California, mired in deep public debt and hemhorragging jobs while still somehow smugly pleased with itself, seems like a train wreck these days. A sign of the times, just one day after Election Day, comes from the city of San Francisco, whose Board of Supervisors voted 8-3 to crack down on the heinous practice of giving out toys with children’s meals.
Sadly, this is not a joke. San Fran apparently feels McDonald’s and other restaurant chains are unethically targeting children for their unhealthy food, just like how cigarette companies used to target kids with cartoon characters. The comparison is a ludicrous one – we’re talking food, here, not drug inhalation – but this is how the logic works out here.
Nothing illustrates the insanity of the nanny state quite like this – except for maybe New York City’s ban on trans-fat and salt. I’m wholeheartedly in favor of making healthy food choices for yourself and for your kids – but it’s OK to indulge in fattening stuff every once in a while. Or if you’d rather, to indulge all the time – we’re told by these same leftists to “Keep your laws off my body” when it comes to abortions. But we can’t be trusted with what we choose to eat – only a city supervisor has enough wisdom to do that.
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, about as far left as you can get, recognized the stupidity of this ban and promised to veto it – except with the margin of victory, now he can’t. So, good going, O wonderful Supervisors of San Francisco! You have bravely stood up to the forces of Big Fast Food and in your own small way, helped save humanity. Or something like that.
It may seem weird, but people can actually be trusted with figuring out what to put in their mouths. If it’s bad for them, hey, that’s a choice, and that’s America. If parents take their kids to McDonald’s, that’s their choice as parents, and we can’t get in the habit of allowing government to act in the role of some watchdog on parenting styles.
Keep your nanny state, California. Things are looking up here in Ohio.
Wellsy's World 
Posted on November 3, 2010
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