Obama is an example in smoking fight

President Obama did something important this week when he signed the nation's toughest tobacco legislation in half a century.

Now, it's time to do something else just as valuable.

Quit the habit himself. All the way.

From the earliest days of his campaign, Obama has been open about difficulties he has had quitting smoking. He and wife Michelle acknowledged that one of the conditions of his even running for president was that he would give up cigarettes. Still, he acknowledges that despite years of trying, the habit still has a hold on him. At his news conference Tuesday, he said he's about 95 percent "cured."

He needs to make it all the way. For the good of himself and the good of the country, it's time for him to shake that hold once and for all - and let the country see him do it.

As any current or former cigarette addict knows, quitting is not easy. On the contrary, it may be among the hardest of things that most folks ever confront. Yet, it is within the power of every individual who has ever lit up. Thousands do it every year. And, those who succeed know the key is a monumental effort of will that refuses to permit cigarettes to be a part of one's life.

The president surely is no stranger to monumental efforts of will. Within the space of four years, he went from little-known state lawmaker to leader of the free world, for crying out loud. He has a retinue of hundreds of staffers around to help him. He can do it, and he should do it.

And he should be public about it. It's time to give up this coy rationalization that blames his habit on the tobacco companies who, to be sure, got him addicted in the first place. He is simply falling prey to the types of excuses addicts make.

It's hard. It's not my fault. I wish I'd never started.

Well, yes, Mr. President, it is hard. And a whole range of cultural and commercial factors may have gone into the start of your addiction, but at this point, the continuation of it is your fault. You did start. Now it's within your control to stop.

In so doing, you accomplish something much more expansive than just saving your own life. You provide an example for the tens of thousands of fellow smokers who are themselves making excuses for why they cannot quit. You demonstrate that - like running to become the first African-American president - a person with self-respect, perseverance and will can overcome the nicotine, the habituation and the excuses.

This is not, Mr. President, just acknowledging lust in your heart or making a stand on whether you have to pretend to like broccoli. It's your life, and that of millions of your countrymen.

The legislation the president signed this week indeed will go a long way to protect potential smokers from ever starting the dangerous habit. Now, it's time for him to take the fight one bridge farther and help existing smokers put the danger behind them for good.