For the President, it was

“perhaps the single busiest day of his whole presidential life, and it came moreover at dead center of what was perhaps his period of deepest gloom and perplexity of spirit. Not only was there political division within his party, and even within his own official family,” the military was unable to fulfill “hopes for a multifaceted early-winter triumph… in putting a quick end to the rebellion.” The failures had not “gone unnoticed by the country at large, the voters and investors on whose will and trust the prosecution of the war depended. The Democrats, still on the outside looking in, had seen to that.”

A typical example included a political opponent who

“was savagely pointing out, from the vantage point of his seat in Congress, the administration’s errors.” Speaking to Republican House members, he stated, “Money you have expended without limit, and blood poured out like water. Defeat, debt, taxation… these are your only trophies.”

New Year’s Day wasn’t a good day for the President. As the months dragged on, the President desperately needed to regain momentum, or risk an early end to the war- and defeat. Without the support of a majority of the citizenry, this would be inevitable. A friend sent him a letter advising that he

“set the public aright on the true issue of the war. ‘My suggestion is that you should seize an early opportunity, and any subsequent chance, to teach your great audience of plain people…’”

The President, recognizing the wisdom of such a plan, kept this in the back of his mind.

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My father had a laryngectomy due to smoking – all my memories of him are with a hole in his throat. He could only speak by burping – I never heard his true voice. My stepfather died from complications of COPD from long term smoking.

We’ve known for decades that many smokers will contract lung cancer. Others suffer from lesser effects of smoking – increased incident / intensity of diseases, hacking coughs, and nicotine addiction. In many locales, it is illegal to smoke indoors, outdoors near certain buildings, and in a few places, disallowed even in your condo. Add in the expense – taxes on tobacco products continually rise and at $4/pack at 2 packs/day, the yearly cost is $2,290. Warnings have appeared for years in the media of the dangers of smoking as well as on the packs and cartoons themselves. Anti-smoking advocates never cease to figure out new ways to keep people from smoking.

The smoke lingers in the air, spoils the taste of food, and I hate the smell of cigarettes in my clothes when around those that use them.

I heeded the message: I’ve never smoked nor ever intend to. No one is allowed to smoke in my car or around my home (ask my adult son what the penalty is if I ever catch him smoking on my property, even in the driveway!).

Given all that, I can’t figure out why anyone would start or continue to smoke given all that.

With all this as background, our NH Senate recently voted down HB 1177 that bans smoking in all restaurants by a vote of 12-11.

Good for them!

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