Barack Obama, Marlboro Man

Folks have been talking about Ross Douthat's quick ascension up the journalistic ranks, but what about Monique Stewart's meteoritic debut in the blogosphere?

Monique's been blogging for just a couple of weeks, and she's already got a featured heading at Memeorandum, "Start Smoking: It Just May Save a Child’s Life!":

As every smoker knows ... you never truly quit. You will always have one more cigarette, whether it’s at a funeral, or at the bar. You never truly quit, there will always be another cigarette, another drag.

President Obama gets that. He’s a Marlboro Man, the only reason I have left to like him.

What I don’t like, though, is that he has placed the burden of middleclass children’s healthcare upon my shoulders.

Can someone, anyone, please, explain to me why I should be responsible for the healthcare of middleclass children just because I smoke? I’m not really getting the connection.

For convenience, I'm citing the same passage as Robert Stacy McCain, although he's falling down on the job in Rule 3 promotion, by a look at that Memeorandum link!

In any case, congratulations to Monique!