No Country for Old Men

I had planned to blog about the Oscars, especially given my disappointment that The Diving Bell and the Butterfly did not win a single award. But after no one came to my Oscars party, I figured it's best to focus on politics.

The big news, you know, is that Nader is IN. Finally, a real choice in this election. Look at this list on his website, and you'll see all the things Obama, Clinton, and McCain won't do, but Ralph will. Canadian-style national health insurance, a carbon tax, a speculation tax, no to nuclear power -- this guy has it all. He may be the oldest candidate in the race, but these ideas are hecka new school. Aw, yeah.

Republicrats and Demicans: United Against Big Folks

According to this transcript of the Democratic debate last December, Obama's Hope Machine doesn't extend it's wondrous works to fat people. Speaking on the need for controlling the costs of a proposed national health insurance plan, Obama says "Well, just to emphasize how important prevention and cost savings can be in the Medicare system, it's estimated if we went back to the obesity rates that existed in 1980, that would save the Medicare system a trillion dollars."

Yes, it's all fat people's fault. Obama may not see a red America or a blue America, but he certainly sees a fat America, and he doesn't like the looks of it. Senator Clinton isn't much better, hating on fatties here, in her health care proposal. John McCain doesn't want to use the government to de-huskify America, but that's more because he doesn't want government health care programs to help anybody -- hardly a better option.

When I hear the kind of visceral hate spewed at heavy people, it seems no different to me than the hate thrown at gay people. Just as some parts of the population are grossed out by the idea of two dudes kissing, some people's skinny little stomachs are turned at the sight of someone who weighs more than 150 pounds. And, in both cases, there's no evidence that either fat people or gay people are ruining anything else for the rest of America. This article on Slate (obviously not by Will Saletan) highlights recent studies that contradict Obama's bogus theory that the big-boned are costing America more money than the skinny.

I'm glad I walked out of the Democratic caucus after Kucinich was eliminated from contention. None of these fatty-haters is worthy of my vote. After reading this, I will make my way down to Green Party headquarters as fast as my Segway can carry me.

The time has come to put an end to fat-based discrimination. The time is now to super-size the Bill of Rights. Unite, my chunky brothers, and let us cast down this skinny tyranny!

Determinism

There's a new study out that suggests that weight is tied far more to genetics than to lifestyle choices. This makes sense -- I was heavy long before Wendy's introduced my current favorite lifestyle choice. But haters will be haters, and as expected, Will Saletan of Slate doesn't believe a word of this new emerging scientific consensus. He's like a global warming denier -- even though respected scientists and journalists have shown the consensus to exist, and even though our rightful President, Al Gore, agrees, some people want to stick their heads in the sand. Just as global warming deniers are all funded by ExxonMobil, I would not be surprised if all the fattitude-as-genetic-determinism deniers were secretly on SlimFast's payroll.

On the other hand, I found this study unconvincing.

Fatty go home, the saga continues

As expected, Will Saletan at Slate weighs in (pun intended) on the Mississippi anti-husky people bill. Although I expected that hater to agree with these Mississippians, Saletan says it's a bad idea, but he seems more concerned with the appearance of impropriety than with the actual discrimination against the big-boned. "Banning people from restaurants based on appearance," he says, "In Mississippi. Great idea."

I was not surprized to see that the bill was written by a Republican, Ted Mayhall, but it actually has bipartisan sponsorship. Of course, a white Baptist Democrat from Mississippi is probably hecka conservative, more so than the Republicans here in Seattle.

Fatty go home, part deux

As I wrote last time, there's a bill pending in the Mississippi legislature that would force restaurants to deny large people the right to eat there. Now, some law professor in D.C. named Banzhaf is supporting the idea. His twist is that it should only apply to chubby children.

I can understand why Banzhaf wants to exclude big adults from the bill -- judging by his picture, he's pretty roly-poly himself -- put I still don't think it's a great bill. Banzhaf seems like a good progressive, using the power of government to help people make the right choices and, ultimately, to craft a better society. But let's not go too far with it. I recall fondly those days of my childhood that included just the sort of meals he wants to ban. While other kids saved their allowance for baseball cards and the like, I spent my money on a delicious Big Bacon Classic. Well, that and my trip to the Battlestar Galactica convention.

Fatty go home

Through the zoftig grapevine, I've heard news of a bill pending in Mississippi that would require restaurateurs to ban fat folks from their establishments. Now, I don't know why I would ever find myself in Mississippi, but if I were, I would expect to be able to buy my fill of grits or cornpone or whatever the heck those people eat. I think the government should pass laws to help people make the right decisions, but for heck's sake let us eat!

Bill and I got thrown out of an all-you-can eat riblets night at Applebee's once, but that was more likely related to some ornery patrons disliking Bill's Chewbacca impression.