Townhall posted a very timely article today. The conservative movement received a stomach punch yesterday when Rush Limbaugh announced he had advanced lung cancer. Rush stopped smoking cigarettes years ago, but still enjoyed his cigars. Unfortunately, smoking anything is not good for you.

The article notes:

Quitting smoking is no guarantee of anything. The effects of cigarettes linger long after the smell is washed away. But the damage those cancer sticks have done can’t start to be reversed unless and until you’re rid of them forever.

While Rush quit cigarettes long ago, he was famous for being a cigar aficionado. But tobacco is tobacco; inhaling smoke in any form, even the small amounts cigar smokers who “don’t inhale” are inhaling is still inhaling smoke. It’s better just to walk away from all of it.

I know a little of what Rush is going through. Last year, my father was diagnosed with lung cancer. We got lucky, if you can call it that. My father had pneumonia and ended up in the hospital because of it. While treating him for that, they noticed something on a chest x-ray they otherwise wouldn’t have done. They biopsied it and it was cancer. Thankfully, it was very early.

The article concludes:

Rush doesn’t have any children, but what he lacks in offspring he makes up for with other family and millions of fans. His brother David is a good and strong man of faith who I’ve been lucky enough to get to know and can safely say he’s worth at least three kids in situations like this. And Rush is willing to do whatever is necessary, which will help.

Add to that the millions of fans pulling for him, and no prognosis is absolute.

If you were like I was and started smoking as a kid because there’s nothing dumber than a teenager, quit. You feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof when you’re young. You realize you aren’t when you grow up. Quitting is no guarantee of avoiding a horrible diagnosis or good health, but continuing is simply stupid. If you love someone, or even ever hope to, quit. Your body can’t start getting better until you stop making it worse.

I grew up in a house that was always filled with smoke. I grew to hate the smell and never started smoking. I am grateful for that, but I lost both of my parents way too soon due to health problems either directly or indirectly related to their smoking. We know enough to know that smoking is not good for you. We also know that it is highly addictive. We need to work harder to bring up children who see the danger and the negative health impacts and never pick up a cigarette. We also need to encourage tobacco farmers to find other crops and to stop any government subsidies that go to tobacco farmers.