Tony asks: Do I have to stop making my Macca 'inhale' jokes now?

Wow.  So, Macca has officially announced that he's off the wacky tabaccy.  Well NOW what am I going to goof on him about? Oh, who am I kidding, there are still a score of things I can rib him over. But what has got me goin' is this ...

If you read some of the comments that posters are putting up in the newspaper / wire stories about this earth shattering (?!?) event, many individuals just seem to have it in for this poor guy.  Paul is saying that he stopped smoking for Beatrice, and the biggest dig I see is "Sure, he didn't stop for his OTHER four kids, but he'll stop for this one!" blah blah blah.  And the other big one is "Who CARES what this guy does. Why doesn't he keep his private life private?". OK. I agree.  There is a degree of "too much information" goin' on ... but hear me out.

I thought about both of these points that people are ranting about, and here is my response to the Macca-bashing. Quite simply: Paul has partial custody of Beatrice - his daughter with Heather Mills - because of a court order / mandate.  Most folks can acknowledge that Heather gave Paul a bit of a hassle during the divorce. Well, the deal may just be that a lifelong advocate of casual cannabis smoking and legalization may be making the best possible PR move, for both himself and his daughter, by making a very PUBLIC announcement that he is no longer partaking in the pleasures of that particular  leafy substance. Perhaps there have been some behind-the-scenes hassles that we are not privy to.

Or yeah, maybe he was just finding that he doesn't have the lung capacity to catch the munchkin when she's running around after he's been hitting the ol' water bong! (Or maybe there's another Japanese tour planned?)

It amazes me. Sir Paul has raised three biological children who are all (seemingly) very well-adjusted, nice people. And he raised Heather with Linda as well.  Are people really going to start questioning this man's fathering skills when he's turning 70? And what's with telling someone like McCartney that he needs to "be more private"? These people are celebrities. And with McCartney in particular we're usually all commenting on how he gives standard, almost pat, answers to questions all the time, and couldn't we get a little more of a personal glimpse once in a while. So now, when he's talking straight dope (pun intended) to Rolling Stone - a magazine that does NOT tolerate the same-old answers to stupid questions - he's going to get guff for it?

And then you have these people who are citing him as a "bad influence on our kids", LOL.  Oh, I LOVE that.  Yes, because your kids are being forced to scroll past hundreds of Paul McCartney web pages to find out what's happening with those cuddly Kardashians and snuggly old 'Snooki'.  Ya gotta love it.

So, here's my message to ya Paulie ...
I'll take your word for it, Babe.  You've given up on the ol' devil weed.  I got it . I won't try to 'weed' between the lines.   ;-)

So ... no more jokes ... I promise. Oh, who am I kidding, you've got nearly 50 years as a stoner under your belt, so it'll take at least twenty years until it's out of your system. So, until then ... (Tony makes loud suction noise)... I promise I'll 'leaf' you alone. "Peace, dude!!"