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| | An ode to cigar smokers
Sunday, Jan 4, 2004 By David Sanders Overweight politicians sitting around a table smoking huge cigars while getting down to what is supposed to be the people's business is a familiar image. Here in Arkansas, the infamous former-state Sen. Nick Wilson made use of cigars and strong drink while working his magic in the Legislature. Tragically, the phrase "smoke-filled room" has come to suggest scheming, underhandedness and conspiracies against the public. And, of course, health fanatics now have the temerity to suggest that smoking tobacco is a health risk. There may not be much of an appetite for cigars down at the Legislature these days and that may, in fact, be the problem. I find that sitting around a table smoking a cigar with familiar faces or a total stranger will allow one to forge bonds of friendship. Now, as a loyal cigar smoker, let me offer a defense of much-maligned smoking as it relates to politics and perhaps a suggestion to help get things moving at the state Capitol. Political satirist P.J. O'Rourke offers a simple explanation for cigar use: "I really think cigar smoking makes you smarter," says O'Rourke. Maybe he is right. What political leader wouldn't want to be smarter, or at least look smarter? Obviously, not all matters dealing with cigars and politicians are positive. There is, of course, the Freudian explanation. But as Sigmund Freud famously said when confronted with the cigar question, "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar." President George W. Bush ended Clinton's prohibition on cigars in the famous conic-sectioned office. In fact, it was well publicized after Republicans won the majority in the 2002 U.S. Senate midterm elections that Bush and adviser Karl Rove fired up a couple of cigars late on election night to celebrate their victories. Perhaps the most well-known commander-in-chief to enjoy the frequent stogie was John F. Kennedy, who was known for his love of cigars. However, Kennedy did more personally to impede cigar smoking in America than any other president by signing the Cuban trade embargo. It is said that Kennedy went through a box of his favorite Cuban cigars during the Cuban missile crisis. Before Kennedy signed the Cuban embargo, he sent his press secretary, Pierre Salinger, on a run to buy as many of the Cuban-made H. Upmann Petit Coronas as he could find in the Washington area. Salinger found nearly 1,200 of the cigars, bought them, and got word to the president that the purchase was made. Following the communiqué from Salinger, Kennedy signed the embargo banning all trade with Cuba. Certainly many other political and world leaders have been fond of cigars. Dwight D. Eisenhower, Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford were all cigar smokers. They frequently invited guests to have a cigar with them in the Green Room at the White House. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and his friend, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, were known to enjoy cigars. To clinch the argument that cigar smoking is intimately tied to Western values of freedom and democracy, let me add that Adolph Hitler hated cigars. Considering the strong ties that exist with cigars and politics, perhaps it is time for our legislators to light up. Avoiding any pretense of underhandedness or malice, they should light up with dignity, enjoy one of the finer pleasures in life and promote goodwill and a collaborative environment. A few boxes of cigars might be a welcome sight for legislators. They will no doubt continue to debate the future of education this year. It is worth a try when nothing else has worked. ------ David Sanders writes twice weekly for the Arkansas News Bureau in Little Rock. His e-mail address is DavidJSanders@aol.com. |
