"Quitting smoking is easy," goes an old joke. "I've done it hundreds of times." So -- perhaps -- has President Obama, who recently congratulated Congress on passage of a tobacco regulation bill.
Does Obama still smoke, despite campaign assurances he had quit? According to a news account the other day, "White House press secretary Robert Gibbs would not say . . . ." You can take that as a probable yes. If Obama did not, Gibbs would have answered the question.
But so what?
Blogosphere cranks are calling the president a hypocrite, but they have it backward. Sincerely wanting to quit yet having difficulty doing so doesn't make you a hypocrite. You're a hypocrite only if you say smoking is wrong when others do it but fine when you do. Obama's own struggle to kick the nicotine habit might actually fuel his desire to help make sure young people don't pick it up. He probably doesn't want them to go through what he has. As Tolkien wrote, the burned hand teaches best.
If Obama is still sneaking the occasional coffin nail, should he quit once and for all? It would improve his health and set a good example. On the other hand, it's not a question of world-historical significance. FDR and Churchill enjoyed tobacco, while Jimmy Carter and Richard Nixon didn't. Who would you rather have running the show?
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