so much change, so fast....

    Anyway, if I don't get the chance, I hope you have a nice Thanksgiving....by the way, will your son make it back in time to spend Christmas with the family?

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  4. I used to have issues with insomnia, resulting in what I called "insomnia hangovers"...so you're spot-on with that description, Buck!

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  5. It was not a pretty day here in OK yesterday. The wind blew from the north and things got cold. It was a good day to stay home and enjoy my art girls (who had to get out in the wind to come to my house - ha).

    Obama's bad habit will not be headline news. You got to keep The One looking like a saint.

    I remember during the Monica/Clinton thing that some people did not think the public should know what went on in Clinton's private life (as if the Oval Office is a private place) and they made Ken Star look like the bad guy for exposing the lies and the cover-ups. I never understood how some military official's careers were ruined when they had affairs with lower ranking women. And yet the CIC could have a fling with a 21 year old intern. The media is a vicious group.

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  6. I would say that Obama's smoking is not his private life. It's got serious health ramifications and the public has a right to know about the health of its President.

    Boggles the mind that no one presses these issues.

    Winter is here in New England. It hasn't gotten much above 40 all week. This weekend they say we won't see 30 and we'll have wind chill in the teens.

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  7. Cold & snowy...ALL week here in Western NY. It's gonn'a be a long winter.

    And now I'm gonn'a be singing that song all day long.

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  8. Snow...snow...oh, look! More snow. Even the mailman was nice enough to drive up to the house and hand over his packages.

    BTW: Congrats on the Milbloggies finalist. I'm rooting for you!

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  9. I couldn't give a hoot about his smoking. There's plenty of actually worrisome stuff to look into concerning him, and whether a person smokes cigarettes - president or not - is about the least interesting thing I could imagine getting my panties in a bunch about. Frankly, my respect for him would skyrocket if he would saunter up to the podium at a press conference with a bourbon and a cigarette. A little "F--- the nanny state" bravado would be mighty refreshing from the White House.

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  10. Damn Smoking! Never partook in the Cig/inhaling thing...but I do love a damn good cigar on occasion. It MUST be a left wing plot to kill us off Buck?

    {Or so one of my admiring left leaning readers told me}

    ;)

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  11. Oh - the Wx. Uh...damp. In Seattle. In November. Go figure.

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  12. ASW sez: by the way, will your son make it back in time to spend Christmas with the family?

    I've been following your trials and tribulations with the house, ASW. Suffice it to say I understand...

    Buck will be spending the holidays in the AOR; he's due home in January... thanks for asking, and thanks for the good wishes.

    Christina sez: I used to have issues with insomnia, resulting in what I called "insomnia hangovers"...

    Great minds!

    Lou sez: It was not a pretty day here in OK yesterday.

    I think SoCal is the only place in the country with decent WX... if you don't consider the fires.

    I never understood how some military official's careers were ruined when they had affairs with lower ranking women. And yet the CIC could have a fling with a 21 year old intern.

    Ah... fraternization. A SERIOUS hot button with me, but I won't let THAT cat out of the bag. The CinC is a civilian, tho, so the rules don't apply, eh?

    Kris sez: I would say that Obama's smoking is not his private life. It's got serious health ramifications and the public has a right to know about the health of its President.

    Dunno if I agree in this space, Kris. The health ramifications don't kick in until much later in life. Obama's healthy in all other aspects. On winter: It's kinda early, ain't it?

    Tim sez: Cold & snowy...ALL week here in Western NY. It's gonn'a be a long winter.

    I liked the first snowstorm of the year when I lived in Rochester. By the time February rolled around I was ready to kill something (me and 96.2% of the rest of the population). Thanks for dropping by... and sorry about the ear-worm!

    Michelle sez: Snow...snow...oh, look! More snow. Even the mailman was nice enough to drive up to the house and hand over his packages.

    BTW: Congrats on the Milbloggies finalist. I'm rooting for you!


    You, too, with the winter, Michelle? The Milbloggies were over in October. I didn't win, I was just nominated. ;-)

    Andy sez: I couldn't give a hoot about his smoking. There's plenty of actually worrisome stuff...

    I don't care if he smokes or not, either. SOME people might have, tho, if the fact was known (or publicized) during the campaign. I just find this "story" interesting because of the hypocrisy on the part of the do-gooders who incessantly harp on smokers about their nasty habit, yet look the other way when it's The One. I like your suggestion about a press conference with bourbon and cigs, tho. Hell, I'd like a candid photo of nearly any one of our politicians in that space... anywhere.

    Seattle's damp? Who'd a thunk it? ;-)

    Pat sez: It MUST be a left wing plot to kill us off Buck?

    The Lefties I worked with in SFO were always trying to "save" me (not all, but a lot of 'em) from myself, so I dunno if it's a plot or not...

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Just be polite... that's all I ask.