His wife: Another example of why Culver should have vetoed smoking ban

This is getting ridiculous. If Iowa's First Lady Mari Culver wants to smoke a cigarette in her vehicle, she should be able to do so.

But alas she cannot as her husband, Chet Culver, eager for a legislative achievement in the last session, signed the ridiculous smoking ban into law.

Now, not only do we have the sight of huddled masses outside small town bars (in which a majority of patrons had smoked along with the employees for years) but we have The Des Moines Register nailing the first lady for smoking in a state car.

It's a fair story. As a smoker one element I did find troubling is that she was smoking as a passanger with s atate trooper driving. Is he a smoker, too, or did he feel pressured to deal with the second-hand smoke instead of nicotine-deprived first lady.

Mari -- who is a super classy lady -- doesn't deserve to got knocked around too much on this one. Maybe Chet could buy her a new car for Christmas so she can fire back heaters at will. DSM isn't that challenging of a place to drive.

At the very least Culver should exempt bars from this ban -- which should be tossed altogether.