Cartoon: America Quits the Habit

In this cartoon by Dave Brown from The Independent, we see Barack Obama being sworn in. He tosses a cigarette over his shoulder which lands on George W. Bush's head and sets it alight. The caption reads: "America quits the habit". This is clearly a reference to Obama's speech in which he made it clear that he was going to break with the policies of his predecessor. However, the joke comes from the fact that Obama is a smoker who has tried—and failed—to quit the nasty habit. As Mark Twain said: “Giving up smoking is easy. I've done it hundreds of times.”