Presidential hopeful Barack Obama confessed to a group of teens this week at Manchester Central High School in Manchester, New Hampshire that when he was their age he used to be a dope smokin’ fool.

Barack outed himself as being a former Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds member of his high school bong brigade. He put the high in high school. BO’s mea culpa immediately accomplished a few things: It solidified Snoop Dogg’s, Willie Nelson’s and Montel’s votes in the primaries, and it also sent some of my conservative compadres into a five alarm hissy fit.

Yep, several of my VRWC buddies were popping blood veins in their foreheads, stating that Obama’s admission could encourage young ‘uns to use drugs, and because of this he was “unwise” in telling the little squabs that he formerly sought solace in a thick cloud of sinsemilla.

One pundit this week said that kids can’t handle that kind of candor and thus certain things should be kept from their fragile psyches. FYI, my la-la-land concerned brother: Teens today have seen and heard things in the public school system by the time they’re 11 that were reserved only for the eyes of Courtney Love, Robert Mapplethorpe and Timothy Leary twenty years ago. Trust me . . . Obama dropping the weed bomb on our teenage wasteland probably didn’t raise a multi-pierced tattooed eyebrow.

Mitt Romney waded in on BO’s former teen weed burning divulgence and condemned it, saying that Obama’s confession sent a bad message to young people, namely that you can “get high and become president.”

First of all Mitt, you gotta relax, man . . . Obama, like you, is not going to become president, so chill, okay? In addition, as a good religious man you should applaud his honesty in owning his previously bad record, right? I mean c’mon, Mr. Romney . . . at least he’s up front about it. He didn’t flip flop on what he did in the past or try to explain away why he did what he did to ingratiate himself to a gullible voting block in a sad and desperate attempt to become president.

Another conservative said this week that Barack coming forward with the admission that he toked the ganja was not only unwise but was also a bad example for children. Telling the truth has now become a bad example? I believe that was Larry Craig who said that. I could be wrong.

The absolute cake taker freaking out over Barack’s breasting of his dirty deeds was a 350lb chubby Christian who was all up in arms regarding Obama’s former relationship with the cannabis. He too said that such an admission left a poor pattern for young people. I was thinking, yeah? Well, so does being morbidly obese, chunky butt. Hey, Jabba . . . being a bloated, self righteous crank with a totemic view of vice is also a bad example for the children, so dial down and take care of your own house, Jenny Craig.

Do I think leaders need to be an example to young people? Yes, leaders need to be an example which includes being honest and up front with the stupid stuff they did in the past. By the way, everyone looking to have a perfect boy for president, I will remind you that leaders are human and thus fallible. Heck, even great leaders in the Bible and throughout history did some whacked stuff. Here’s a short list:

• Moses killed a man. That’s not right.

• Abraham slept with his housekeeper and had a bastard child via that illicit affair. Oops!

• Samson openly dated a prostitute. Hello.

• David committed adultery, fathered a kid through that liaison, and to cover his faux pas had his lover’s husband liquidated. Mamasita!

• Paul used to murder Christians. Isn’t that special?

• Peter had a potty mouth, and once in a difficult strait denied his affiliation to Christ.

That’ll get you kicked off of TBN now wouldn’t it?

• Sir Winston Churchill used to suck down cigars and scotch like there was no tomorrow while dictating to his female secretary whilst butt naked. Would you vote for a dude now who did that? Of course you would. You voted for Bill Clinton.

Were this week’s confessions by Obama motivated by some supposed dirt Hillary has on him? Who knows, and who cares? If that’s the worst she has on him I say Obama can exhale because the Clintons are dirtier than Howard Stern sitting in the Mojave desert eating a mud pie and chasing it down with a cup of dust. You can relax, BO.

Now, obviously, because I’m a conservative I would never vote for the young senator—but I do appreciate Barack and even Rudy for being honest and owning their checkered pasts. It’s refreshing to hear the truth every now and then in a milieu that’s ripe with bull such as “I didn’t inhale; it wasn’t my fault; I did not have sex with that woman; and I never flip flopped.”