our leaders are telling us the truth, and leading the country down a path we're confident is the right one.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! ROTFLMFAO!

I can guarantee buddy, that the most of the American public aren't that confident in your ability to find the right path. You have led this country over the cliff, screaming "Don't look at the man behind the curtain!!" 81% of Americans believe this country is on the wrong path, and our compliant media is to blame.

Screw you, Jake Tapper.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

Now in everything I write I'll be extra-sensitive to the use of personal pronouns and my experiential testimony.

Sweet.

Nothing wrong with first-person narratives, often the only decent way to tell a tale and very useful for the reader to put the writer's position into perspective. My problem with Tapper's piece is the triviality, not his self-agrandizement. If he had discovered through his sensitive nose and dogged detective work that a leading politician was actually an undead zombie agent of invaders from Planet X, we'd all be cheering him.

Obama snuck a smoke? Not a story. Not even a whiff of a story. Not worth the ink to print it. A waste of column inches. That's the problem here, not how many times he self-referenced.

Or so I think.

they're the ones who picked the candidates to talk about endlessly and ensured the others dropped out.

they're the ones who stopped covering Iraq, and who continue to pass along lies.

they're the ones who put the focus on nonsense instead of actual issues.

they're the ones who have made it all about them--now more than ever.

and they're the ones who are now ensuring McCain (their absolute fav) becomes Pres.

Even when voters have rebelled--and we have--the narratives and coverage are always chosen and reinforced by them--they didn't care that Edwards was 2nd in Iowa, for instance--it didn't fit.

they don't care about voters--they haven't for decades.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2...

& http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/04/05/media/index.html

Couldn't help thinking that his problem wasn't that Obama smoked or even that he was trying to cover it up, but that Obama's campaign had lied to Tapper. Tapper! Self-involved even by MSM standards.

I've always thought the lengths Obama goes to to hide his smoking were weird in a paranoid kind of way. Not relevant in any way that I can see, but weird nonetheless.

that was thrown over Clinton's penchant for Mickey D's(the man did have open heart surgery recently, and now W's health craze, I don't think the American people would elect a smoker president.

And I honestly can't tell if I'm being snarky or not.

Plus, I think Obama sees himself as a role model, and role models should't smoke, so say the moral scolds, so that's probably why he hides it.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

What kind of sense does that make?

And what brand? (I'm seeing lots of hits on Marlboro, feh, but no sourcing.)

Now I see where the baritone comes from. His voice always did remind me of Lauren Bacall's. In a good way, of course.

UPDATE Weird, I can't find any YouTubes of it. I mean, it's not like he's FDR in a wheelchair, and the press not showing that.

[x] Any (D) in the general. [ ] Any mullah-sucking billionaire-teabagging torture-loving pus-encrusted spawn of Cthulhu, bless his (R) heart.

I remember hearing on NPR how McCain could defuse the age/health issue against Obama: bring up the fact Obama has smoked throughout his adult life. Inhaling a carcinogenic since your teen years doesn't exactly do wonders for your health and vitality, especially your lungs. While McCain has dealt with skin cancer, lung cancer is quite deadly. The threat of that alone could be enough to neuter any Obama advantage (especially with the media hyping it).

Already McCain is trying to get on top of the issue, having doctors declare he is fit to serve and pointing to his physical regimen. He also has a VP choice to help him out.

are actually one of the last groups of people it is OK to shit on. And I don't have a problem with that, and I say that as a smoker(been trying to quit for two years, the willpower still isn't there.) It is a nasty habit that kills you, and harms those around you.

I could just SEE the ads being made about this.

Bill Clinton for First Dude!!!

You'd have seen this:

Hiding his smoking after he told everyone he was quitting is just common shame-based behavior. We've all done that and yes, it is childish, but we've all done that.

I smoked for 40 years, pipe, cigars and ciggies, and loved every drag. Quitting nicotine was tough, and everyone who tries and relapses has my sympathy. Of all the things I care about in a president, smoking doesn't matter at all. Screwing around doesn't matter at all. Just please stop destroying the country and the whole planet and everything.

and i don't think that's unfair. given the direction a lot of publishing and writing has taken over the last few decades, i mean, come on. me me me. that's how you can describe sofa king much of today's popular culture. i suppose it was 'ever thus,' but when it comes to political journalism and reporting, i'm sure we're way over our sane limit, yo?

let's just have, oh, one month. one month in which the reporters are only allowed to talk about policy. and then, only about what it actually is and does. not what they and their friends are saying/doing/fucking about it.