America faces a “fatwa on obesity” — brought on by its own leaders. That’s the scary message of a recent Los Angeles Times op-ed.
“People warned that the government’s war on tobacco launched it on a slippery slope,” Brian Doherty writes. “So far the Surgeon General [in his recent “Call To Action” on obesity] is just talking about education on the perils of poundage. That’s how the tobacco wars started. They ended in massive legislation, smoking bans, new taxes and huge lawsuits. [Surgeon General David] Satcher appears set to launch us down the same slope when it comes to our eating habits.”
An East Valley [Arizona] Tribune editorial agrees, calling Satcher “nothing but a tax-supported government Nanny.” The Tribune notes the tobacco parallel, and warns: “The food police aren’t far behind; they’re winning battles in school cafeterias and advocating strong-arm tactics such as boycotts, legislation, and even ‘junk food taxes‘ against food they deem unhealthful.” (For more on some of the groups that want to tell you can and can’t eat, visit ActivistCash.com.)
As Doherty notes: “People can cure themselves of obesity by… eating less and exercising more. Why spend tax money on a campaign against it?” Or, in the Tribune’s words, “Cut the fat!… We can start by lopping the million-dollar surgeon general from the federal government. Nothing of any value will be lost. Nothing.”
