Apparently, it’s okay to lay off a smoker if that smoker is going to be the next president. But if you’re just an ordinary guy, expect to be berated, scolded, lectured, fed scary pictures, and generally shamed into taking your filthy habit inside unventilated smoking “rooms.”

Don’t get me wrong. The guy, whether he’s an incoming president or not, shouldn’t be pressured into quitting. After all, putting a stick of concentrated cancer into your mouth and sucking on it ought to be a private affair. I know. I was a smoker until the very last day of 2009, and I resented it when people tried to make me quit.

Since then, however, I’ve figured out that there are benefits to not smoking. I mean, the food tastes better – which, if you’ve seen me, you’ll realize was never a problem for me anyway – your fingers smell shower-fresh longer, and you probably won’t die as quickly.

On the downside, wtf do you do when you’re alone in a coffee shop? Drink coffee??!?

Oh well. The bottomline is that the good Senator has pleaded stress and personal freedoms and that should be good enough for everybody. One only wonders how effective anti-smoking campaigns will now be.