FDR's use of his wheelchair and the ability of his handlers to not call attention to it, is the focus of a wonderfully clear and well-written book, entitled "Splendid Deception". I've owned it for years and highly recomend it.
The book details FDR's deceptive success in NEVER calling attention to his disability...and thus deceiving many Americans about his health condition. Though the longest serving President ever, FDR's lack of complete honesty regarding his health, still boggles the mind of admirer and those less engaged in admiration of him.
So what is the splendid deception of today?
One picture tells a thousand puffs...President Barak Obama smokes.
So why do we not see any pics of President Obama smoking? Not even on the Internet...no kidding. Unless you want to see photo-shopped ones. Why?
Smoking is the taboo subject of many left-leaning politicos. It's the anti-christ of our health food culture. Smoking is the ultimate negative of the film industry and television. It was so bad for TV that ALL cigarette commercials were taken off the tube in January of 1970.
Second hand smoke is the co-killer of hundreds of thousands per year, we are told. Though the President admits to his habit, the press never captures a single photo for the internet? The public is unaware.
And the President puffs on. And the the media sleeps. And the anti-cigarette crusaders are silent.
Why?
Spendid deception, indeed. Read below and see an interesting timeline.
Just askin' a question....
Den
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Nice ash
Smokers can learn from the man who has made “quitting” downright charming.
1970s–’80s
Obama’s old friends say he started smoking as early as college. “I was never really a heavy smoker,” Obama told Men’s Health in November. “Probably at my peak I was smoking seven or eight a day. More typical was three.”
December 2005
“The flesh is weak,” Obama told a Chicago Tribune reporter about his quest to quash his smoking. “It’s an ongoing battle. I have my gum, my patches and all that stuff.” It didn’t work.
December 2007
Michelle Obama says she’ll help her husband in his run for President on one condition: that he quit smoking. “Please, America, watch,” she said in a 60 Minutes interview. “Keep an eye on him, and call me if you see him smoking.” Hell hath no fury like a woman’s scorn for cig-breath!
February 2007
Seen at press conferences chewing stop-smoking Nicorette gum but admits, “[Smoking is] one of those habits you can quit for a while and then you start back up.” He dropped the patch because “I didn’t want more nicotine coming to me than I had been ingesting.”
June 2007
When asked at a press conference how he quit smoking, Obama reaches into his pocket and tosses the reporter a piece of Nicorette gum.
February 2008
Still chomping Nicorette. “You’re supposed to have phased out on that stuff—I haven’t completely,” he told Politico.com. “I’m still chewing.”
May 2008
Physician releases a page-long summary of his medical history, which says the then-candidate “is currently using Nicorette gum with success.”
June 2008
Admits to falling off the wagon but not in “months.” He later tells Men’s Health his exercise regimen helps but, “Seeing as I’m running for President, I need to cut myself a little slack.”
November 2008
Ducks the have-you-quit question in an interview with Barbara Walters.
December 2008
Gives former Meet the Press host Tom Brokaw the runaround: “I’ve done a terrific job, under the circumstances, of making myself much healthier… I think that you will not see any violations of these rules in the White House.”
His wheelchair is not smoking - it's the teleprompters.
Posted by: ard | March 09, 2009 at 12:51 PM