While San Francisco’s mayor Gavin Newsom has vetoed — at least for now — his city’s lunatic ‘Happy Meal’ ban (which is pretty ironic in and of itself — are there any children actually left in San Francisco to worry about?), the Blue State Blue Nose war on fast food and the apocalyptic horrors of Big Soda roll on. As Brent Bozell writes:
When it comes to the increasing sex, violence, and profanity in entertainment media, the social libertines are indifferent. They insist that children will hardly be warped or ruined by the media they consume. They chortle at the paranoia of Hollywood critics. Their mantra: If you don’t like it, just turn the channel.” But when it comes to fast food, all that permissiveness is abandoned for a smug, we know better attitude.
Whom the Gods Destroy, they first make into Anita Bryant:
Entire blue states have capitalized on the dietary-puritan wave. In the state of Illinois, the legislature raised taxes last year not only on alcohol, but on candy and soft drinks. The state tax on candy was multipled by six, from 1 percent to 6.25 percent, unless it needs refrigeration or contains flour. That rate also applies to soda and non-carbonated sweetened drinks, like iced tea. They did it for the children (and, allegedly, for roads and bridges).What weird people they are. Now their media friends are getting into the act. The same networks that think it’s harmless to put orgies into dramas and profanities into sitcoms are utterly panicked about drinking a Pepsi.
The Business and Media Institute found CNBC anchor Erin Burnett asking the president of the American Beverage Association why anyone lets Coke or Pepsi be sold. This is what’s next? Soda Pop Prohibition?Burnett demanded to know: “Let me ask you, is there anything good about drinking a full-calorie soda? Why do they even sell it? What’s good for me in drinking it?” When she was told it’s delicious, Burnett replied sourly: “I’m sure you could say we like cocaine, right?”So when parents buy their children a Mountain Dew, they might as well be pushing cocaine? All that’s missing here for CNBC is the dietary equivalent of documentaries like “Reefer Madness.”
Actually, that just ran last month on CNBC’s parent network.
“Burnett demanded to know: “Let me ask you, is there anything good about drinking a full-calorie soda? Why do they even sell it? What’s good for me in drinking it?””
It’s called FREEDOM, Fraulein Braun.
Remember how back in the 60s all you had to do to irk your parents and be considered a rebel was to grow your hair long, do some recreational drugs and wear peace sign-embroidered clothing or jewelry? Nowadays it takes major tattoos and/or body piercings to get the same effect.
The same holds true here for liberal crusaders. All the easy stuff like civil rights and lower-level environmental laws are gone, so they have to up the ante with attacks like this, under the idea that because their forerunners may have been on the right side of the argument 40-plus years ago on items A, B and C, that any X, Y or Z battle they engage in today must also be just and good.
In ‘Yellow Submarine’ (circa 1968) the Beatles did warn us all about the ‘Blue Meanies’ and their ambitions.
How times have changed.
I think something like 99% of heroin addicts started out …
drinking soft drinks.
But without Bush in the WH, the leftist haters have to hate something … some hate Palin, some hate soft drink, some both.
(and all hate all who don’t hate most of what they hate!)
“Why do they even sell it?” Well, let me just take a wild guess here…. is it because PEOPLE WANT TO BUY IT????
A business reporter, eh? Where did she learn about business? Stalingrad?
It has been said that a Puritan is a person who fears that someone, somewhere, is enjoying themself.
These days, our Puritans are on the left.
When conservatives get control of the gov’t they should put a tax on each ‘bad word’ spoken, just like your parents may have done to you when you were a kid. What a neat way to get the liberals, who love to cuss, to pay for the necessary social change we all would like to see.
Yeah, Erin, it’s like the American flag that kid displayed on the back of his bike in Sacramento — why do they even sell those?
So, was Anita Bryant wrong? Is Erin Burnett wrong? Or are Anita and Erin both right?