I’m serious. He really did. I’m not talking secondhand smoke, either. Pence wrote his column about smoking … period. And this was 15 years ago — 2001 — not the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Time for a quick reality check. Despite the hysteria from the political class and the media, smoking doesn’t kill. In fact, 2 out of every three smokers does not die from a smoking related illness and 9 out of ten smokers do not contract lung cancer. This is not to say that smoking is good for you…. news flash: smoking is not good for you. If you are reading this article through the blue haze of cigarette smoke you should quit. The relevant question is, what is more harmful to the nation, second hand smoke or back handed big government disguised in do-gooder healthcare rhetoric.<\/p>\n
… Those of you who find the tobacco deal acceptable should be warned as you sit, reading this magazine, sipping a cup of hot coffee with a hamburger on your mind for lunch. A government big enough to go after smokers is big enough to go after you.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Sigh … Mike, Mike, Mike.<\/p>\n
First of all, it’s utter BS that 2 out of 3 smokers don’t die from a smoking-related illness. It’s actually about 2 out of 3 that DO die from their smoking — either through cancer, respiratory disease, heart disease or other illnesses. Not to mention the loss of quality in their lives from various diseases such as arthritis and diabetes now known to be linked to smoking.<\/p>\n
Secondly, yeah, about 1 out 10 smokers gets lung cancer … but Pence neglected to mention that the ratio among non-smokers who get lung cancer is less than 1 out of 100 people. This is just stupid and lazy and massively debunked thinking by Pence: That\u00a0because all smokers don’t get lung cancer, therefore smoking doesn’t cause lung cancer. My parents used to argue this 40 years ago … before they got cancer.<\/p>\n
So, never mind what the EPA, U.S. Surgeon General and countless physicians and scientists say … Pence says smoking doesn’t kill people … so there. If he had written this in the 60s or 70s, I might give him a pass that people just didn’t have all the information, but no, people KNOW today smoking kills. End of discussion. It’s like trying to argue that lead plumbing or asbestos insulation isn’t dangerous. It’s just … STUPID.<\/p>\n
I would dearly love some interviewer to call this idiot on his words, but to my knowledge, no one has, and as long as Pence only gives interviews on Fox and CNN, I’m not holding my breath.<\/p>\n
What such an oped shows me is Pence, regardless of his or my politics, \u00a0is simply not a bright guy (what a shock, he’s also a global warming denialist). I can’t believe in this day and age there’s still people trying to argue that smoking isn’t dangerous.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In case you needed another reason not to vote for Donald Trump\/Mike Pence. Pence, the governor or Indiana, once wrote an oped piece about how cigarette smoking is not dangerous. I’m serious. He really did. I’m not talking secondhand smoke, either. Pence wrote his column about smoking … period. And this was 15 years ago … Continue reading Mike Pence: Cigarettes aren’t deadly … yes, he really said this<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3929,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[831],"tags":[832],"class_list":["post-3928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mike-pence","tag-mike-pence"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/abc_tw_pence_150329a1-800x430.jpg?fit=800%2C430&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-11m","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3810,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3810","url_meta":{"origin":3928,"position":0},"title":"Childhood exposure to secondhand smoke raises risk for COPD among smoking adults","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 23, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"An interesting study about the longterm effects of secondhand smoke on children suggests that children exposed to cigarette smoking from their\u00a0mothers\u00a0are more likely to develop COPD as adults if they end up smoking themselves. In this survey from Australia, it was found that smokers were nearly three times as likely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Secondhand smoke"","block_context":{"text":"Secondhand smoke","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=56"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/smoker.jpg?fit=600%2C416&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/smoker.jpg?fit=600%2C416&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/smoker.jpg?fit=600%2C416&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1119,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1119","url_meta":{"origin":3928,"position":1},"title":"Oops, “Smokers’ glitch” means smokers won’t pay more for “Obamacare” coverage — for the moment","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"July 14, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Hah, OK, this is actually kind of funny. An example of government bureaucracy at its best. Under the Affordable Care Act, smokers were looking at paying up to 50 percent more than non-smokers through government insurance plans sold to small companies or individuals. BUT, the ACA also allows insurers to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Affordable Care Act"","block_context":{"text":"Affordable Care Act","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=3"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/smoking-coverage-photo.jpg?fit=960%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/smoking-coverage-photo.jpg?fit=960%2C799&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/smoking-coverage-photo.jpg?fit=960%2C799&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/smoking-coverage-photo.jpg?fit=960%2C799&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3979,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3979","url_meta":{"origin":3928,"position":2},"title":"Smoking rate now down to 15 percent; biggest single-year drop ever recorded","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"November 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A story from National Public Radio that the smoking rate in the U.S. is now down to 15 percent, the lowest ever recorded. This also gives me the opportunity to fire up my Excel and make a new smoking rate graph! This is especially cool because it is actually the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "centers for disease control"","block_context":{"text":"centers for disease control","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/U.S.-Smoking-Rate.jpg?fit=1200%2C608&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/U.S.-Smoking-Rate.jpg?fit=1200%2C608&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/U.S.-Smoking-Rate.jpg?fit=1200%2C608&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/U.S.-Smoking-Rate.jpg?fit=1200%2C608&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/U.S.-Smoking-Rate.jpg?fit=1200%2C608&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1352,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1352","url_meta":{"origin":3928,"position":3},"title":"Good news everyone! Cancer death rate drops 20 percent in 20 years; Lung cancer death rate down 34 percent","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 7, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I wrote about this several months ago. The cancer death rate in the U.S. has dropped dramatically in the past few years, especially for lung cancer. Three reasons: 1) Better treatment 2) Better detection and a big one 3) a drop in the smoking rate According to this study from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cancer"","block_context":{"text":"Cancer","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=11"},"img":{"alt_text":"professor farnsworth","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/professor-farnsworth.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1102,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1102","url_meta":{"origin":3928,"position":4},"title":"Smokers cost employers an average of $5,800 a year","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"June 5, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Yoiks, I can only imagine the comments at the old Smokers\u2019 Club (I haven\u2019t a clue if that is even around anymore. It\u2019s been years since I looked.) on this story! According to an Ohio State University researcher \u2014 between absenteeism caused by added health problems and lost productivity due\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "smoking"","block_context":{"text":"smoking","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=57"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/US-businesses-pay-about-6000-extra-for-workers-who-smoke.jpg?fit=630%2C354&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/US-businesses-pay-about-6000-extra-for-workers-who-smoke.jpg?fit=630%2C354&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/US-businesses-pay-about-6000-extra-for-workers-who-smoke.jpg?fit=630%2C354&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2973,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2973","url_meta":{"origin":3928,"position":5},"title":"Study: Two-thirds of smokers will die from smoking-related illnesses","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"February 26, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I saw some reactions to this story to the effect of \"Well, duh,\" but actually I think it's a pretty groundbreaking conclusion. According to a study out of Australia, 67 percent of smokers will die from some disease caused by their smoking. I've long heard the term \"the majority of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Australia"","block_context":{"text":"Australia","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=8"},"img":{"alt_text":"dead man smoking","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/02\/dead-man-smoking.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3928"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3928\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3929"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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<\/p>\n