It would have been one thing to just not write in to the script any scenes where Bond smokes, but the original cut had Craig smoking in some scenes, those scenes were later cut for the sole purpose of eliminating smoking scenes.

This is not the only instance of the smoking police going after media. Time Warner announced in August plans to go back through all the old cartoons in its vault and edit out any scenes featuring characters smoking. “These are historic cartoons, they were made well over 50 years ago in a different time and different place,” said Turner spokeswoman Yinka Akindele. “Our audience is children and we don’t want to be irresponsible.” So graphic violence and gratuitous sex on TV and the movies is fine, just so long as the people blowing each other up and getting naked don’t light up.

Actually, there are groups across the country that would be perfectly happy if television and film were devoid of smoking, sex, violence, cursing and, as far as I can tell, any sort of independent thought. The largest of these groups, the Parents Television Council, decided to launch their personal crusade after Janet Jackson’s nipple garnered national attention during the Super Bowl a few years back. Apparently, in their eyes, children across the country were shocked and dismayed by the two-second fuzzy appearance of a woman’s breast. So much so that since then, the PTC has been responsible for flooding the FCC with complaints about any show they find even mildly offensive.

Look, I’m all for protecting our children, Lord knows they are growing up faster than ever, but come on! Blaming the television for increased sex, violence or smoking among young people is like stubbing your toe on a desk and blaming the desk for it. We are a country of mostly educated people; we are not sheep who do everything the magical box tells us to do. There is more to being parents than giving birth and making sure the kids don’t burn the house down while watching TV. It is our job to educate children that what they see on TV is not always right. I say let Bond smoke; let Bugs have his carrot shaped cigar, and then I say explain to your kids why they shouldn’t.

E.H. & C.C.S.