The fact that Sen. Obama was a smoker is old news, since he quit. Right? Think again.
The stories that have explored this issue all missed the point: Obama's history of smoking raises questions about his current and future health.
Some, like Jake Tapper, have suggested that Obama was less than honest about whether he still smoked, at least as of last August.
Others have suggested that Obama's smoking history makes him "more human," and that his (alleged) ability to quit makes him more heroic.
And some, perhaps with tongue in cheek to this, think quitting may actually hurt him by changing how his voice sounds.
Meanwhile, Sen. McCain's health questions are almost as old as he is. Congressman Jack Murtha (75), thinks John McCain (71) is too old for the pressures of high office, and he has come under legitimate pressure to release his medical records.
But what of Senator Obama's health? It's not as if once you quit smoking, all of the health effects immediately disappear. In fact, after enough smoking, some health effects are irreversible. Consider just the arteries and lungs.
How long and how much one smokes makes a difference. A 1998 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the amount of fatty deposits in the carotid artery depended on total pack-years of tobacco exposure, not whether the patient currently smokes. And a smoker's excess risk of a stroke doesn't return to that of nonsmokers until at least five, or as long as twenty years after quitting. Sen. Obama would have to serve a hypothetical four smoke-free terms before his stroke risk returned to normal.
So how long and how much did Sen. Obama smoke? The information has not been officially released, and the campaign has not returned calls or emails posing this question. But he smoked a lot over his life.
He admits to having smoked up to ten cigarettes a day, but usually closer to five or six. Most people underestimate how much they smoke, but let's take him at his word. Let's also assume he really did quit when he said he did, in February 2007 (although he admits to having fallen off the wagon). That's about twenty-six years, given that we know he was smoking by the time he was a freshman at Occidental College. That's more than 55,000 -- maybe 70,000 cigarettes! Has this aspect of Sen. Obama's ability to serve really been explored?
Just because he's young, looks great, and exercises doesn't mean he's healthy. Recall Jim Fixx. An overweight smoker when he turned his life around at thirty-five, Fixx became the icon of fitness. He quit smoking and started running. Then he died in 1984 at age fifty-three -- while running.
Sen. Obama, while not overweight, smoked a lot longer than Jim Fixx did. And while the stresses of running may have contributed to Fixx's death, it was his years of smoking, not his running, that caused the plaque to build up in his arteries. Doctors say the stress of being president may in fact exceed the stress of running. And it's an unhealthier kind of stress.
The public deserves to know how long and how much Sen. Obama really smoked. Does he have other risk factors for heart disease? Compared to whites, for instance, African-Americans are more likely to die of a stroke, according to the American Heart Association. This, in fact, is probably the only time race is a legitimate question to raise this campaign season -- and just one of several health question on voters' minds.
also how do u prove fixx's artery plaque was exclusively smoking-related? there are people who have artery plaque and who are not over-weighed nor ever smoked. then doctors say the stress of running contributed to fixx's death, n u throw in that stress of presidency is greater than stress of running - this is a logical fallacy. do u have like evidence to support if the stress of the presidency is exceeds that of running in terms of the stress on the arteries, heart, vascular system, brain function, joints, internal skull pressure? WTF? get over your 'black handsome ivy-league educated guy who kills at basketball' envy already.
This is the dumbest thing I've read all day (and I read the comments on Perez Hilton).
And isn't the double standard he is benefitting from really about his race or more precisely his races? Everybody is so squeamish about the subject. How much more obvious do Hillary's advisors have to make it? Barack Obama may be "biracial," but we all know that he is Black enough to be Black, in this country anyway. Have you seen that hair in pictures of him as a teenager?
Jeff Stier is on the money. Though taboo and "politically incorrect," race is an important issue in evaluating an individual's health and deportment. African Americans are more likely to suffer from sickle cell anemia than white people. Half-Black or not, why hasn't Obama been forced to give samples for DNA testing? Many other Black men have.
This isn't a one way street. Race is also a major issue when it comes to pedophilia. Criminologists have long known that white people are disproportionately represented among pedophiles. Has anyone asked McCain, has he fondled any of his children and if he denies it whom can he cite as a corroborating witness? It is also well known that sometimes wives suspect pedophilic activity but do not press the issue sufficiently. Has Hillary ever denied suspecting that Bill had inappropriate relations with Chelsea? What did she know and when did she know it?
Why haven't the same probing questions been asked of him as were demanded of Bill Clinton? Owing to concerns about his weight and eating habits, and their corresponding risks of heart disease Clinton was famously forced to itemize each cheese burger he had eaten between the years 1980 and 1992, and keep a running log throughout his White House years. And if questions about health are going to be raised about a 72 year old overweight McCain whose cancer is in remission, and therefore by American Cancer Society standards qualifies as a "survivor" (though not cured) why not about a 47 year old somewhat skinny guy who plays basketball on every primary day? Speaking of skinny, how has the fawning pro-Obama media managed to suppress the obvious question of whether Obama suffers from an eating disorder and of what kind?
Stier is on the money regarding Jake Tapper's hard hitting story about Tapper smelling smoke on Obama's clothes several years ago. THAT has been hushed up mighty quick. Tapper writes for the ABC News organization, one of the pillars of US journalism. What if someone trying to quit smoking outright lied about backsliding? We know that Michelle Obama wanted him to quit. What kind of President would someone make who would lie to someone he didn't know about sneaking a cigarrette, just so his wife didn't hear about it?
As to Barack's smoking, it is true that he most likely damaged his lungs and other parts of his body by smoking. But I have many friends my age (62) or older who were heavy smokers. I do believe that Barack will live another 8 years looking at him. Indeed, I believe he has a better chance of living another 8 years than Hillary and certainly better than John.
I think that the comparison with Fixx is wrong-headed because it is anecdotal. It would be better to look at the statistics of a man of 46 who is in otherwise good health but had smoke for a number of years to make our judgment. But even then, I caution people in making a harsh judgment. After all, two of our greatest presidents, Lincoln and FDR, had serious health issues. But they helped our nation survive our two greatest periods of turmoil. I think Barack could do the same.
Because he's black, the author suggests we should worry more about trim, athletic 47 year-old Obama's likelihood of getting heart disease more than we should worry about 72-year old cancer victim John McCain's likelihood of relapse because John McCain is white. According to the author's logic, Black people should not be allowed to run for any public office because we are more likely to die of heart disease. Black men are also more likely to be murdered than whites. Should Obama stop running because somebody might shoot him? Hey, men are more likely than women to die of heart disease and women live longer than men, so maybe men should not be allowed to run for office. Again silly, racist, disturbing and pathetic little article. Shame on you, Jeff Stier.
A good question, PhDiva. It appears that Mr. Stier is grasping at any anti-Obama straw he can find, no matter how nonsensical it may be. First he compares Senator Obama to Jim Fixx--a white man with a history of weight problems and a family history of heart disease--then he goes on to cite Obama's "probability" of health problems due to his black ancestry.
>so maybe men should not be allowed to run for office<
Or maybe men (and women) who torture logic till it screams shouldn't be allowed to post blogs on public forums. ;)
JFK was also afflicted numerous physical disabilities, such as Addison's disease, and was regularly injected with a cocktail of medications, including demerol, simply to function. It is not clear how the medical problems that confronted FDR and JFK effected their ability to perform their duties as president. Still, it must be recognized that the public needs to know the health of presidential candidates. Senator Obama has an obligation to share his health records with the American people.
My point? Just like you I don't really have one......